Mills

Keep it cool first and mostest. Second a lube. the best I have used is the ptree lube sold in the Iforgeiron store here. It is hands down better than anything else on the market or that you can concoct. and very cost effective. I am wondering though which it is punching or drifting? The title says Drifting but you ask about sticking the punch.

Thomas that is quite nice. A real nice job.

Tong rings are our friend. as is short jaws. Struggling with some 1 1/2 " S-7 on the power hammer drawing it down I used a set of goose necks I made that had the jaws break off. I had thinned them too much. Tried them out as Clifton Ralph and others have demoed and that really made a believer of me for pincer type tongs. Will be making some more soon. Jayco one thing I tried to do in my tong making was to duplicate Grants off center tongs. That is a the wrong way6 for me. I now start with 5/8 rd min stock size up from 1/2. I will draw the reins down to 3/8 rd. This is more in line with old tongs and I find they last longer for me. heavy jaws light reins big rivets and 18" length or more. I do regularly work with heavier stock but I also will use the same approach scaled back for 3/8 and smaller. I'll use 1/2 rd and smaller rivets but still keep them 16" or more. With a tong clip I can then grab at a balance point and it forges nicely. Lastly, in production on small hooks and leaves, OC tongs are the only way to go. no tong clip cause things are happening to fast for that. that is where the light weight short length shines.

If you use a tong clip then for practical purposes the force is duplicable and singular.

Same here, only I carry the MIG with me Thomas not to hijack the thread but what of Cast Iron Finials? I have wondered if it would be worth the cost to use a SS wire to get them to hold better. I have spotty results using the E70-S6 wire.

Why bother? Working in a cramped environment is frustrating. Use it to store or remodel to adapt it. I had to truck my stuff out to the driveway for years cause a coal forge inside a garage gets smokier than a bar on Saturday night.

rthibeau advice is sound, the question to be answered is where are you going to go find new customers? I am mainly doing fence repair on a big fence at the moment, no forge work and many are getting to know me that way BUT I am doing a wholesale gift show where all I will display are forged iron products to people who don't know me from Chris Pook ALL orders I get from there will be new business new people in a direction I want to go in. It is not easy switching gears, you have to carve out the time somewhere. Good Luck to you

Dan I was asking the same questions last year to get my Miller 35 up and going. Same thing we ran down all the likely trouble spots and then it was something that you just have to SEE. good going My Miller had several problems that I resolved over several troubleshooting sessions. BTW loved your interview.

First check for or confirm you have clean wire. Then make sure that it is clean. and then ... welp thats the idea. Also If you have a fresh roll you may want to try it as well. I watched one fellow fight with a MIG and when he changed to a new spool the trouble went away. next step, Dan I take it you have a new liner? Then if the rolls are slipping they may be dirty, run a tip of a pocket knife in the groove and see what happens. If they are slipping and more tension causes a bird nest then it is time to look at the system starting with where the wire exits the rolls and goes into the gun. Strt setting and tightening everything. there are other things but try all that then ask again if needed.

BP0078 The Metallurgy of Heat Treating

For rough shaping having the work in the vice and grinding is good. Next put a belt sander in the vice and use it to finish it to the shape you want. I also use the angle grinder with fiber discs sometimes but it is much less controllable. Once you have the size and precision you seek then heat and and bend to the desire shape. You may need to make a jig to get things identical. To avoid using up a lot of pliers I'd suggest some mild steel to work out the process with. Once you have the shape, quenching in oil is a good first step to get back to hard without being in danger of breaking it. Next is to bring it to a good temper. Using the belt sander again polish up the piece so that it is shiny. then heat SLOWLY til the colors run. Again I would use mild steel first to see the changes happening so that you will be ready for it. Heat until you get a nice deep yellow to purple color then quench in oil, shine it up and run the color the same way again. Now there are a LOT of gaps in this procedure that we aren't covering. This seems to be your first heatreating attempt. If you have no success ask more questions, but you may also want to search this site for heattreating information to get a better feel for what you are wanting the steel to do.

I am very selective anymore for the same reasons irnsrgn states. It is far more productive to buy known steel and make something than to spend the design time to use something sorta like what I want. Even tools I'll bypass if they are going to need more than an electric cord. To find some nice large pieces of known scrap that has a use is different.

Bob about 1/4 of the way down Hofi specifies where to punch the eye. That is the difference for different size stock. All else remains the same.

Elm is the choice of wood for split resistance. It is specified in wagon hubs for that reason. Cottonwood also has the characteristic of being cross linked. How ever both elm nd cottonwood rot pretty fast. I wouldn't use either for a buried stump but have used elm for a portable. It held up pretty well.

I have bought from Hansen and have looked at Jaycee you can find what you need but I was some set back at the prices. When I figured my time and needs I won't be stocking store boughts. I only need a few at a time so I have made the tooling and will spend the money for stuff I can't make.

Newbie all may not be lost. There are some variables here that may help you salvage what you have. In fact you may be 1 step short of finishing. Rivet can be hot or cold, one head at a time or both, depending on tools and skills. The easiest most straight forward is cold with a store bought rivet. Put it in support the formed head in a bolster and tap away on the other side till set. Rivet set can be a very nice addition to your tool box to help the heads look good. After riveting I almost always experience some upsetting in the hole. Tong jaws won't move. Heat the rivet/boss area up to a nice orange heat and work slowly and as you feel the joint starting to loosen. Be sure it is the joint and your not just bending hot steel. If needed I will use a water can to isolate the area I need. A few seconds of heat should be all that is needed. Continue to work the jaws as they cool. I sometimes will quickly dunk the tongs in and out of the slacktub to speed things up but I also don't think it is a good practice. Use at your discretion. Once cooled enough that they are stable, set aside and let cool off completely or risk grabbing something hot. The above is also the way to fit and adjust your tongs as needed for your work, EXCEPT you get the jaws hot and cool the boss/rivet then fit to the work. Try to get enough tongs that it is unnecessary in day to day operation. About everybody here has screwed up something simple. Don't sweat the small stuff. If the above doesn't help you then some more details will help us walk you through it. some BPs for riveting BP0015 Tong Rivets

This thread really helped me with my projects. I never thought about draping a ground cable over the pipe. I do use a c clamp that I welded a piece of angle iron to and use that as a handle to aid in turning it in the v blocks. I started using it as the grounding point but the lead gets in the way usually.

Good job, and I wish you success at the next level as well.

I think what Thomas is asking, is your end product to be cast iron or cast steel? or something else like wrought iron? Kinda hard to follow your thoughts.

if you want one, print this off and take it with you, The HF stores I have been to won't give you the price without printing it off. Harbor Freight Tools - Compact Bender

Some of the best first aid for wounds I have used is Silvadene. It is a prescription but should be easy to convince the doc to write it up. I'll almost use on my toast to start my day off right. It is for burns usually but I have used it on every open wound including a dog ear infection and wifes lesions on her legs from diabetes. Everything heals faster with it.

Peter, the most reasonable expectation is some solid wood some thin rubber then the hammer. The rubber allows a little movement so that the lag screws don't come out as fast. I have done this with a 50 LG and it walks around so I have also lagged it into the slab. it is better. No heavier than a 25 is, a friend has simply caulked the floor of his shop and set the hammer (same as yours) directly to the slab. It doesn't walk or bounce or crack. It is also well tuned and stays that way.

Roughneck, Carpenter, Soldier, Bus Driver, Environmental grunt, Mechanic, and now self employed billing myself as a smith and trying to make it a reality.

Yes that is a good deal. You can put longer leads on the box to reach bigger projects, which I am unable to do with my aluminum core. I have done as Rfunk suggests and have extension cords that allow me to run from my dryer outlet to the front of the garage. One of the wisest uses of time and money for me to date was to take a code class for home wiring. There were mostly maintenance guys and young wannabe electricians in it. fertile ground indeed. Not only that but I have the Electric codebook and familiarity enough with it that I feel confident on most single phase problems. Pursuing this hobby or vocation means you will be dealing with electric loads more and more.

I think it is good that you are considerate of others. So many are not. With that in mind, I determine who I will talk with and what to talk about. If mentioning a web site will create conflict, I try to avoid doing so, but I won't worry about it much should somebody take exception. I no longer frequent Anvilfire as I really don't have much to offer in that atmosphere. As for it being inhospitable, Well Jock has put a lot of effort into his site and defends the content vigorously. And he seems to apply that evenhandedly to everybody. Someways it comes out as 'he doesn't play well with others'. His way is just that. Some will grumble but shouldn't as it IS a free country. Lastly you asked for IFI's position and I certainly don't qualify as the spokesman so Glenn will need to make his answer should he choose to. If he doesn't respond, you can read his responses on linking to other sites and I believe you will see what IFI's position is ...in the actions it takes.