olfart

Although I wasn't the one who commented on having the 1/2" pipe scraps, the info you've provided is helpful. I did forge a small bell from 3/4" black pipe a couple of weeks ago. That was an interesting experiment that turned out better than I had expected. I was careful to avoid the steam cannon, and I wasn't closing off any potential explosive compartments. You're right about the pipe getting a LOT hotter than a solid rod does. Next time I'll try to remember to close off the back end.

I caught a garbage sale today that hadn't been picked over yet, and I scored some tools. The largest of the hammers is brass. The whole pile was only $15.

Ask an ambiguous question, get strange answers! (Or so I've seen posted a few times in various threads...)

Back in 1964 at the Jack Ruby trial in Dallas, I was employed by United Press International Newspictures. My job was to sit in the courthouse and take pictures every time Jack Ruby was escorted into or out of the courtroom. I was offered $200 per roll of film if I would use a second camera to shoot for Paris Match Magazine. At that time, $200 was similar to $1,000 dollars of today's money. The question came down to this; if anything out of the ordinary happened in that hallway, which camera would I grab first? I owed my loyalty to my employer, who was paying me $65 a week to do the job, so I turned down Paris Match.

Here are some of my intended gifts for Christmas 2016. The fork is my first attempt at a basket twist and a fork. The horseshoe and S-hook are for hanging a cast iron pot over a campfire. The bell is a whimsy piece just to see if I could make a bell from a piece of 3/4" black iron pipe, and I decided to decorate it with my first attempt at a leaf. I also made a clapper for the bell, so it actually rings. The oven rack push/pull was made as practice for a demo with the club, and the herb choppers are this month's club project.

Join your local credit union. They are generally more friendly toward personal loans than banks, and sometimes they offer lower interest loans than banks.

I recently invested in one of those bendy-snout propane lighters. Bent at a 90 degree angle, it lets me relight my forge while safely standing to the side and keeping my hand out of harm's way in the process.

I commend you on the quality of your work! You've made not only a beautiful leaf, but also a beautiful presentation on its creation. Your parents must be extremely proud of you!

Hawgdirt, you're just down the road from me, and $35 for a 50 pound bag is highway robbery. I have two coal forges and a small propane forge you can look at for comparison. Third Saturday of every month, Four States Iron Munchers meet just west of Texarkana at 2:00 PM (1:00 PM if you want to eat lunch). PM me for instructions.

If you spring for a box of regular chalk for under a dollar and find it doesn't work, your wife will be happy to add it to her sewing supplies for marking fabric.

Just a point of curiosity... if people can't carry knives into the fair, can they buy one while inside and then carry it out? Seems a little strange from a security point of view.

I knew goat milk was good for ulcers and such, but pink eye is a new one for me! Do I see gas forges for sale in your future?

Thanks for the suggestions and info! We have made cheese in the past, but none of it was particularly flavorful. My wife makes soap out of it too, but we're well-stocked on goat milk soap for now.

I'm at three score and fifteen now, so it's all gravy! Embarking on a new hobby at any age is a good way to stay young.

I bought a mattock handle yesterday, as it was the only thing that came close to the right size. The head end of the handle is tapered, but the taper is big enough to fill most of the hammer eye. I drove the handle into the head as far as I could, which left about 1/4" of wood on top of the head and about 1/4" gap on the bottom side of the head at both ends of the eye. I filled the gaps with JB Weld, now I'll drill the head throug both sides and pin it.

Good points. I'll look around for a handle that might fit it, then worry about cutting/heat treating. I've given the huge eye some more thought... what if I cut the head in half in the eye, then hammer the eye walls out perpendicular to the remaining head? Maybe I could draw the head out some more and make a flatter out of half of this head. We have 5 goats (Nubian and Nubian/Boer cross) at the moment, milking one. Another I hope is pregnant, and two young does that will not be dating until next May. I'm getting about 2.5 quarts of milk a day, and we only use about 1 quart a day. Having trouble trying to find folks to give the excess to. I hate dumping good milk down the drain.

This hammer of dubious ancestry followed me home from a garbage (...or was that garage?) sale today. The eye is humongous, about 2" X 1 1/4". The previous owner probably couldn't find a handle to fit it and welded the piece of pipe on instead. I'd be afraid to use it in this configuration, but I may cut the handle off of it and see if I can find/make a handle for it. Not sure what else it might be good for. Any suggestions? http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd305/olfart/Hammer_zpswjqlaa62.jpg http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd305/olfart/Hammer Eye_zpsihixangt.jpg http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd305/olfart/Hammer Price_zps3yt6mnuf.jpg I hope it's worth what I paid for it.

Being unable to find flat black engine paint locally, I settled for a lovely Ford blue. At least this way it will look similar to my forge that I had painted blue some months back. I may end up using dry erase markers for layout on the blue IF the marker doesn't wipe off every time I lay something on it.

OK, I'll see what my local auto supply house has in stock. Thanks!

I'd be even luckier if I could afford the tuition to attend the ABS classes! However, I'm blessed to have found a club of blacksmiths who are patient enough to let me look over their shoulders. The layout with soapstone/chalk/pencil was why I was considering the flat black stove paint, but that may also work with the engine paint.

Yes, I expect it to get scratched up from use, just trying to prevent it from rusting up and blowing away before my very eyes. The engine paint sounds like a pretty good solution. Made for high temps yet durable under extreme conditions.

Oops... I thought I had put my location in my profile. Texas is a BIG place, and I'm on the extreme far end from you near Texarkana. Unfortunately this is anything but desert-like with average humidity running in the 85% - 95% range most of the year. We're surrounded by pine trees, and each mature pine tree pumps out about 100 gallons of water a day into the atmosphere. New steel rusts before I can get it home.

Although this isn't directly blacksmithing-related, it is a new workbench in my little blacksmith shop. I built it from 2 X 6, 2 X 10 and 2 X 12 scraps and leftovers, the top being mostly 2 X 12s. I built it specifically to fit an old sign I've had in the barn for 35 years or so that I am using as a fire-resistant covering for the wood. The sign is 70" X 20", so that's the size of my workbench top. The sign had at least 4 different paint layers on it, the last saying "Helen's Plaster & Bill's Saw Shop". Having sanded/wire brushed all the paint off of it, now I'm wondering what is the best finish for the steel table top that will be somewhat exposed to the weather in my open-sided shop. My first guess is Ospho as a primer followed by flat black stove paint to protect the metal from moisture. Considering that it may also double as a layout bench for small projects and may occasionally have hot steel placed on it, is there a better finish I should use?

I've been having pretty good luck with the TSC anthracite by starting the fire with a small amount of bituminous, then adding the anthracite. I use a small hair dryer to keep the air on it when I'm at the anvil, and it makes good heat.

Of course they're not Vice Grip brand, but rather the cheap Chinese knockoffs. The Chinese stuff seems to be getting better over time. The tension of lockdown is plenty to keep the handle from unwinding. After clamping down securely on a hammerhead-size chunk of steel, I practically had to use a hammer on the release lever to get it unlocked. I haven't tried them on anything hot yet, but I think they'll be just fine as is.