Prevenge

Fair enough I suppose... I am just used to wearing them out of necessity from the welding trade. When doing pressure piping it isnt a matter of getting careless around hot metal...it is just that you almost certainly WILL come into contact with it as you are required to handle it while it is still hot. You finish welding a spool and its time to weld another...nobody I ever seen had any sort of handling device...that was what the helper was for. -edit we would use chain vice grips ....but still. Most of the time all we wore was light tig gloves in the summer. I was going to add that about the water as well Glenn. Not only can you get steam boiled but wet gloves shrink faster and get smaller than dry leather will if they get hot. I still personally prefer to wear gloves almost all of the time.....But experience has taught me to favor protection over dexterity. I now wear big , heavy leather gloves. "Muppet hands" I call them. They fit loose so I dont know that they could even shrink enough to get my fingers and all it takes to get them off is to open my hand up and let my arm down and they pretty much fall off. Just my personal preference based on related trade.

Can I ask why folks say not to wear gloves most of the time? Is it due to the risk of leather heat shrinkage?

If some of the work i see on this site are indicative of a master level then i am a 0.05-0.1? But i dont care...it is the same way I am with drawing. People say "wow that is great !" but I just wanna create. In this context I want to hammer metal into things that I think are cool and progress and learn as I go.

Hello...at the top of the forum click "articles" ..scroll down and there is series of lessons there. Also Anvilfire.com ...even though I am not sure its is active... has the iforge section with tutorials. Have fun ....

Wouldn't be much of a farm if there wasn't old wood to go with the old metal haha ..... I have a pile from an old box stall barn that collapsed. Was covered in creosote at one point but definitely well weathered.

I wouldn't be surprised to find some wrought at the other farm actually .... and I know there was a big lovely pile of scrap and doo-dads I am going to rummage through the next time i am up there in the daylight

That might sound about right....of course the disc we have is at the other farm where my parents live so I can't even verify. . I am sure I see it soon when I go to loot that place ...the other farm is bigger and older so there is probably lots of treasures to scavenge up there too ............ thanks for the replies.

"sometimes my brain doesn't type what my fingers are thinking." ....hahaha. Even with that one measurement halved that is one large block of metal you got there ....

ya the thinner section has a knife edge and was 90 degrees from the bolt side before i flattened them . Could have been from a swather I suppose ...but as far as i remember we have always used a disc-bine style one which just has the small rectangular knifes that bolt onto the rotating discs...which I also have a bucket full of

Hey all. So i live on a farm but have only recently been smitten with the blacksmith bug. What was before just old pieces of farm machinery scrap metal is beginning to look more like a gold mine of hammerable steels. These are the pieces in question for now.... I know i took them off of something years ago but can not for the life of me remember what....I am thinking a disc, rock rake or harrows maybe. I know assumptions are frowned upon, but based on the junkyard steels reference page and the fact that they were on the business end of a rough service farm implement , I am going to assume they may be 1080-ish? Last night I flattened a bunch of them out to fit in the forge easier but I will try hardening one in the next day or so. First pic is one before flattening ... the skinny part was the business end and is shaped that way due to wear. So what would y'all make out of them? Since i have about 30 of the things I was kind of wanting to make them into something i might be able to sell to support my blacksmith habit. My initial thoughts were welding a handle on them and forging them into a brush axe/machete type tool similar to the "woodsmans pal". Also if they are a higher carbon steel then the way some of the original blade parts have worn scream to be made into knives via material removal. I forgot to put down a size reference in the pics but the bolt holes are about 2.5 inches center-to-center. Anyways, what are your thoughts/suggestions on how to use them? This place is a treasure trove of stuff.... I rounded up around 200 pounds of broken and bent bale spears...already thinkin of a stake anvil and some other things to build ;).

Those are some very sexy hammer corsets ..... Perhaps something in silk or lace for those more delicate hammers?

I cannot personally answer that question because the forge I am using is my first gasser. I am sure there are slight differences in the ceramics but I think that the refractory rating is the main factor to consider and I would imagine that they are all fairly similar beyond that. Mine is currently lined (poorly) with duraboard with bricks on the bottom. I find that heat wise it works fine but I would advise you to listen to Wayne's advise. The duraboard is very delicate and begins to decay very quickly even if you are careful not to damage it. I think it is still recommended that you use a rigidizer on any of the ceramic wools or boards to prevent this or use a castable as a top layer. Also I have read that if you do not do this the ceramic fiber can become airborne and be nasty for you if it gets in your lungs. I know mine began to turn powdery recently which is why I am looking to refit it.

yeah that hand one is golden.... I kinda thought the grooves were just left there as he forged down from the original width of the hand....simulates the arm bones. I love these "show me your" threads....great inspiration!

... my post disappeared I guess. Hopefully this isnt a repost. Thank you for the replies and sorry for the thread hijack. I am located up in Quesnel. I wish to avoid ITC-100 if at all possible as buying plistix or metrikote from the states would still be cheaper than buying ITC locally. One thing I am wondering about that Tucker's supplies is Vesuvius Super 3000 Kiln Cement ....any reason why that couldnt be used over top of 1" wool in a BBQ tank forge?

Amazing.... I could probably spend days just poking around your shop admiring everything