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I Forge Iron

Irondragon Forge ClayWorks

2023 Donor
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Everything posted by Irondragon Forge ClayWorks

  1. My new PCP has a Nurse PA and she is great with years of experience. I think she is teaching him some stuff like bedside manner and how to talk with older patients (like me). I really hate breaking in a new doctor. I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sail’s. Semper Paratus
  2. If you look up in the blue banner, you will see activity. Click/tap that and another drops down, my activity streams and content I started, either one will let you find your stuff. I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sail’s. Semper Paratus
  3. This is not medical advice but my own personal observation. Another thing you might have your doctor check is your testosterone level. After surviving testicular cancer in 2017 at age 74 I began finding my strength and stamina starting to wane. Every time I went to my PCP for my annual check up, I would mention that to him. He had been my doctor for over 30 years and I figured he knew my body better than I did. He would always tell me it was normal as we age and said that a testosterone level test wasn't warranted. Well he retired back in 2019 or 2020 and I got a new PCP who took his place. We hit it off from the start even though he was a lot younger and a D.O. He knew I was retired and did blacksmithing as a hobby and was very interested in that. When I told him that I went from being able to pick up and carry a 120 pound anvil, to struggling to move something that weighed about 40 pounds and had to use pliers to open the stupid aluminum seal on a can of coffee, along with only being able to work in the forge for an hour or two instead of all day. He decided that he would test my T-level as part of my physical. Normal T-levels for my age are something like 200-400 and mine came back at 40. He put me on T-Gel therapy and now I'm pretty much back with my strength and stamina before chemo & radiation treatment. Although I haven't had to pick up an anvil, I can pick up a 40 pound sack of dog food and carry it to the truck and open those coffee cans using just my thumb & index finger. So definitely my strength has returned and I can swing my hammer most of the day instead of having to quit after an hour.
  4. My thought is if the inscription is actually "steady" it could be referring to a tool most Blacksmith's use to hold long stock in the forge and on the anvil. It has many names like "third hand", "stock support", "stock rest" and a couple others that don't come to mind right now. The term steady rest usually used with a metal or wood lathe though. Possible he used a lathe as many smiths do have and use one. So I could see that inscribed on an old tombstone. One that I made can be seen next to the anvil in this picture and is portable and adjustable for height. Another one connected to the propane forge. I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sail’s. Semper Paratus
  5. Welcome from the Ozark Mountains. Tongs are made to be adjustable. If you heat them to orange and adjust them to hold your stock should not weaken the jaws. Maybe post a picture of the tongs would help and letting us know where in the world you are located, there may be someone close enough to advise you with hands on. I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sail’s. Semper Paratus
  6. I left the house at 10:30 hrs headed to the tire place. When I got there they were just standing around, so a couple of the guys grabbed the wheels and new tires from the truck and had them mounted, balanced and back in the truck in about ten min. I was back home and the wheels back on and torqued to 100 pounds on the Z24 by 12:15 hrs. Back on the road and what a difference in performance & handling. We watch a lot of NASCAR and those pit crews have nothing on me.
  7. When we lived down in Florida the house had a large screened in patio and overlooked a canal. One day some friend's came over and had their 7 year old boy with them. When they came in the front door the boy seeing the patio & canal beyond ran full speed right through the closed sliding glass door. Thank goodness for tempered glass he suffered a bump on his head but no injuries from the broken glass. The boys mother was a nurse and checked him over very good, we were afraid he may have suffered a concussion and wanted him to go to the ER but she assured us he was fine and had a very hard head. After having the glass replaced (again with tempered glass) we put all sorts of stickers on it to indicate the door was closed. No more embarrassing incidents. I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sail’s. Semper Paratus
  8. Welcome from the Ozark Mountains Look in your area for Farrier's supply, they usually carry coal, although it may be bituminous. Another place in the U.S. that carries anthracite coal is Tractor Supply. I don't know if there are any stores in your area though. I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sail’s. Semper Paratus
  9. This is probably more than you ever wanted to know about a leg/post vise, but some good info here. http://www.iforgeiron.com/images/tuesday/shown/485/BP0485.shtml I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sail’s. Semper Paratus
  10. I had a flat tire on my classic 1987 Chevrolet Cavalier Z24 hatchback. It went flat when we had all that nasty cold, snow & ice a couple of weeks ago. A couple of days ago after it warmed up a bit I took my air tank out to the car port where it lives and aired up the tire. I checked for the leak with some soapy water and found an old plug was leaking so I drove it over to the garage and replaced the plug. Checked it again and the new plug was holding just fine. I checked the air in the tire before driving it and it was low again so I pulled the wheel off and checked it again for another leak. Well it was leaking from the bead at the rim. I got to checking the service folder on when & where I had bought those tires and found out they were 13 years old Goodyear Grand Am radials. I guess I got my money's worth out of them and decided to buy a set. I found out that Goodyear discontinued that tire 8-10 years ago. The dealer said he had sold the last one he had in stock 3 years ago. About the only place I drive the old war horse anymore is to my mailbox a half mile round trip on the driveway, so I decided to take that tire & wheel to the dealer where I get my truck tires to see if it could be fixed. Threw it in the back of the pick-up and off I went. That dealer is about 15 miles from the house and it takes me about 20 min to get there. The weren't very busy and Steve one of the tire guys took one look at it and said it was so old and starting to crack, it was not repairable as it probably would fail (blow out) at highway speeds. I went inside to the office and had the manager check the Hankook line for a comparable tire. Hankook's are what I have on the pick-up and really like them. The Goodyear's are an odd size 215/60 R 14 and no one makes that size so Brad said he would check with his warehouse to see if they had any of the Goodyear's left in stock. They had 3 of them and the cost was now $285 a tire (ouch). Nope I would need 4 even if they could find another one. Brad said the closest tire that Hankook had was a 205/70 R 14 which should fit and be just a little taller. I knew there was enough room in the wheel well for it so I asked "how much". He said normally the were $125 a tire but he could let me have them for $110 so I said sold. Steve put the new tire on and put the other three in the bed of my truck. He said I should trailer the Z24 over to have the other 3 put on, especially if the others were in the same shape. I don't have a trailer the Z24 would fit on so I told him I'll be back with another wheel & tire in about an hour and will bring the other 2 tomorrow. Sure enough Got the second tire mounted and put back on the car. Good thing that I decided to do it that way as the tire on the other side had a noticeable bulge on the inside sidewall. Probably wouldn't have made it 5 miles on the highway before blowing out. I jacked the front end up and put jack stands under it and removed both front wheels and threw them in the truck. Good thing I have the equipment & air tools to do that or the job would have been a lot harder. I'll be on the road back over to the tire dealer tomorrow mid morning and by lunch time I should have the Z24 back on the road.
  11. Welcome from the Ozark Mountains. Where might anywhere be? Did you read the whole thread, TW had several offers to buy that vise back in 2022. TWISTEDWILLOW has been pretty busy and doesn't sign in very often so it might get his attention to send him a PM. I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sail’s. Semper Paratus
  12. Welcome from the Ozark Mountains. That is certainly an outstanding William Foster anvil, especially knowing the family history. I hope you have read about not doing any grinding, milling or welding on the hardened steel face, which will do more harm than good. As I read the weight 0 3 18 (hundred weight) relates to 102 pound's when made. I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sail’s. Semper Paratus
  13. That is exactly what I do, step back and rethink things. I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sail’s. Semper Paratus
  14. That burner looks like an old GACO MR-100 Kiln burner. They are designed to run large pottery kilns and should have a removable orifice and should not be mounted like that one is. We used a smaller GACO MR750 in our forge we built. When used in a kiln they have an orifice size around 0.1015 our burner had a .0625 orifice way to large. If you google that burner they are still in business. Might check out this thread for burner problems we encountered and the fix, a .035 orifice. 20 pound propane tank forge in progress - Gas Forges - I Forge Iron I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sail’s. Semper Paratus
  15. Wow an original WWII Fairbairn–Sykes dagger (fighting knife) is truly a wonderful family treasure, especially engraved like yours. I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sail’s. Semper Paratus
  16. Since all the Viking ships that have been recovered and restored had only one sail the mast would only have one spar. It would be easy to remove the lower one. When I showed it to Debi, she said it's gorgeous and the second spar (lower one) doesn't detract from the over all look as far as she is concerned. Now if it had been outfitted with 2 sails it would be a problem. Who knows some of the larger ocean going fighting Long Ships may have been outfitted with a top sail but haven't been found yet. After all it has been documented that the largest fighting Long Ships, carried a crew of up to one hundred trained warriors with 32 rowing benches so that would have 64 members at the oars at any given time.
  17. I don't know how close you are to the Alabama line, but the Alabama Forge Council have chapters & meetings and events all over the state. Some may be close enough to attend. Might want to check them out on their web site. https://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/100-alabama-forge-council/ https://alaforge.org/ I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sail’s. Semper Paratus
  18. I noticed the pistol boot jack of Scot's are hinged at the top so they fold. I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sail’s. Semper Paratus
  19. I love the boot jack Scott, being a muzzle loader I am going to try and forge/fabricate something like that. I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sail’s. Semper Paratus
  20. Yep, here in NW AR they are building so fast and cheap it's hard to interest anyone in hand made metal work. Sometimes restoration projects turn up but I'm no longer doing that work. I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sail’s. Semper Paratus
  21. Looks like you didn't get welding heat all the way through the billet. Make sure you let it "soak" in the welding heat a while to heat it through. Patients in the fire is a virtue, don't rush things. I would cut the billet half way through and fold it over and re-weld the whole mess. Also get some cut off wheels for the angle grinder. I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sail’s. Semper Paratus
  22. BTW: A good place to find a good working bathroom scales, are places like Goodwill or Thrift shops and yard sales. I found the one I use in the shop for around $10 U.S. about 15 years ago. I just tested the scale to make sure it agreed with my weight at the time 205 lbs. I know at 5ft 7in I was a little chunky and it still works and I'm at 178 lbs now. I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sail’s. Semper Paratus
  23. Welcome from the Ozark Mountains. 1901 would be the date it was made (69056) serial number. Yes the 4 ? 0 should be the weight when made so 4 hundred something pounds is a close estimate. It's a great looking Hay Budden. Should give another century of outstanding service. A coating of BLO (boiled linseed oil) would also protect it from rusting and if it isn't being used wipe some ATF on the face. I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sail’s. Semper Paratus
  24. A close friend and fellow officer spent time in the war as a peace keeper. Most of his time was in Bosnia. When the war was over he returned to the States with some souvenirs. He gave me two 20mm cannon shell casing with what is called "Trench Art" all engraved with the name BOSNIA stamped into the base. Sadly he passed away due to a heart attack about ten years ago. I still have the casings as a reminder of our friendship and think of him every time I see them. I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sail’s. Semper Paratus
  25. Nice setup, although I would move the forge closer to the anvil to save steps and losing heat in the stock. Another nice thing is the hammock to plop down in, to look at and listen to the birdies for relaxation. I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sail’s. Semper Paratus
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