Bowland

Interesting I do see pictures of this design over in your country. I haven't the foggiest who made it unfortunately I doubt it's been used from when the smithy it came from closed The guy I bought it from had it years but never fit it. The guy he got it off had it likewise These things only have value to guys who use them don't they just. He was about ready to chuck it out

Posted on a UK Forum I was looking for a leg vice and scored with this one within an hour Only 20 miles from home Picture as it came into shop and after a quick ten mins with a scraper and some cleaning mix Paid thirty gbp

Tests? Well when the guys arc up on them it leaves that white powder with the yellow edges. Lol Fair enough reducing to the ridiculous seems to have made the point " be safe"

Your twisting what I said here As a matter of fact one lungfull of many things other than air will kill ( water is the best known) a lungfull of zinc fume will certainly if you take it literally. The point I am making is hot dip is a lot different from plated Here is s handrail galvanising having been done by hot dip You can see the horrible great lumps ( these need polishing down with the sanding disc) each blob is way more than a zinc pill and welding or heating this stuff is a very real hazard to health. In the galvanising plant people are not allowed to eat or drink and this has to be done in a rest area clear of the tanks. Wash hands notices all over for good reason it's toxic in quantity Also a return clamp off one of my welders - plated! No real hazard but sensible to wear some ppe and work in an open vented place ( though you will see many arcing up on these) in reality I wouldn't plate a welding bench but if it was thin and I was going to ship them across the oceans and leave them dockside then yeah not a bad plan Please don't lead people to think zinc poses no real danger there is good reasons why so many welders suffer chronic lung issues later on in thier careers. Not to mention other things it might lead to Of course there are even thinner coatings than the clamp shown

No if you want details I was on a job site some 25 years ago. We were working up in the rafters of a steel framed building All the structural was galvanized. We thought the scale of the building and the big doors would keep us safe enough. It didn't the guy who was up there welding in new sections got a good dose. Hospitalised him. He then took prescribed drugs for the next few years I knew him as a result Milk has practically no effect. Welders in UK shipyards who were on galv got free milk and extra pay years back. Today our health and safety executive will bang the boss into criminal courts if he allows his guys to weld galv without full ppe Do not take galv lightly! BTW some spend a huge amount more time on the internet than myself - it's a relivent point

Never underestimate hot dipped galv. One good lungfull will put you off with flue like symptoms and it can be worse far worse in fact I suspect the table is electroplated far less dodgy stuff return leads on welding sets often have it applied

My insurer insists I get a permission letter signed before I start work at a customer owned site. They didn't say risk assessment but that's a legal requirement here in the UK anyhow but it doesn't have to be written but it must be adequate I figured they were trying to say I wasn't on cover if I hadn't done one - so I do'! It's quite pathetic really and often embarrassing- due to the stupid stuff we have to write down in risk assessment Still there is a lot to loose

It looks like a dog - literally

Thanks for that of course that makes it easier to obtain within the uk

Yeah thanks if you could always ready to give new things a blast

Ok a few questions These are a USA thing yes? Where can I obtain one shipped to the UK and what size fittings are you on? Are they still BSP?

Be careful you don't collect too many. It's like guns and fishing rods really Just the ones you need not the ones you want Put the ones you don't use much in a box some place and see how much you open it

Well all I can say is I am apprentice trained as a welder fabricator starting in 1985. It what I learnt at college. I am sure there are ways of getting better results through gear used on either and also worse results from using poor gear. But as the two fuel gasses go propane will always lag behind on max temp For cutting there is but one way Get the flame correct place it on the spot your going to start cutting. Wait just so you see the starts of a surface flow and press the oxy lever simultaneously tilting the torch to a push angle ( you can avoid this angle as we did with automated oxy accetelyle burning machines ( prior to today's lazercutters worked direct CNC) - but it's hard and by hand all but the best pro burners are going to mess up! Pro burners? Yes we had those apprentice trained on the shipyards, all they could do was use a torch but by crikey they were good! Just looked it up oxy propane 2828 c oxy accetelyle 3160c

Here's mine sand filled with a floating top plate

Nothing of the sort. Accetelyle is hotter that's why you can't weld with oxy propane and why you can cut thicker with accetelyle - it simply gives more heat of course there is hotter still but how many blacksmiths need more

Oxy propane cuts cleaner It won't cut as thick as steel section as accetelyle but plenty thick enough It don't get hot enough to gas weld You can use the same fuel bottle on a gas forge It's far cheaper here in the UK It's easier to get in a hurry( again in the uk) It isn't as explosive at low fuel air mix as acetylene though it sits low though so carrys it own special dangers I use the self same cutting torch switching from cutting to heating nozzles . Insurance companies here prefer it and favour it in premiums

ink Like this? Or this? Sorry can't find how to spin them

That fat thub muscle is not normal. Strength and muscle mass will increase with work / exercise but the only way I know of getting a thumb muscle to develop like that is thumb wrestling Your doing something wrong and over time your going to hurt yourself! Are you laying your thumb on the back of the hammer shaft by chance?

I realise this is an old thread but amazed at the answers. Overthinking! 12 " is easy as long as you don't have a little dog or something to contain. Just give the bottom a 12" taper up Makes a nice feature in the design

Mix cooking oil and water for a cheap wipe on anti spatter Don't often use it myself creates as many problems as it solves Set the plant up good and you rarely have anything you can't brush or knock off I use a big fixture bench ( like the build pro) only I built it being a pro myself lol occasionally I get a blob in one of my 16 mm holes just put in a bit of bar and give it a tap. Spatter is only an issue if you let it build up. Start of every job the bench gets a proper going over with a cup brush Here is the bench just wanted to try the upload really

One should consider people's expectation of cost. Sometimes it's lower than it aught to be ( I find this with railings) , sometimes higher ( I find this with stairs and stair rails) You obviously need to take the rough with the smooth if it's important to close all the deals you can. If you price all jobs exactly the same your going to be too dear on those with a low perceived value and likely not land the job leaving precisely nil profit. Being well priced on something with a higher perceived value might appear your not of the quality required or loose you margin that the client was very happy to pay for your work It's not all about costing basically but non the less it's were you should start Experiance is a great tutor

Hello to all new member here from forest of Bowland Lancashire Running a small fabrications shop here work has taken me more towards domestic gates and railings. Estate rail fencing of late so picking up the ball and running with it now Welder fabricator by trade but did many years in sales. Marketing and design Was lucky enough back in the eighties to spend time with the last of our true blacksmiths he was in his eighties then and I was a teenager with arms like garth and I still struggled to keep pace striking for him. Just wished I had listened more when I had the chance