7A749

I like it. Looks like a grapple hook to me. Maybe you can catch dragons with it??

Pretty Cool either way

Absolutely fantastic !!

Looks great for a first time deal. 

Thinking of you Glenn. You guys got hammered down there.

22 hours ago, HEAP of JEEP said:

Thank you, Steve.  I'm tied up with work for the next little while with the Cherry Festival, but things calm down in the middle of July.  Wife's going on vacation with the kids and her mother, and while she's out west, I'm taking a few days off work to just hang around the empty house, and hopefully get a lot of forge time... and weekends, as usual, I'm usually smacking some steel around.

Oh, I think I just got another order for one of those damascus Thor's hammer, so was going to do up a billet big enough to play around with trying to make that heart for you too.  I'd like to be able to nail that, and add it to my limited repertoire.

Yeah, we can shoot for July sometime, I'm taking my son to Cedar Point in a couple weeks. Hoping to have a little time for some of my own stuff then but money jobs always take priority. We will figure it out. I love your videos. They're great

Yeah, this one is is sweet. 

Were gonna need to get together soon man.

Great job!!

10 hours ago, ianinsa said:

That's not a villain that's Jonny rotten and that chair is his 'lazy boy' for the retirement home?

BTW. A few years ago the scrappy near Beth(who seems to have gone missing in the wash) had a pile of fly presses. With the 'Cheap' Pound?????

48 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

Very interesting; My Endocrinologist is pushing for a Continuous Glucose Monitoring system which would give me extra street cred with the Borg...I've had the discussion about lifestyles and how finicky high tech equipment mounted on my body does not play nice with blacksmithing...but resistance is futile...

Well, look at it like this Thomas....

When you do any HF TIG welding, you may be able to contact extraterrestrial beings from distant parts of the galaxy with that equipment..

48 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

Hmm my evil plans to lure minions into my clutches is working well....

Don't forget that every diabolical super villain needs one of those big, black spinny chairs with remote control buttons on the arms

On June 18, 2016 at 8:17 PM, ThomasPowers said:

Beautifully done, blade and hilting excellent!  I just wish you hadn't put the fake horns on the viking helmet---they didn't have them you know.

Maybe the Viking is a Los Angeles Rams fan??

Super job on it!!!

On June 20, 2016 at 4:11 PM, JHCC said:

Steel from a barbell is probably mild/medium carbon and probably won't harden enough to take an edge. Read the section on heat treatment.

Also, if you're interested in making woodcarving tools, you absolutely MUST read "The Complete Modern Blacksmith" by Alexander Weygers. Extensive sections on making tools from scrap, although some of his heat-treating information is a bit out of date.

I have that book and it truly is an excellent resource. Weygers is (was?) darn near genius. 

If anything, it's a great read with lots of informative pictures.

That's pretty sweet. I like the brass pieces.

Just found this thread a little while ago...

I have a Monarch Model 61 16" X 30" lathe. Have 12" & 10" three jaw chucks for it, Aloris CA tool-post and tools. Manufactured in 1954. I've had it like 12 or so years. I run it off a static phase converter and have had zero issues doing so. It's not perfect, but it's been a good machine for the general work I do. 

I haven't done anything with it as of yet. I think it may run a 2 X 60 belt, but I have to measure it. Dunno on the year either. I need to call Burr King about some stuff regarding it and I'll see if I can get a DOM on it when I do. A friend had it and it has been sitting out on his property for quite awhile. He buys and sells machinery too, but on a much bigger scale than me. I have another larger belt grinder I bought awhile back that I'm probably gonna get running first, since it needs less work than the Burr King does. The motor on the BK is an after the fact job and I can't seem to find any wiring schematics on or inside it as of yet and I'm pretty sure it was running on 460 when it was last operating. I'm sort of on the fence if I'm just gonna deal it to someone for what I got in it, I already have two working belt machines as of now and the Ryman I just bought is pretty good sized. I'm real limited on space, so something will have to go or at the very least get moved.

If you have some current pics of yours, I would love to see them!

Heres that Ryman I bought awhile back. I got it from HGR in Cleveland OH for $180. It runs strong and needs nothing more than a facelift and a reconfiguration to put it on a pedestal stand. The motor is three phase and will run off my rotary for the time being and eventually get a VFD for speed control when funds allow for it. Another reason I like it is because it has a secondary shaft to drive a flap wheel, or whatever else you wanna put on it.

Glad you got yours going. Please post pics!

Miller and the Hobart brand are both owned by ITW. When Hobart was acquired by them in the mid 90s, (not sure on an exact date IIRC anyways) ITW took the light industrial/homeowner part of the company and Thermal Dynamics, the heavy industrial part. This is why a number of offerings with both the Hobart and Thermal Dynamics branding looked identical. Sanrex manufactured the inverter machines for TD then and were the first to develop the waveshape technology currently offered by Miller and Lincoln on their flagship TIG inverter machines (soft square, adv square, triangle wave). The acquisition of Miller Electric by Illinois Tool Works was in 1994 IIRC.

Contrary to what some believe, the Hobart brand of machines (manufactured by Miller Electric) are NOT exactly the same as their Miller counterparts. As was mentioned above, Hobart machines in such categories are built with lesser quality components, and often have reduced duty cycles and output ratings. This isn't to say that the Hobart line of machines are junk by a long shot. They are, however the "budget" line of machines offered by ITW, and are focused on the homeowner, hobbiest market. The Ironman MIG machines are quite well made and offer a lot of features for the money versus their Miller cousins which are much more expensive. Many of Millers and Hobarts offerings are assembled in Miller's Appleton, WI plant with globally sourced components. Since ITWs acquisition of Maxal filler metals an others, they are rebranding these products with the Hobart name as well, since it's a known and trusted brand in the welding industry. Of course, branding and marketing of such things is better left to another discussion.

As far as welding the materials for the OPs project, the key factor will be the skill level the person putting it together possesses. If he is proficient with SMAW (stick welding) then, any old Lincoln AC tombstone with 7018 AC, or 6011/6013 electrodes will do the job fine. You can buy a used one just about anywhere, and often for $100 or less. There are many options as far as larger MIG machines go, and many different brands to chose from. My one piece of advice as someone who repairs welding machines and sells them for a living would be is to put your money in something with a good resale value, and a proven customer service network (if purchasing new). On the opposite end of the spectrum, some of the import offerings aren't a bad deal for what you spend, but at the same time keep in mind that with some of them, their warranty and post sale support may leave much to be desired. If you know that going in, it makes reaching a decision much easier. There are many options as far as a used purchase goes, but again, are probably better left for another discussion being the amount of factors involved.

Good luck with your project. 

IMHO of course

That's one lovely anvil.

Oh heck. Way cool.  

I gotta get up there and watch you make this stuff. I got those polishing wheels too. I'll do some stuff with them and post it here for a reference if nothing else. They may help shave time off the rough and mid level finishing. I know there's certain parameters you gotta stick to in regards to the polish after heat treat. If they can help it may be worth check them out.

Thanks a lot!!

Boy can I relate to that! I have two picture frames to make and tons of other stuff to get done in the coming few weeks.

The fun never ends lol.

When you get to that heart, I would like one for my wife. You got a sale for one when it happens 

Great score. 

Another winner.... Hope you sell a truckload of them!

Ever do a heart shaped pendant? Just a thought...

Yeah, the horn is quite large in comparison to the body. I was gonna mention that, but you already know.

Thanks for the info. The long tail was what really got my attention. Again, I haven't seen a lot of anvils but this one certainly looked unique to me. I would love to have it just on that alone. I like different looking stuff.

That's lovely. Almost too pretty to use

Hey, thanks a lot NJ. It sure would have been cool to have ordered one of these back in the day. I'm sure they were expensive for their time tho.

13 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

Large anvils were used for large work---if you were forge welding an anchor weighting a ton with 16 guys striking with 32 pound sledges a heavy anvil would be great!

However the use of power hammers and presses have replaced the huge anvil and bunch of strikers process

Nowadays it's mainly for "Bragging Rights" as blacksmiths suffer terribly from anvil envy.

 

Thomas, I recently saw a Hay Budden anvil at a machinery riggers shop, it's part of his collection of stuff.

Its gotta be 36" long easy. The top was very narrow at the face. Like maybe 3.5". Really long, thin heel. I couldn't get it off the pallet where it was at, but plan on going back for a second look just to photograph it. Has a small clip on the left side of the horn facing it.

Youre the historian.. Any ideas?

I know almost nothing about anvils, but I've never seen anything like it. The protruding stud on the back of the heel is peculiar too. Dunno if it was added after the fact or not. Just an uneducated guess, maybe it was made special for someone. It's not a super heavy one either. You can tell it's quite slim for its size. Couldn't see any numbers tho, need to pull it out for a closer inspection.

I know he won't sell it, but I would like to at least get some pix and give it a good ring. I'll bring my 1.250 ball bearing with me when I go back too.  

It's sorta similar to a Burr King I recently acquired. I don't have a platen for it either, but one won't be hard to make. An upright with a 90 deg piece would likely do fine. The cast piece with the slot may swivel back. Take the belt guard off and see where it's connected to the body. It could be that piece is for the table and those two little holes in the wheel guard are where a platen with slotted holes went. Yours is likely just like mine. Note the little bracket with two bolts. That holes the platen behind the belt.

The rear wheel shouldn't be a big deal. It may adjust for different size belts. You can try relocating the assembly then measure with a string to see if there's a significant change. As long as it tracks good and the belt stays on I wouldn't sweat it. Once you get the belt on it you should be able to figure out how to put a platen on it. Whatever I make for mine, it will be removable for slack sanding.

25 minutes ago, HEAP of JEEP said:

Haven't measured, but I'd guess they are 4".  I don't know enough about them to know what is original or not, but for that price, I didn't care.  It could be the ultimate Franken-vice and I still would have brought it home.  Scrap yards and me are dangerous...  I always justify it by taking a load of scrap with me, but for some reason, I seem to always leave with as much as I take... sometimes more. 

Hahaha. You and I have the same problem with scrap yards

Thats a great little vise for the money. I got a real nice one at an auction once for $2. Ended up selling it for almost $200. Probably should have kept it tho.