BillyBones

I would move the blower closer to the forge. Seems a bit far away. I use coal. I also use charcoal to start my fire. I will soak a couple handfuls of lump charcoal with a bit of lighter fluid, not in my fire pot, it may be on the far side of caution but i do not think it a good idea to put lighter fluid down the tuyere. Light the charcoal and start pulling the coal around the fire so that it makes a "volcano". I like the charcoal also becuase it makes fire fleas, to many is to much air, none is not enough. The hole in the volcano makes a heat "jet" so to say, that heat will make the smoke from the coal get pulled towards it and burnt in the flame. Smoke is the unburned volatiles from the coal. The trick is to keep enough heat on top of the fire to combust the smoke. With that in mind it may help to put up some sort of wind block either walls or just around the forge itself. It will be easier to control the fire if you can control the wind direction. When i am done forging for the day i will also pile up some more coal and keep cranking my blower for a few minutes. That will make coke so that the next time i light my fire i have more coke to start with which will also reduce the amount of smoke put off. One winter i had a freind come over and he was surprised i had a torpedo heater to heat my shop. He figured that since i had a fire that was hot enough to melt steel that my shop would be nice and toasty. I told him i did not want to heat the shop i wanted to heat the steel, so i wanted all the heat to stay in the fire not spread around the shop. Which is the reason i use a watering can. Coal fire will spread across your forge, i use the watering can to keep the fire in the fire pot and not burning 6" outside of it. That is just wasted fuel. Another tip on the water thing. When you are done never ever dump water on top of your fire in the fire pot. Scrape off the top and quench it yes but not in the fire pot. When water hits burning coal it turns to steam, that steam will bring out coal gas. That is the same gas that used to light houses and streets when gas lighting was a thing. That gas is heavier than air. It will build up in your ash dump till it reaches the bottom of your fire and then ignite. I have had flames shoot out of my blower before. That was in my early days of using coal and part of my learning curve, be wise learn from my mistake.

I was actually thinking of cutting the backing off mine, punching some holes and putting it in a 3 ring binder. I was thinking of something that could be sold on book shelves when i said a spiral bound. That music stand idea is pretty good, now if only i knew a blacksmith who could make one...

TW, thanks. We really do not do much more than clean them up, paint em', and redo interior any more. Then we find us another project to trade for this one. We used to do this and make them go fast. But my dad will be 75 this year and he says this will be his last one. So i have located me a 454 block and rotating assembly, now just to find the 40's/50's truck that i can slam down and build me a rat rod out of. Either that or a gasser. A 64' Nomad wagon would be great for that. I loathe moving. The only good thing i have found with moving is that you find out just how much useless crap you have and can then purge it. If we ever move again i swear i will hire someone to at east move the appliances and heavy furniture. We did it all ourselves about 5 years ago and still have boxes that are unpacked.

Hefty, i have some tongs that i made jaws for then welded on rebar reigns. I have found that when doing that not to take the nubs down all the way, just enough to make them comfortable. I do not know about anyone else but when working i find my hand slipping towards the jaws. Leaving the nubs gives me "traction" on the riegns to prevent that. You may also want to check out JHCC bottle opener tongs. They open backwards, kind of like external snap ring pliers when you squeeze the reigns the jaws open rather than close. They hold the bottle opener by the inside of the loop.

I am not getting this. On my phone they play just fine but on my PC not so much. As posted earlier with Dwight Yoakum, Roy's accomplice on Hee-Haw, Buck Owens, was quite talented as well. When i was a kid me and my grandparents would watch Hee-Haw every Sunday night. I always liked Grandpa.

Yep, definitely beats the back of receipts, napkins and what not. I just got that same book and so far i am pleased with it. As far as content not much i can think of really adding. User friendly is where i would make the improvement. I would like to see the book as a spiral bound so that when in use it lays flat. Being right handed when writing on the left side it is a pain to hold the right side pages down so they do not interfere with my writing. It would also help from use in the shop. The guy that wrote is a jewelry maker so he i would imagine is used to a much more clean orginized work space than a blacksmith. When you have to clear space on your bench to use the book i think it would be much easier if spiral bound to deal with.

Das, that much room just screams big block to this old motor head. When the guy stripped the old paint off he found 2 spots rusted. 1 at the bottom corner of the front D/S fender, and another at the rear window down along the dash. Surprisingly well taken care of.

Went today with my dad to get the Monte from the painter. Came out purty nice. Most of the chrome has been replaced and all the weather seals. This was complete paint job which includes the door jambs, under the hood and trunk. You can not see it real well in the pics but there is also 2 blue stripes in the chrome along the bottom of the sides.

Huh, i usually watch the video to proof them first. Had one that would stop and play ads right in the middle of the song. Seemed to be fine until i posted it. Picking up the Monte today so it will have to be later but i will try and find one that will play. Anyway, this kids plays a steel guitar and is just incredible, like Hendrix just on a different style guitar.

Here is where it needs to be said, Fill out the header. Let us know where in this great big world you are located. I and probably the majority of us on this forum have a pile of leaf springs. If you are close to me i would tell you to come on over and take one.

I think the best guitar player now or ever is... (dramatic pause)... a matter of opinion. Frosty, that is absolutely correct. When you get to the level those guys, and many others, are at, there is no "greatest". Also i may add that most of the time if you ask someone who is the best they will usually say someone quite famous. I have been to many, many live shows in my time and some of the best guitar players, or just about any instrument, have been guys that just about nobody has ever heard of. Here is a bit of different guitar. This boy grew up playing in his church down south with his daddy and uncles. The band he plays with is all family to him.

Jennifer, back about 5 years ago John Switzer at the Black Bear Forge did a video on them as well. I looked but i am no very computer literate so some one more savvy than i could provably find it lickity split.

Goods, nice recovery. Made another book stand for my mom for Christmas. This one is for travel kind of. She like to go to quilt retreats just about anywhere East of the Mississippi. So i figured she can use one that folds. Just the back leg hinged so it is just a smidge smaller, but when travelling every inch counts. Sometimes you get lucky as well. You can not really see but the little scroll on the top i left in the fire a bit to long. Rather than burn off i pulled out in just enough time so that the metal melted and it looks a bit like a penny scroll now rather than a pigtail.

Iirc, when asked who was the best guitar player, it was Jimi Hendrix that said the best was Roy Clark.

Jennifer, i thought i was the only one that was getting bored with youtube videos. Same thing over and over. It has got to the point where many i do not even watch anymore. I do however enjoy the live streams that some do but it is not so much the smithing as the conversations going on.

You also do not have to buy as much beer to get 3 guys to hold it instead of 4. (sorry cant help myself)

To chime in here, yes get a professional to look at it. As Frosty said, the wall can catch on fire behind the fireplace. That is not fun. We were lucky that it was caught in the evening before we went to bed that night one Thanksgiving weekend. It was my grandparents house and the only time the fireplace was used there was Thanksgiving and Christmas. Neglect and lack of use is what really caused the fire.

JHCC, i was thinking about your bender at work and i was thinking add a handle so it is kind of an "L" shape, but not at the end. Kind of like one of those police baton things. The handle maybe between the 2 "jaws" (not sure what to call them) and holding with the left hand, well i am right handed, bend with the long handle with my right hand.

I know a couple teenagers looking for some extra cash, they will work for pennies on the dollar compared to older guys.

A;exandr, as always splendid. One of of co-workers has taken up woodworking. He asked about lathe tools so i made him this gouge. Made of 5160. Copper collar with a brass rivet. Burned the tang into the handle the epoxy filled. The handle is from a mop that was getting thrown out at work.

George, the Vietnam Memorial should put any one into a somber mood same as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. There is a statue at the wall of 3 soldiers looking at it. I do not beleive that statue gets the recognition it deserves. To me it is pretty powerful, 3 guys who came from very different backgrounds yet found a type of brotherhood that can only be found in the trenches, looking at the names of their fallen brothers. My first visit there with my dad was not long after it was put up and i was maybe 12 or 13 years old and of all the memorial it is that statue that i remember most of all. Irondragon, that feeling of hatred, dislike, or suspicion towards those you fought against is pretty common. My granddad was in the Army, a tanker, in Europe. He was not found of Germans or Italians after the war. Salute to your FIL.

Goods, 100 more and you will have a nice bit of porch railing. Very nice job.

So i came into work today and after spending 2 days pulling bearings back out, working them on the lathe they are now... wait for it... still to tight. Come Monday, we do not work on Fridays, they are going to use an engine hone in the machine to fit the spindles. Another day lost on a job that is behind on delivery to start with. What Frosty? You have never driven a tap in with a hammer? Now a die has to have the bar driven through it rather than drive the die on the bar. Seriously though, when i was working on trannies we had an old guy break a 6" bench vise installing a U-joint into a drive shaft. How you may ask, by clamping the caps into the vice and tightening the vice it will push them in nice and easy, usually. Well they were not going easy so he thought a good idea to tighten the vice some, smack the jaw with a hammer, tighten a bit more smack some more and repeat. Broke the moving jaw clean off.

A bit of Sturgill Simpson. He is one of my favorite newer country artists out now. He has been around for a few years but not as long as Dwight. Merle Haggard called him the last of the outlaw country. This song he sounds a whole lot like Waylon and another he does sounds a whole lot like Jerry Reed. Quite talented in my opinion

Sadly i have not heard even a whisper of it mentioned today, well yesterday now. I have never been to Hawaii much less the Pearl Harbor memorial. I did go to the Vietnam memorial in DC with my dad. My dad and grandfather were my heroes growing up. Never have there been 2 bigger, stronger, more courageous men than them in my opinion. Watching my dad break down and cry like child reading the names of his friends and some of our family who came home draped in a flag... it is hard to descibe what i felt but just that tore me up. I imagine it is much the same at the Arizona. I pray that the good Lord takes those who fought and died into his graces, may he bless all those who lived, and may he bless and guide those who serve. From all nations. Freind or foe i have the utmost respect for anyone who stands to defend their nation and their people.