TWISTEDWILLOW

That smithy is looking better a between all the time!

Leaving it 6 feet away from the Wood stove might not hav been the best idea! Bahaha well imma let it finish drying out and fill in the cracks and try it out anyways, ive got plenty leftover so I’ll re do it later, I think when I redo it I’m not gonna make it so thick, an I’ll set it in a side room in the shop with a bag over it to help it dry more slowly,

Nah they’re different, you got to get a federally issued license from the fcc to operate a ham radio, lots a of studying on electronics, radio waves, compliance ect… Jerry I think it’s hey dropped the permit requirement for Citizens band in the late 70s

I never had a ham radio setup but I remember messing around with CB radios

That was prolly back in the days when some folks still built the radio they were using! I dunno that imma get that far into it but I thought it’d be cool to go ahead an get the basic license and see if there’s any smiths on here that have a station I could try an contact from peavine!

I took a fun little 3 hour intro class at the local votech this morning for ham radio, it was really interesting what all you can do! you can talk to people in other countries and even the international space station! we got to talk on one of the radios real quick to someone over in Arizona and made contact with someone in Spain! we tried to make digital contact with someone in England and in Belgium but we couldn’t get a good lock on em from what I understood, it sounds fun! im thinking about maybe goin a little deeper and studying to take the tech license exam and maybe put a small radio setup in my shop, Are any of y’all here on the forum amateur radio operators here in the USA or anywhere else In the world?

Got an unexpected surprise in the mail today! a friend and forum member sent me a chisel they made! thanks a bunch!!! I’ll let you identify if you want too,

Yeah I got to looking at this one last night before I went in, I decided the fire grate was too high so I used a heavy rubber mallet and drove it down to where the flange was just below the liner top

Yeah I put it in relatively dry but then I did slick the very top up to smooth it out, i didn’t hammer it in I rolled it in by hand maybe a bit to much I’ll see tomorrow when I get out to the shop

I don’t have any trouble with my stands moving on me, an they weigh 100 pound or less minus the vises, but then again I’m not normally working anything bigger then 1” stock or stock longer then 3-4’ I can move them as need be to rearrange the smithy, that setup works great for me but may not work for everyone, now when I’m needing something I can clamp down heavy stock or really long stock an need to put some torque on it, I use the 200 pound 8” vise bolted to my 1000 pound table and have no issues,

Thomas, You need another one? There’s still one here settin in the yard! I promise it would look better in your yard then mine! AngryOninon, if you get that big Buffalo blower an decided ya don’t want it, you can always haul it down to Peavine America!!! I’ll trade ya an anvil or a post vise or something else rusty for it!

Hey now! That looks pretty slick Alexandr! well my hole saw made it today, cut out the reinforcement plate for the little champion forge, got the tuyere bolted down tight and got the clay slapped in there, I ended up using way less then I ordered an still came out with a pretty thick liner, read up on this clay, it says it’s heavy grog clay and resistant to shrinkage, chipping and cracking so that’s kinda cool! I set the forge over by the shop stove figured the stove would help with drying it since it’s so humid, the blower is gonna be the next project, gonna prime an paint it too, and I’ve order a new oiler for it since the one on it is damaged, but I wanted to hook it up for now just to get a feel for it,

Industrial like factories, rail yards, ship yards and oil fields had big forges with big blowers, and like Job said sometimes multiple forges ran on single air supply’s, personally if that was at a local auction here I’d be all over that!!! do a body need something that ridiculously large?…. No but then again people don’t need 1000 pound industrial anvils and swage blocks either! We just want em! Lol i say go for it as long as it don’t go for stupid high!

I don’t even know Jerry! I didn’t see it, all I know is it was searing pain, a big welp that spread out quite a few inches and swelling that lasted several hours, arms still sore but the swelling done went down im guessin it was an ol wasper or a hornet that didn’t appreciate me moving its house, I’ve got black widows an fiddle backs here but those are a different kinda bite all together, I been but three times over the years by fiddle backs an that’s a royal pain when the rot sets in, today was fast an painful an i didn’t see who got me but I’m sure it was something that flys I got lots of critters that live around the shop so there’s no tellin what got ticked off lol

Well George that’s cause ya ain’t introduced yerself yet! Bahaha, Seriously though im with ya I don’t understand the abstract art no matter what type it is, but….. on the other hand look at what those dudes Picasso an Dali’s stuff is goin for nowadays! Weird stuff to me but other people love that! Just cause you an Me don’t get it, don’t mean someone else won’t find it awesome! just sayin!

That ain’t no joke I started moving all the blowers an other junk outta the smithy yesterday an today, an earlier a very discontented critter came out of one and crawled up my arm an stung the (fill in the blank…………..) outta me, left a pretty good welp lol

That’s good to know Randy! Tell Debi I said thanks! I got 50 pounds of this stuff so it’s way more then I actually needed but I figured I could use the leftover on the next one if it works out on this forge, 2 coats primer an 2 coats paint applied and dried, clay made it this afternoon but I’m waiting on a hole saw to get here to make the new reinforcement plate, got the legs an brace put back on the pan though!

Shanias talking bout building stands like I do outta steel but instead of the acorn setting on the plate like mine having it pass through to lower the vise height, it’s a good idea Shania! I think it will work good for you on that Peter Wright farm vise! I hadn’t thought of that before!

Just looked it up, didn’t see any about melting clay just something about the cone ratings are for final firing of glaze the one I ordered is in the 2000s for firing I’m not worried either way, it will work or it won’t I don’t know what the cone rating is for red dirt outta the bar ditch either, but it works great in every forge I’ve built or restored, this time I just wanna try something I ain’t gotta dig gravel out of lol Jerry why did you put saw dust in your liner?

Bummer I already ordered some a few days ago, it’s supposed to be delivered today, thank yall for the offer though! I don’t know anything about pottery clay but the stuff I ordered said something about cone5? and Terracotta is supposed to be the color, the reviews I read had some people complaining said it was gritty and had sand in it, but I’m not making any pottery so I don’t care about the sand lol

Thanks Shaina he was hilarious walking around downtown with that tail wagging behind him stomping and roaring lol, Jerry, Glad you liked it! I found a set of Halloween cards with 10 different designs on them online so I ordered a few sets so I’d have enough to send everyone, as well as the skull an cross bones stamp an red letter wax, I thought that would look cool on Halloween cards! thought about usin black envelopes too but I don’t know how the post office people could read the addresses

Tore down the forge I picked up Saturday, heavy rust was a bit more then I anticipated right around where the tuyere pipe blots up, rest of the pan is in good condition but imma need to cut out a piece of plate to overlap the bad spot to help reinforce it, stripped everything down with a wire wheel an started on the first coat of rustoleum primer, i do two coats of primer an two coats of stove paint hang drying to the touch outside then finished drying it out faster with the shop stove since it’s a little cool an humid outside, Ratchet the shop dog is keeping a close eye on it, the blower was locked up and the impeller is trashed but I had another spare blower handy in good shape the original cast iron ash gate was missin but I had a spare one of those too, I’ve decided to copy Randy an Debi on this one and try out lining it with pottery clay instead of messin with the rockey red dirt from the ditch, it’s a steel pan so probably don’t need a liner but I figured with the primer an paint an a good liner insulating it from the heat the old pan will last another few decades of use,

ok that’s good!!! I was afraid you thought I was setting next to Thomas a Jerry on the mayflower when they came over!!!! Bahaha im just joking y’all… don’t be puttin no Halloween hexes on me!! I forgot to post my letter opener, I saw an idea online and I attempted to copy it, i failed miserably lol its made from 3/4” x 1/8” it will open a letter but the handle looks like it’s 1/2” offset from the cuttin part lol I think I way over twisted it, I’ll try it a few more times an see if I can’t make a decent looking one later, tried to post the pics but keep getting error message, I’ll take new pics in the mornin an post then when I’m back out In The shop,

That’s awesome happy Halloween Scott!

Thanks Jennifer! he had a ball! Not sure what age y’all thought we was but Max is 2-1/2 an I turn 36 this comin December lol that drill press looks awesome!!! I’ve got a couple around the shop that got some old motors like that one, but mine are DIW I need to get the motors rewinded cause their pretty fried,