Pancho07

I had thought about that. How critical is balance?

Did not get the coal forge, the guy we were talking to wanted to keep the tools in the family which is cool. Did get quite a bit of coal from him though which i shared with a dabbler friend of mine. What i did do was find this in one of our out buildings. Only problems are no grate in the coal pan and no fan in the blower. Is it possible to get a fan for an old champion blower?

After all the grumbling her face made it all worth it, hope i keep this feeling for every project I do for someone.

Frosty, she said she wanted it one way and then wanted it another then another. She wanted it to be polished like the one in the picture, I did. Sent her an updated picture and she said the same thing, "I wanted it polished like the first one", I'll admit lighting changed the way it looked. It was just frustrating. Made me think I had over sold my abilities at some point. Delivery is today so hopefully she likes it, if not then I guess my wife will get a new wall hanger

Already done but great advice DSW, thanks.

Here is the second one, there are things I like better about it and things i dont, but it came out alot quicker than the first. I asked her if she thought $85 was fair and immediately thought I should have asked for more.Also realised that the customer isn't always right.

Hadn't thought of that, thanks FoxFire. Makes sense though.

Chestnut wips? Those were the answers i was hoping to get, thanks guys. Don't think I'm up to making a drift yet for the eye.

After my last cross project I decided that I need to buy or build a flatter. I've seen alot of tools that have the standard wooden handle through an eye in the head of the tool. Not as many but I have also seen some that have a rod or heavy wire handle. Is there an advantage one way or the other or are most tools handled with wood because it's always been done that way?

At the moment I'm making crosses that are about 8" by 16". This redco is probably too big for them but I can be working on 3 pieces at once. That second one has been cleaned up a bit more.

Right now Lp is about $1 a gallon and won't rise much higher than that. Right now mostly what I'm doing is ornamental crosses, no welding, no tools. I may get the coal one to be more portable but that would be the only reason. Did more research that I should have done before I posted after I posted last night.

Nevermind, found what I was lookin for.

Is there any advantage to coal forges over propane? I currently have a Redco forge that needs new mantles. It works for what I'm doing so far but may have the opportunity to get a coal forge. I don't know anything about it but if the money is right would it be worth getting? I'm assuming that it would be somewhat similar to the 3rd picture.

....Wooops, Miss Spanky, very sorry for not looking at your profile, please please forgive me.

Mr Spanky, the ribbon that curls around the back at the top i welded at the top of the ribbon and used a chisel to bulge out the edge below the weld, simple and easy. Leveled the rest with clear rubber bumpers. Andy, I think I will take your advice and just ask what she is willing to pay and take what I can get. Your first thought at $100 Austrailian is about $70 US, which i think would be fair but if she is willing to pay more I won't turn it down. Thanks all for the advice

12 inch ruler on same anvil.

Would you have any idea what similar pieces would be worth?

DSW, while the wedding is in two weeks, time for this wouldn't be an issue really, she said it wouldn't bother her to make it a Christmas present instead. Mr Stevens, I wasn't goin to stop doing this by any means. I'm just kind of shocked that someone else liked it enough to "order" one. Thanks for the go ahead though. I'll have to get in touch with her to get some particulars from her tomorrow. How would i want to price something like this? I know you need figure what your time is worth and add that to your materials but I don't know what is reasonable.

Last week I posted in the critique section a cross that I made for a cousins wedding. Today my dad showed the picture to the ladies in the office at our steel supplier, one of them asked if I would do one for her son who is getting married in 2 weeks. The time isn't an issue, myou biggest concern is would it be good enough to sell? I've got nothing but compliments from it but that was mostly family, and gifts for family is completely different from a virtual stranger requesting it. My worry is disappointing the possible customer, I'm not locked into anything yet though so that is a plus. Based on the poor cell phone picture what would you all advise? If I do do it any things I should change to make it better? Posting it again so no one has to track it down.

The old man picked up a 40 Oz matco cross peen this weekend for me at a flea market for $5. Is this a decent hammer or did dad waste $5? More important question, recently the draw bar on our tractor snapped at one of the bends. Now we have a heavy chunk of steel laying in the shop and I can see all kinds of projects in it. Does anyone know if it would be the right steel for a flatter or any other kind of hammer?

Now that you mention it I remember hearing something about bentonite and forges but I would not have made the connection with flux ingredients welds. Thank you Mr. Evans

It is brick lined, what kind I'm not sure. Dad got it in an auction years ago and even if they told him he probably wouldn't remember. I can say that theven bricks at the bottom of it look melted pretty bad. This won't matter a whole lot for this go round as we are getting new bricks in a few weeks. Thank you for the quick reply Frosty

I have no experience forge welding so this is probably common knowledge but not to me. Is there any buildup of flux in my forge that I need to worry about? I am using an old Redco propane forge if that makes any difference. Thanks in advance.