jlpservicesinc

Kerosene here is nearly 5.00 a gallon.. Vs road diesel at 4.09 gallon. What you are calling Petroleum might be our #2 heating oil.. #2 fuel/heating oil and gas station/ petrol station, pump diesel are nearly the same and can be used interchangeably. the only real difference is they add a color agent on heating fuel.. The difference here is that road fuel is taxed at a slightly higher rate. Kerosene is a cleaner burning fuel as it's more refined but I'm not willing to pay the extra amount.. If the burner is tuned correctly it will burn just as cleanly with road or heating diesel fuel. Aeroil designed a bunch of heaters and burners that were designed as multifuel, meaning kero or diesel or heating fuel. Be nice if I could actually find a manual for the heater.. It might have suggestions in it for just such a thing.

The original rating was 300K.. Yup, good for large area.. When I fired it up it was super smokey.. I don't know if this is typical of this vintage oil burner or not.. But, I'm not happy with all the smoke.. Smells like unburnt diesel.. I'm sure there is unburnt fuel.. So have installed a much smaller nozzle .60 gph with 45d solid. I'll see if this cleans it up some. There is no air adjustment just nozzle size.. I know that a .60gph nozzle does not put out 300K btus.. The trailer only being 8x8x10 heats up super toasty quickly.. Quickly enough I open the roof vents and the back.. The indirect heater I made worked super well both in the school and heating the trailer and burned clean.. So the clean burning is where I'm heading. If I can't get this to burn clean, I'll start looking at ways of installing a modern retention head oil burner and do away with the older tech.. I hate modifying older tech so will try to figure out a way that won't destroy what's there. I just stop and get 5gal at a time. I don't use enough diesel even with all the equipment to justify a bulk storage tank though when I see one cheap enough I'm like oooohh.. Manlift, mini dozer are gasoline.. The Kubota B6000 and IH 3800 are diesel but don't use any of them enough for bulk.. George what model do you have? Have you taken it apart for maintenance?

Well it's been sometime since an update. The lights working has led me to work on another project since I'm still forging in the trailer and it's winter.. Heat is a great thing and to heat the trailer I used my self made indirect portable heater.. But, last year a guy had an old commercial one for sale free so I went and picked it up and have been working on getting it running. And since I now had a commercial made unit. Tore the unit I made apart and thru most of it in the scrap heap.. Once I figured out it was the transformer that was bad I fired it up but it is awfully smokey.. Being an older burner without a retention head and no way to adjust the air flow to the burner I ordered some smaller nozzles.. With this, I feel badly having a piece of history just outside weathering and decided it needed a new coat of paint to help it survive another 70 years.. So cleaned it all and painted it.. I believe these are the original colors though it's hard to tell.. The color swatches were from areas not exposed to light/enviroment. The green looked correct on the computer monitor but looks a little bright.. Maybe it will darken up a little more.

This type of sandwiched knife/sword you are making is a tough one.. The welding has to be even side to side and the likelihood of a warp is off the charts.. This is a great time to learn about tension and how hammer blows are used to change this tension and straighten the blade after hardening and tempering. Yeah, not sure if forging therapy will make it better or not.. It does show me the limitations at this current time and then I can make adjustments to be still functional. Today I forged a little again. Few more samples.. Ones showing how the scarf makes a difference in how the item turns out, a hinge barrel, and finished the socketed chisel. I also did another set of leaves and was overall happier but it's a huge struggle as the hammer is everywhere since I can't apply any kind of support in the swing.. So once the swing launches, there is no correction during the swing.

yup. Nearly lopped off my right hand at the wrist.

I have a demo coming up in a few weeks at the "Conneticut Blacksmiths Guild" which will be a the Mystic Seaport Museum. The shop there is a wonderful place for a visit. I asked the person who reached out what they would like me to demo.. Interestingly she said "Forge welding". This falls in line with the last class I did at PV and a future class coming up in ME a week before the ABANA meet in PA which is it's 50yrs celebration. I will be there both competing in the group comp, but also demonstrating and teaching" Hinges".. So since I nearly lopped off my right hand I figured I'd better make up some samples of what I'll be teaching/demoing at the CBG meet.. (Since certain motions are extremely difficult/painful.) This is kinda cool because it seems nearly all the demo/teaching events will revolve around the same basic skill of forge welding.. So yesterday I spent a few hours making a bolt, a welded socket, a leaf duo and a poker point. My hammer swing is funky because of how maimed the wrist is, but still able to forge.. Just not peen that well. Will need more time with the hammer or choose a hammer with a larger/wider peen. While the overall shape of the leaves are decent, the spine running down the middle and the veins are not what they should be. I'll get in a few more practice sessions and try to dial it in more.

Found the product sheet.

Coming along nicely. Last we spoke it was still conceptual so it's great seeing it come to life. Photos of the failed hinge you originally mentioned would be great too. I'm a visual creature. I think most Blacksmiths are so seeing things is soo much better than reading a description.

gewoon IK, Hows about some photos.. I know your have been working on some projects.. Be great to see them and how your doing.. Shaina nice twists. Your pig tail scrolls are getting better too..

Pretty nice.. but aren't you missing a piece? The part that acts to keep the bar against the door.. Also known as a staple or bar keeper..

Thanks George.. Very kind of you and much appreciated.. First day forging again after nearly lopping off the right hand.. Felt really good swinging the hammer mentally.. But had to really pay attention to how each swing felt and the level of power and angle. Latticino It will be a custom stainless steel double-layer affair.. Will have the inner flue and then the outer collar.. I'm going with 12" sq single wall for the flue/stack. I've measured the temperatures of the stack and I can't find anything over 210F on the forge in the trailer even with really heavy wrought iron hammer forging/welding. There is enough air volume going up the stack.. I have started collecting 12" double wall stainless steel commercial (metalbesto) but don't see the need other than what the rule book reads as for "Coal heating appliance".. in the code book.. A forge is "not" a heating appliance.. Meaning or pertaining to the "heating of the building".. So I'll make the thimble, get everything hooked up and then call in the fire chief to talk about it.. The thimble I'm making will accept the metalbesto pipe soooooooooo..... If you have information pertaining to open coal forges and code I'm all ears.. I looked for 5hrs trying to chase down anything I could and even reached out to an old guy who was around in the 80s doing code.. He said there are "no regs" on coal fired open forges.. And since they are not used for heating a space the current codes do not apply as a "heating appliance".. LOL.. We know what that means.. LOL.. NOTHING... The thimble will be fitted on the diagonal vs square to square (chimney/building) this will allow it to divert the water and snow on a sharp uphill leading edge.. I'll also make some Sharks fins (aka crickets) to also split the snow when it starts to slide.. The thimble will have a rather large thick wide flange on top that will rest on the roof and be sealed with calk being screwed thru the roof and into the subframe.. Over this will be a Dektite silicone conformal seal . The inside portion will just have a sleeve that fits inside the secondary down tube.. What is not being said, is the opening will have to be framed in with the same metal Z and C channel that the building is made from.. The only 2 places that are structurally easy, are the very peak and then about 4" in from the bottom of the eves. This will have to be completely framed in with the Z and C of the original building so all of it will be steel. Frosty 4/12 pitch The original design was 2/12.. But told them 4/12 minimum.

Great suggestions. George, everyone should evaluate what and where they are comfortable. And take the needed precautions. My experience with outside help/professionals is lack luster. As a male you don't get the same "positive reinforcement" from other male trades professionals. This is a sarcastic statement just in case it was missed. No one will do as good as job as I will and exactly as I want it. Most people especially professionals work a certain way and won't do anything outside their narrow window. I have the manlift so this is a huge game changer. Owning your own manlift and having some common sense as to capabilities gives a freedom few can or will ever experience. All the roof penetrations will be custom fabricated thimbles with the snow and corrugated roof panels in mind.

Thanks George, If I can pull it off I'm hoping late spring.. Of course between here and there is some time.. Nearly lopped my hand off the last big snow storm.. So that put me out of commission for a while. The siding is next, then smoke stacks.. Then finish the wiring for the blacksmith side of the school.. I'll have to take a weekend to organize the equipment on the blacksmithing side to arrange the workstations.. I have a pretty good idea of where things are going, but it's always better to finalize layout.. Once the holes go thru the roof, it's a huge problem if there is a problem. Not going thru side wall for stacks because of the snow loads.

Big day today.. All the light switches work the way they are supposed to.. Wow, is all I can say.. It's been a long road getting here.. I can now move on to the inside siding to finish the electrical installation. 20240125_193615[1].mp4

Carl is a great smith.. He's even more pedagogical than I am, if that's possible..

Frosty, The school is between 60-65F everyday in the winter.. Just warm enough to be jacketless when working but not so cold you want to go into the warm.. Especially when it's below 30F.. It feels extravagant. For working in the trailer, which is still my main forging shop, I use a diesel fired indirect heater.. So no smoke, just heat.. This warms the little trailer up in about 15mins to be in a Tshirt.

Frosty the folding up one is the item.. It was supposed to be for a bon fire type of deal. Large pot.. Anyhow.. Make what ever you want.. Be great to see what you come up with.

Frosty please do design something. The caveat to the folding trivet I made was the person was complaining they could not forge weld so most options with traditional designs were off the table. The design I came up with is sectional and adjustable and comes apart completely. It can also be made larger with more sections though I don't see a need. This model adjusts from about 3" to 12". The only change of design would be some feet on the bottom for use on frozen ground.

Have you been by the old Edwards factory site?

Larry, great finds.. Great info as well.. I wonder what were the differences between the Alligator 5 and 5A or if as you mentioned it was simply for "Alligator".. The model 10 I have is a B and I know I've seen model 10E. I'll see if I can find the "model chart" I stashed it away in a book to keep it flat and safe.. I moved nearly all the blacksmithing books and literature out to the school so now can't put my finger or brain onto where I stashed it.

Larry the 5 and 10 alligator type are the oldest from what I can see of the Edwards lines.. They really were aimed it seems at the wagon tire market as their capacity was mention as such. 1/2X4, 3/4X6" etc, etc.. The Parrot jaw evolved as time moved forward and away from the conventional, older wagons and such. No need for the longer cut.. (after WWI technology spelled the end of the blacksmith) Cars vs wagons etc, etc. The cut width was brought down to 3.5" on the shear and moved toward bar stock and cable cutting.. The parrot type was available with different jaw types.. Flat, and V from what I can tell.. there is also a flip down bar that moved the cutting action further away from the jaw base for smaller stock. The alligator type of scissor action is not great at cutting cable unless the blades are very sharp or new (there is a new set of blades on top of the 10B just sitting there). Also there is not way to increase the side clearance between the cutting jaws on the 5 or 10B.. This was addressed in newer parrot models with a side pressure screw. The Newer Parrot jaw type shear is made from Semi-steel and about 2/3rds the weight for a great capacity. The 10B is 370lbs with a 1" sq capacity and the 20 with 1 3/8Sq at 265lbs.

Here are a bunch of photos of the 10B, the 5 alligator, the 5 Parrot and the 20.. I lined them up for size comparison. ON the 10 your can see the 3 shoes for the lever. The lever is bent at an angle so it sits level in the 5's and the 10B. The 10B is out of sync handle wise from the last time I took it apart to clean it.

Maybe you will get lucky.. The 5's come up for sale often.. The 5 can be a great shear.. I own and used one a lot before I got the 10B.. had it about 5 years before the 10B, Having it well mounted (bolted down) is a must.. The 10B is 3 times the size so could handle some sizes of stock without being bolted down. The 5 is a single throw shear.. Meaning the lever starts above the jaw and gets pulled 180 over the top or until the cut is made. The 10B has 3 shoes and the handle is rotated over the top and re-incerted until the cut is made. The 20 uses a ratchet system which is just up and down vs over the top 180.. Little more friendly.. The Factory sold a 5 hydraulic and a 7 hydraulic.. The manual 5 would cut 3/4" and the hydraulic could cut 1" They also made a #5 parrot jaw vs alligator Jaw but have never found any info on it. The guy I bought it from said it came from a rebar company.

The number 20 is no longer produced.. They haven't been since the 80's is what I remember. The number 20 shears can fetch a little higher price vs the older 10B/E.. They are way outdated in 90% of the modern shops.. With the low cost of bandsaws and such.. They shine with ease of use and quickness of cut and back in the day were a huge labor saver.. Have you run across one for sale or have one you are looking to sell? I paid very little money for this one in very good condition.

Larry that's too funny.. Went in the shop this morning to check out the lights.. Is there such a thing as to bright.. Ha, ha.. Still in newness mode.