olfart

A rainy afternoon trip to Tractor Supply netted an unexpected pleasure. When my wife started browsing in the cheap tool bin near the checkout for a new screwdriver, I spotted something that had to come home with me. This Vice Grip with extended adjustment rod struck me as being a super addition to my small but growing tong collection. Standard Vice Grips are a little short for use in a gas forge, but these look like they'll work great! The extended handle makes it pretty heavy, but the weight should be manageable from the forge to the anvil.

1 minute ago, DSW said:

I don't think you are looking at it correctly. The rail is laying over on it's side.  What I see is that the bottom flange is facing us in that pict and you can just see the underside of the top of the rail above it.

You may be right. I could be suffering from an optical delusion. I was expecting to see a rail in its normal configuration spiked down.

That doesn't look like any railroad track I ever saw. No flange on the bottom, just what appears to be a rectangular cross-section. No spikes, no ties, no ballast. Could there have been a mine nearby that could have used that type tracks for the ore cars?

If you can find a 35mm (film) slide of scrollwork you like, you can put the slide in the back of the camera with a strong light behind it and use the camera as a projector.

Are you a member of Four States Iron Munchers Blacksmith Association yet? We meet just southwest of Texarkana on the third Saturday of each month. PM me for details.

I just installed a turbine vent as a forge chimney, and so far I deem it a success. First fire yesterday took a little coaxing to get things started up the flue, but once it warmed up it drew just fine. So far I have 7.5' of 12" vent pipe under the roof terminating about 1' above the forge. On the top there's just the turbine base and turbine. I plan to add another 3' of stack to the top side of the roof, but even at its reduced elevation it worked well.

As I don't have any known steel samples for comparing sparks, can someone take a look at these sparks and tell me if this pipe is good enough for a hawk? They are multi-pronged "star" sparks as opposed to the mild (hardware store) steel's plain round sparks.

I realize this puts this thread into the wrong group, so if it needs to be moved, feel free. Here's what I started with Tuesday afternoon, along with the cleaned-up version.

I ground enough off of it to make another one like it. It'll look a little better when I get some wood on it.

9 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

Nothing like forging a blade to teach you about hammer control and keeping the scale cleaned off the anvil face!

Exactly! That's why there's so much cleanup to do on this one.

I decided to go ahead and make a "knife-shaped object" out of my test piece just for practice. When I get it cleaned up I'll post a pic. This is my first attempt at a knife (other than the one I carved out of wood when I was 10 years old), so there's a LOT of cleanup to do.

Thank you, Jonah K. I agree that in the amounts of this pipe that I'm using it probably is a minuscule hazard. I have used hundreds of feet of it in construction projects on the farm over the years and have not suffered any obvious ill effects.

Today's litigious society has everyone afraid to make a public endorsement of doing anything with any inherent risk lest they be sued by someone claiming injury due to their endorsement.

I would bet the guys where I bought this pipe check it. They work with piles of the stuff in a yard daily with several truckloads a day coming/going. If there's an issue with radioactivity surely they wouldn't be working around it.

Back to the original question, is this steel suitable for blades? What other tests could/should I run on it?

6 hours ago, Charlotte said:

Question :   Are you sure it is not radioactive?

 

!!!!??? Uh, I didn't know that was an option. Without a Geiger counter, how would I find out?

I cut a piece about 1.5" wide, cut the ring and flattened it out. It forges well. I narrowed one end of it and drew it out, thinning it from 1/4" originally to about 3/32". I heated it and quenched in water, then put it in a vise. It breaks when struck with a hammer. Here's a photo of the end grain showing the crystalline formation. A file will cut it with some effort.

On 4/8/2016 at 0:58 PM, TwistedCustoms said:

Wonder no more....I worked in manufacturing and I know it's possible for a production facility to have a bad run but sheesh! A lot of old name tool companies have been bought out and while we still see their logos on the shelf the products are only a shadow of what they once were. I don't hate China, I hate poorly made junk that tries to pass itself off as premium. What I have seen time and again when companies move manufacturing to China as that the early production runs are spot on. Then, as soon as the over site of the US setup team is gone the factories start cutting corners and if left unchecked the quality drops off the chart.

Sorry for the rant, yeah it was HD.

For those who are old enough to remember, we went through the same thing with Japanese-made stuff in the 50s. Once they got quality control set up, they started making good stuff. I suspect China's somewhere on that learning curve and will catch on eventually.

Spark test looks good on this, as it produces star sparks when cut. I'll try a heat/water quench/break test on it when I get a chance.

I have some used oilfield pipe (locally known as drill stem) which I believe is a Chrome Moly alloy. Wall thickness is about 1/4" except in the upset and threaded ends, where it's at least 3/8". Since I have maybe 50' of it left over from a building project, I'd like to use it for some other purpose. Hawks, axes and knives are of interest to me. Can anyone enlighten me to the potential of drill stem for these projects?

Thanks

Before sinking a wooden post into the ground, I'd consider making the wood termite-proof. Otherwise they'll eat your post and be working on a way to have the anvil for dessert.
 

OK, so if this is what it should look like, I'm good to go. Yes, it does seem to be hotter. With the .040 tip the flame was cooling down the center of the floor (dark spot in the center). The .030 tip heats the floor very well in the center.

Thanks for your patience and help!

Here's a pic of the dragon's breath tonight with the .030 tip. It's virtually invisible tonight.

I might could cut 1/4" off the back end of the tip, that would bring it back 1/4". Unfortunately with this burner design the tube is welded to the centering bracket, so there's no more adjustment. I looked for another 1 1/2" fitting today that I could use to make another burner, but no luck at the lumber yard. I'll probably have to go to a plumbing shop in Texarkana (35 mile drive) to find one.

I'll try to get another dragon's breath photo tonight with the .030 tip.

I got the .030 MIG tip installed today, and the flame is now a warmer blue (no more green). I don't have a gauge on the regulator to tell me how much pressure, but I did lower the pressure significantly with no ill effects on the flame.

The intermittent burner problem appears to have been solved by filling the tank. There does not appear to be any hot air leaking back up the burner support tube, as I made a file-to fit opening in the support plate for the burner tube.

OK, I went back out after dark this evening and got a couple of shots of the dragon breath. I noticed some tiny sparks coming out the door, and I actually caught one of them in one of the photos.

The burner is working MUCH better with a full tank of propane, I'm happy to note.

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I bought the .030 tips today but forgot that I'd have to have a new ferrule to install the new tip.    One more trip to the hardware store tomorrow!

In the meantime, I shot a couple more photos this afternoon.