HammerMonkey

Thoughts and prayers are on their way.

I like the hex idea. My first thought on the floor beams was, “what is something small falls in between?” I think it’s a clever idea, but agree with earlier posts about the practicality of that design element. Nice job with the cad drawings too!

FWIW... I believe that beech is often used for wooden mallets.

Sweet! Congrats.

The blunt tipped dive knife worked very well for prying them off the rocks...If there is anywhere that still has any decent size abalone that you are allowed to harvest! Used to be a good amount of nice ones up here in Puget Sound, but over harvesting decimated them. now they are tiny and limits are just as small.

Thank you Slag. I'd say that my days of underwater exploring are largely behind me. And it is even more unlikely that I will have the opportunity to rescue anyone again from a sunken fish net entanglement. But it is good to know the scissor trick if, for some reason, it does come up.

About 30 years ago I was diving in Puget Sound, just off the north side of San Juan Island. I came across another diver hopelessly entangled in a huge gill net that was wrapped around a huge rocky outcrop. he was in full blown panic and had consumed almost all of his air by the time I came along. I never found out if he had a dive partner that left him behind for some reason, or if he was just diving alone. My dive knife was always kept razor sharp and I was able to cut him free pretty quickly. It was lucky that I came along when I did. I've tried to cut net out of the wheel (prop) of fishing boats with serrated, not very sharp knives and found that nearly impossible to do. Titanium sounds cool, but if it couldn't hold an edge, I would probably pass as you never know when you will need a sharp blade.

Aus, the chainsaw story makes me cringe! I hope your furry pal is ok now. Das, you could try blowing up a balloon, very full, and place it in a bucket with a little kibble on top of it. if he pops the balloon as he eats, it may frighten him enough to keep him away... It won't hurt him either. I don't know?? might be worth a try

As Frosty suggested, a steel bowl should be safe on your porch. Not because the dog can't pick it up, but because dogs, in general, do not like metal in their mouth and won't want to carry it off. Whereas plastic is another story.. My father trained dogs for several decades before he passed away. He told me about most dog's aversion to metal in their mouth and sure enough, our chocolate lab won't ever pick up anything made of metal. She used to carry her plastic food dish off every day and we got tired of hunting for it, and replacing it when she chewed it up.

A one year old Lab that sleeps?? Sounds kinda strange to me... Coco was super active at first, but they say Labs will act like turbocharged puppies for only the first 10 years... lol

(***Dumb question alert***) You mentioned coke/coal forges in the video as well. But you did not mention lump charcoal specifically. My solid fuel forge burns lump charcoal, but I can pretty easily modify it so it burns coal.. Would switching to coal be necessary? Or recommended? I haven’t used it much as I do most of my work with my propane forge. But I have done some simple welding with the solid fuel forge configured for lump charcoal, and it works very well so far. i need to go back and watch carefully. I was a little unclear about the first part. It was a little dark on my small tablet screen, and hard to see. The 1/4 rod filler piece does not extend flush with the 1/8 rods, right? Otherwise they would weld to the filler rod, yes? If this is correct, how far back from the ends of the 1/8 rods does the 1/4 rod stop? Also, if I followed correctly, are the ends of the 1/8 rods unsupported at the point of the actual weld? On edit: oops, I missed the end filler rod completely... that makes sense now. I really like the format of the 2 perspective, screen in screen. I just keep forgetting to look at the small screen and sometimes miss a better view of a certain step. I need to get some 3D glasses so I can check out those videos of yours as well. thanks again jlp!

I’m going to try this... after I watch the video 1 or 8 more times... Nicely done,as always jlp!

That’s a happy looking hound, Mtn. .. Hey Homer, my 80 lb lap dog, Coco, says hi!

I would guess that he has single phase, but the variable frequency control does the conversion to 3 ph for the motor.

Those are some ugly kitties! Lol!

Hmm, is this a new motor? Can you return it? Sounds like something is out of balance still. According to a vibration troubleshooting document I read these vibration issues can come from several sources: Electrical imbalance Mechanical unbalance – motor, coupling, or driven equipment Mechanical effects – looseness, rubbing, bearings, etc. External effects - base, driven equipment, misalignment, etc. Resonance, critical speeds, reed critical etc. By disconnecting the drive wheel you have pretty much eliminated #2 & #4. I'd say it is related to #5 since it only occurs at certain RPMs. While this is not necessarily the cause of the problem, it is a manifestation of it. I would guess that #2 is a good place to start if you can't return the motor. There are bearings under the end caps at each end of the motor. If you decide to try to fix it, those are not too difficult to R&R... I don't know what you could do about #1... Otherwise, just keep the RPMs above the critical resonance speed and grind on... Good luck!

Hi Timber. What is his name? What a face... true devotion. Sorry to hear of the heart failure. I hope he stays comfortable and remains as your shop mascot for a long time to come. Nice furry friends Das. Do they live inside, or do they earn their keep by keeping your smithy rat/mouse free?

I made a simple bottle opener from a spike for a friend from Canada. He is always going on about maple syrup so I added a can opener to the other end. Finished with carnuba wax. For the can opener I forged the end to the desired thickness and point, then drifted a hole through it. I then took an old allen wrench and mig welded it in the hole and zipped it off, ground it smooth, then forged the shape for the tab (lever??) and bent the point down. Unfortunately the weld on the underside has some voids... ugh. But, both ends of the opener function well. I mailed it off to him yesterday. I hope he likes it.

You’ve got all the elements there... just needs a little balance. Good practice for sure.

Thank you. She is a trained service dog and pretty smart too. My best friend.

Is there a pulley or drive wheel on the motor's shaft? It sounds like you have some kind of a harmonic imbalance issue. It may resolve itself once you install it and there is a load on the motor.

Hahahaha! (BTW, I'm with Das on this)

I found my first (and only) anvil at an online auction last year. It is a 1911 Trenton, weighing 185 Lbs. I payed a little over $4 a lb. I know it’s not a price worth bragging about, but I have no regrets. I love it.

JLP, I just saw this on FB. I can't wait to see the video. Very cool!

Wow, nice score! I think the price is good for all of that. Especially up here in the NW.