careful_eugene

23 hours ago, Andrew Collington said:

Probably simple stuff, I know, but I made some tree decorations today.

 

They look pretty good to me, what size steel did you use?

22 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

 if that is supposed to have molten wax in the cup and a flame underneath it; I would suggest making it MUCH more stable with a much wider base or to fasten that base to a piece of wood larger than it.

Thanks, it's more stable than it looks but I'll see about fastening it down to a piece of wood.

Made a small dishing tool from a handrail knuckle then a wax melt burner for my daughter using the dishing tool.

Goods, they look superb and I think the leather holder is the right way to go.

I made 2 bottle openers (on Sunday), one from an old spanner and one from a shear-stud although I think the hole in the shear stud is too large. I also started a double candle holder from a trimmed off piece of UC that I found in the scrap bin at work, not sure how it's going to turn out yet.

Makes sense, thanks for the feedback. I've put the plate in the centre at 90 degrees to the outer supports. 

17 hours ago, Irondragon ForgeClay Works said:

That's about as interesting of a stand I've ever seen, I like it. How stable is it with side to side pressure?

It’s very stable, the hands and feet go through slots in the top and base plates and are welded both sides. Although to be fair, I’m only doing quite light work

 I think I’m going to put a plate in at 1 end for additional lateral stability as the new anvil is considerably heavier.

This is my mild steel ASO, I made it about 3 years ago and have been using it ever since, after joining this forum and reading about anvils and how they work I'm aware of the flaws in this one. We use a lot of thick plate where I work so getting profiles cut is easy, the total weight not including the stand is 77Kg. I was going to make a new one last year when one of the forks broke on our large fork-truck, the broken one was scrapped and I claimed the unbroken one, it was 250mm wide and 70mm at it's thickest point. Unfortunately I had a week off and when I came back it had been scrapped. I've recently bought a real anvil which I collect on Monday so am retiring this one.

The stand is made using 16mm thick weathering steel and will probably be re-used with the new anvil.

5 hours ago, HojPoj said:

Shrink wrap wouldn't cut the mustard for that sort of application, you'd need a hermetically sealed enclosure.  A large heat-sealing bag might work, but the reality is that handling things would most likely damage the plastic.

We shrink wrap some very heavy equipment (bridge bearings etc) to pallets with the main aim of stopping them moving during transport. Some bearings weigh up to 150Kg so I believe it would work, the trick is to use heavy polythene and ensure that it's well sealed.

How about cleaning the anvil thoroughly then shrink wrapping in plastic together with a few sachets of silica gel? Ideally this would need to be undertaken in a dry environment. The main advantage would be that you wouldn't have to remove any grease oil or paint when you wanted to use the anvil again.

I spent a day last week with David Southgate, blacksmith at the Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet in Sheffield. I first went last year and made a hook, bottle opener and monkey skull keyring under his supervision, this time I wanted to try a few different processes (forge welding etc.) so asked if I could make a dragon head poker and toasting fork. Poker pictures are below. If you're ever in the Sheffield area the museum is a great place to visit, it's an old scythe works dating from the 18th century.

That is a serious piece of kit, I love the eye bolt solution.

19 hours ago, Charles R. Stevens said:

Eugene, if you go and help the wife in the house and do it right she will inevitably runn you off and be glad to have you exiled to the garage. Helping fold fitted sheets is a good start, as is laundry and dishes. Just once of you dying her whites pink, whashing the glasses after the greasy pans in luke warm water and wading up the sheets will get you exiled from house work. If not braking a few of those hideous nicknacks wile dusting and sweeping surly will. 

Thanks for the advice, not sure my marriage is this strong!

19 hours ago, Buzzkill said:

Conversely, making some items that are useful/decorative around the house when you are "messing about in the garage" may go a long way towards her being more supportive of your messing about.

I'm a little ways off from useful or decorative at the moment but hope to get there in the end.

Hi, whereabouts are you in Nottingham? I've just started forging (practising making hooks mainly) following a whole day spent with a blacksmith in Sheffield. I too use a gas forge but haven't had any noise complaints yet just low level murmurings from the wife about how I ought to be making myself useful in the house rather than "messing about in the garage".

On 1/12/2018 at 3:15 AM, redbate said:

Hey guys this might be a weird question but I wanted to know if anyone has tried this. I work on concrete all day and today when I woke up I realized I could barely stand due to the heel of my foot being in extreme pain

Could this be a posture issue? I've heard of similar problems being solved by using support insoles. It might be worth investigating before buying and laying down sand or gravel.

Superb piece of work, I love the texturing on the tree. What finish will you use?

Thanks for the replies chaps.

15 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

It looks in great shape!  Can you see the boss on the pivot bolt that engages the notch in the cheek hole to keep the bolt from turning?  If it or it's remains are not there then it's probably a replacement as the cheek hole shows wear in the notch area.

I've replaced several pivot bolts to make my vises less original but more usable.  My biggest repair was when I heat shrunk and riveted in a plug in the original moving arm pivot hole and then redrilled it to even up the jaws in the vertical plain. 5.5" jaw vise with some heavy work having been done on it!  (It's currently doing time at the Uni Fine Arts Metals shop where it sees more abuse---students!)

There is the remains of a boss on the end of the bolt so it will only fit one way into the hole. The bolt is also slightly bent so it's probably a good idea to replace it with something more modern.

7 hours ago, Irondragon Forge & Clay said:

It's great that you have the history on your vise. The only suggestion I have is when you replace the wooden block, use a short piece of pipe and weld it to the base plate bringing the leg closer to vertical.

Yes it is leaning quite a lot, I'll do that.

I have acquired a post vice that used to belong to my Grandfather, and great Grandfather before him. They were builders not blacksmiths and the vice was attached to a large wooden bench in an out building adjacent to the house my mother still lives in. I can remember the bench being cut up and burnt in the early 1980’s as it was rotting and no longer of any use, the vice was nearly thrown in the skip but ended up in the corner of the out building.

I was recently looking for something else and came across the old vice and dragged it outside for a better look, it was covered in cobwebs and seized up at the pivot bolt. I thought it was a shame that it had been left for so long so I decided to clean it up and make a stand for it so that I could use it again. I also wanted to try and find out how old it was so started looking up post vices on the internet where I quickly found this website.

To say how long it’s been left languishing, it’s in fairly good condition. It was easy to dismantle and most parts aren't too badly pitted. I've cleaned it up using a rotary wire brush and some gentle sanding (particularly around the pivot point). I’ve degreased and re-greased the screw and re-assembled everything, it all moves nice and freely. As for its age I was hoping someone here might be able to shed some light. The screw is machined not brazed, I can’t find any markings, the jaws are 140mm wide (5 ½”) and parts of it look handmade rather than factory made(see photos below). I’ve made the following assumptions:

1, It’s made of wrought Iron due to the light levels of rust.

2, It’s been made by a blacksmith copying existing designs (no chamfers on the leg). Could the screw parts have been bought in?

3, It’s more than 100 years old as my Great Grandfather probably acquired this prior to WW1 although I can’t prove this.

4, It’s of English origin.

The new stand has a 56Kg base plate made from 30mm thick weathering steel, the post is 150mm x 150mm x 5mm SHS and the top plate is 16mm thick weathering steel all are grade S355. The vice is fixed to the top plate using M12 bolts. I didn't realise that the wooden block I put under the foot had split until after everything had been assembled, I'll replace this with something larger. Does anyone think I should I treat the outside of the vice with anything to inhibit rust? Any information / speculation on the history would be gratefully received. Thanks for reading.