Smoggy

I've just spent the weekend with a fully restored example that I think was once in the employ of the Airbourne Forces lateWWII era, probably the oldest motor at the show. Never owned a Jeep but do have one of it's offspring.... a 1977 series 3 Land Rover.

There are a lot of smaller projects that involve, or can involve, processes required for bigger builds such as rivetting and tenons depending on the designs. trivets, candle sticks, rushlight holders, etc. and many different designs to keep you from becoming bored with making them for along time to come. Many of which will also serve to keep the wife happy as they will be most usefull in kitchen or dining room.

"...What are your opinions on charcoal made from soft wood vs charcoal made from hardwood. ..." I believe Japanese blade smiths use softwood charcoal, maybe someone could confim that. I find softwood charcoal tends to light easier, but hardwood lasts longer. As regards whch burns hotter, I don't believe there is an appreciable difference as the air flow will have a greater effect on heat in a forge. How you make and use the charcoal is likely to have as much or more of an impact on it's properties, I much prefer to use well seasoned wood simply because the process requires less heat value to achieve completion and producess a greater yield per load. I make my own charcoal from mainly Willow and a little Eucalyptus, oddments of other soft and hardwoods on occasion such as Privet, Rose, Brier, Mahogany, Ash. various conifers, Pine etc. I do have some commercial lumpwood which I have recently discovered is imported from the far east so have no idea on species. Appart from the shape of the origin material I cannot tell any one from another either in hand or fire. At the end of the day any char will suffice, some may be better than others and spit less, but what you can get locally or freely is what you will ultimately use.

I can't see them either JHCC, just three chapters of code which I can't copy to paste to the search bar....!

Ah yes I remember now, I think you've posted the the links before on another thread..... I recall seeing a Norwgian Stamp depictig one of the engraings.

Welcome '82, You've come to the right forum, take your time to read masses of information already posted, both general blscksmithing as well as the blade specific areas or you may find yourself struggling with the basics. Do take note of the Curmudgeons, they can be risky to hand feed but they mean well......

Thanks for the liks TP, unfortunately the first two ' pitt.edu ' generate a 404 error, will you have access rights the rest of us don't?

I think it comes down to a number of factors, personel preference, work being carried out, space permitting etc. At home I have two anvils both rectangular without horns and a very confined space to work in, ergo I have one anvil without a horn to the left and the other without the horn to the right

If you really want to cast a lead weight, just make an open mold with a smaller than needed central hole (core), if any at all, easy enough to enlarge and reprofile once cast for a nice sug fit. Looks like your press has square taper tangs so disc or cylinder of lead with sutable diameter round hole would tap into place nicely/

"...It does need a counterweight ball added, which is being shipped with it (a large ball bearing I believe) I'm not sure how the counterweight should be mounted, ..." It basically just sits on the upturned arm ends to add inertial weight, if you need more weight you can add any suitable heavy lump, barbell weights being an obvious and relatively easy option. Just make sure it's not going to smack you on the bonce as you trun it! You can hammer lead into shape for extra weight.

Welcome to IFI Patrick, best place you could have landed.

First rule of getting stuff for free, let folks know what you are wanting! Nice score.

Why am I thinking 'rolling mill' !!!!!

As far as I'm aware they are purely ornate and reflect the decorative features on the rest of the building, If they have a face or figure applied they have a specific name which I can't remember. Some found around the roof line are water spouts for off flow and have carved faces or creatures, if so they are called gargoyles. I've only ever come across stone but later, modern gothic style structures could be made from anything.

I took a looksee on Google Earth, Kerala is a bit out in the sticks. I also stumbled accross your video David, I recon you did well all things considered and can now see what's in the picture. You may want to stand one of your hammer head anvils face up, I think you'll find it better to use. Oh and your English is very good, not even an German accent!

HI WWN, welcome, please add a location to your profile it sometimes helps folks not only understand why you are asking a question but if they should suspect you are not coversing in your native language and can also effect the information you recieve. If you are asking about alternatives to borax I am assuming you cannot obtain borax. Or am I incorrect? Although we always like pictures as they tend to offer much more iformation than is easily typed, unfortunately I canot make out what the picture is in this case, There are different types of fluxes, some have a cleansing effect like borax but most are termed covering fluxes which serve only to provide a barrier against the atmosphere, WD40 would be the latter as would coal dust, sand or wood ash. I can only suggest if WD40 works, use it!

There is a lot of usefull info in the pdf you've linked to, but not all of it the best, or definative. I would suggest you make the most of it and suppliment it with the wealth of info available here and when you have a specific question, fire away. .

Welcome Grantley, Plenty to keep you busy here till the rain stops.

Welcome to the forum Dutchforge, please take a little time to add a location to your profile as it often relevent to the answers you recieve, also take some time to browse the forum where you will likely find many answers to this question and all the others you are likely to ask will have already answered numerous times. You may also like to pop over and make a post on the introductions section, and tell us a little about yourself, interests, skills, etc helps those willing to help you give appropriate replies. Yes jackhammers bits can be used to make tools, they are in fact an excellent choice for jackhammer tooling....! Also usefull for many other tools. Can you make tools from them? I have no idea, What tools would you like to make, what skills do you have and what facilities do you have?

A tastefully forged table top lid and a couple of garden seats.....that should keep herself happy! And if you've been using it, it'll keep both your mug of drinking chocolate and your feet warm on those Autumnal evenings!

You'll be needing to hang them from a ring then.......!

Welcome to the forum and to smithing, I think the above replies have stated what you need to know and the only advice I can offer in addition is to make sure all your relatives, friends and neighbours know what you are attempting. You never know what people have sat in the back of a shed just waiting for a reason to dispose of it! Plenty posts here refer to gifted tools and materials, it happens all the time, people just need to know you may want whatever they are throwing away.

Reminds me of a decorative mantlepiece spill holder......they came in all manor of wierd and wonderfull designs.

JHCC, Do you have access to any supplies of solder? Particularly the older solders (reclaimed maybe) some of it is of comparible density to lead. Babbit metal may also be worth considering, depending on alloy. For a treadle hammer which is returned by a ballance spring, the abscence of a rebound seems of no great consiquence to me, but I'm no expert on mech hammer design.

It is not difficult to fashion most shapes in polystyrene for lost foam casting (individual parts can be glued together with hot glue), Lost wax is a superiour process in many ways. Coat in slip (clay is preferable to PoP for anything other than pewter or similar) and set it in greensand. Gating and venting all depend on the shape, of which I have no idea, so cannot comment on. Is it do-able almost certainly, Is great care required....absolutley. Note: if using Polystyrene foam, additional caution is needed as regards casting area ventilation when pouring, nasty stuff burning polystyrene, you don't want to be breathing any in. I also agree with the recomendation to visit the backyard metal casting/alloy avenue site for more information.