BillyBones

Thanks guys. I need to do a bit more "surfing" here. There is a lot i have not explored.

Chad, i like that, gives me ideas. That would also give me a reason to visit the local winery. Blue, i would say it would depend on what you are doing. Like Frosty said i would weld starting at the toe the flip when i got a bit past the middle. Then work middle to toe, the toe being what started out as the heel. If drawing out i would work heel to toe. Did a bit of work for a new "boutique" in town. Started of with just a couple "J" hooks an a couple other things to test the waters. Here is one of the hooks, i kind of like the way they turned out.

I would suggest you learn to make tongs. "need a tool, make a tool". To start doing that i would suggest getting tong blanks, that will get you headed in the direction of forming the jaws, setting the rivet, and aligning the reigns to your liking. Then progress to making the boss and drawing out or (my preferred method) welding on the reigns. If you choose to use the forge that will also give you more experience in forge welding. A couple years ago i made a post on my method of making V-bit gooseneck tongs. I was asked to do a series of photos on how to do something at work and i used this forum to practice getting it right. But those can easily be modified into off-set tongs. In the post i used 1" x 1/2" flat bar but i was making some heavy tongs for hold bigger material. That can also be modified to your need. I also do not do the 45* offset in the boss but align the jaws and reigns after riveting. I do that cuase it seems not matter how much i try i always make right handed tongs instead of left when i do the 45* upset. Just easier for me. Now how to find that post i have no clue other than to just scroll through them till i get to it. Then posting a link to it is another hurdle i have not overcome either. I am not a very computer savvy person so another here that is may be able to help. Anyway welcome aboard have fun and stay safe.

MJ, we used to have a house that had an enclosed porch. The bottom was wood slats with screen then at about 3' it was windows. I came home from the grocery store and there was a hummingbird in one of the far windows trying to get out. I cupped it in my hand gently and carried out and let i go. I have actually held a humming bird in my hand. Ok, embarrassing. I wnet to work once on one of those nice winter days that get up in the 40's or so one day with my window down. Got out of the car and went in to work. I worked 2nd shift at the time. That night the weather turned bad and the temp dropped, freezing rain, snow, the whole nine yards. My car was a 70' Nova and had a foam front seat, i left the window down. when i left work that night my seat was a solid block of ice. Again same job, we went through a period of pranks. I went out one night just before quitting time and one of the guys i worked with i turned his stereo up full blast, his A/C on full blast ( again it was winter, which comes into play shortly) windsheild wipers on high, everything turned up full blast for when he started his car. So a couple days later and he knows who did it. Kind of chilly that night so i go out to start my car and warm it up. I think that now he is going to come out and turn all my stuff on full up. So, of course lock the doors that will foil his attempts. I had to get a ride home that night to get my spare key so that i could come back and unlock my running car.

When i was a kid my parents and i took a vacation where we stayed in a pretty fancy hotel. Complete with bellhops. We get to the room, the guy is setting our luggage down an i see the balcony. First time i had been near one. I was excited to see it and and in my glee went "Oh look a balcony" and rushed out to stand on it. As you may have guessed i rushed right into the closed glass door. I think the bellhop may have forgone his tip over that.

Frosty, you are actually the one who told me how popular that park is and kind of spurred me to go there and really look around. There have been some pretty rare fossils found at that old quarry as well i read about. To me though it was the old quarry my dad drove a dump truck at for a couple years that i now use to walk my dog. Kind of weird how something in your own backyard is no big deal but something far off is exciting to see. We are also just outside of Dayton, home of the Wright bros. and we drive by their bicycle shop, or Huffman prairie where they tested their plane with out a second thought. Or the Wright Pat Air Force museum, people come from all over the world to see it. Just another building here that my granddad helped build. The past few years i have been looking into what is around me. We actually have some really cool stuff. From like i said the Wright bros. and aviation, to Indian mounds. You can find arrow heads and spear points in almost any field. I could go on about many of the historical sites we have but my point is it is weird how people will be like oh cool i get to see the ruins of Athens but miss the Indian mound right in their own back yard. While the people in Athens are yeah, yeah, just the temple of Athena, tell me more about that Indian mound. My granddaughter has not learned the lesson of dont try and take more than you can carry yet. She is only 10 though and her idea of rock collecting is anything that has a pretty shape or color. I have not found anything like leaf imprints or anything in my coal. Best i get is a vein of pyrite. I gave my mom a lump of coal i thought was pretty cool. Had about a 1/2" vein of really bright gold pyrite contrasted with the really dark black coal. I also have one i keep on the shelf in my shop that is the shape of the state of Ohio.

One of the hardest things i have had to train "kids" at work is to stop, go get a pop or other cold drink, have a smoke, just walk away for 5 mins and come back. That is at work and there is no option to come back to it tomorrow, but it is amazing what just 5 mins can do to get your head back right.

Scott, i found one of those ammonite things in a load of gravel got for my driveway a few years back. Up the road from my house, about 5 mins if you get caught by the light, is Oaks Quarry park. People come from all over the country to hunt fossils there. The park is maybe 25 square acres i am guessing and they have had to send in "search and rescue" to find people lost. If you walk in any direction for 15 mins you come to a road. My granddaughter started collecting rocks so i have taken here there a few times. At work in the gravel parking lot i found a rock that a quartz deposit, a pyrite deposit and what i assume is a hemotite deposit all on it about maybe 1 1/2" square. So of course it is now in her collection. Also, i make parts for Sgt. Greenleaf locks. They are definitely not your run of the mill Master lock. A combination lock from them is in the $400 range. They make mostly door and vault locks. Many are sold to the military. If the part is brass is is for the public, aluminum goes to the gov't. The brass one is the "big" one. From the end to the shoulder i have a +/- .00035" tolerance. Running on a screw machine. If you know anything about screw machines that is pretty impressive to hold that. It is a rivet for their locks.

I have been a Santana fan since i was a kid. I have a "for radio release only" LP of Carlos Santana and Buddy Miles live. About 4 years agos i got to meet the man. One of the nicest guys you could ever imagine. Speaking of Willie, last night i watched a movie with him. Would have loved to have seen the cast in concert. It was Willie, Travis Tritt, Kris Kristofferson, with a guest appearance by Waylon Jennings.

Alexandr, as always superb work. So, my door latch, made the keeper i forgot and scrolled up the bottom i forgot. I also forgot to put holes in the backing plate to mount it with, so much for finished. I also remade to side pieces for the hinge in the thumb latch so it will sit lower in the slot and give more throw.

Georeg, my aunt speculates that she was some one that grandpa... uh... "knew" when he was stationed there. Him and my grandmother were married after the war.

I use mine to fill in the areas next to my drive way where my truck makes ruts in the yard. Either that or i use it around the foundation of my barn as filler for where the rain makes trenches.

That is really cool. Dont see to many boot jacks here in Ohio. Usually made of wood if you do. My grandfather was stationed in England in WW2 with the Army Air Force. This is the F&S he had. There is a name on the side of it, Elenore Shaw, nobody in my family knows who that is and internet searches come up empty. The refelction from the table makes it look like a bit of rust on the end.

Derp... yes, thank you for catching that, i completely forgot. I also forgot to scroll the bottom back around after taking some out to set the rivet.

Got my door latch finished and... set the thumb latch to high. It will work but the hole through the door will have to be cut off center. Lots of small fiddly work.

Scott, parabolic, high helix, low helix, etc. are not very common to find in general. They are not just something you pick up at the local hardware store. Most people i have never run across them either. Grandpa being a machinist many of those in the coffee can may have been made for a special propose as well. Like the single flute, i use single flute spot drills all the time, mostly for cutting the chamfer in holes. If interested look up a company called Guhring and all the different types of drills they make just for cutting metal. As a side note i watched guy on you tube do a comparison of a bunch of different drills. From an $11 set of Dewalt to to a $200 set of i can not remember the name. The $11 set came in at 3rd place just behind a $30 set of Bosch drills and #1 was the $200 set (IIRC). But best bang for your buck is the cheap Dewalt drills.

IDF&C, those are amazing.

Something i have noticed and hate about the internet. With forums, chat, comment sections, etc. you do not get the small inflections of voice, facial expressions, etc. that you get when talking in real life. You only get the words. And while you may say something in jest or humor another may take it as an insult or in anger becuase of not being able to read the person. You do not get the way a person speaks. Ok that is my 2 cents about that. Ok, so like many have said usually steel is sold annealed. So if you got a remnant from a machine shop, steel supplier what ever i would say that yes it is annealed and treat it as such.

Nobody, who were you with at Ft Hood? I was there with A co. 3/8 Cav in 93/94. Our barracks was across the street from Popeye's chicken if it was still there.

I have a question, what are you planning on doing with this peice of 4340? If you are planning on forging it, it really does not matter if it is annealed or not.

I thought it had been finished as well. Now i have a reason to try something i have not done to much of.

TW, when i was in TX a freind asked if wanted to go back home with him to his family ranch. That is how i ended up trying to stay on a bull.

Smithing and in general working with my hands has been a part of my life for as long as i can remember. From the time me and my grandpa made our first lead pour, to nailing 2 boards together, to troweling concrete, to the first time me and my dad worked on cars. When i was a kid i would take nails, heat them up with a propane torch, and make little knives with them. Then as a teen i was into D&D and wanted to make swords and daggers. When i got out of the military i went to work in a machine shop. That is where i got my first taste of metallurgy. Fast forward a few years and my therapist at the VA suggested a hobby. Around that same time i learned that you do not need a whole bunch of special equipment to heat metal and shape it. So i built a forge in my backyard and got an "anvil". That is when the mystery of steel really too a bite. I have taken no classes and only read maybe 2 books. Everything i have done has been self taught by watching others. I have always had the attitude that if you can do it so can i. When i was in high school i was a pretty good artist in ink and pencil. My art teacher then commented once that i have a natural ability to use negative space. Those pictures where they ask "what do you see first" like the one of the young lady and the old lady in one drawing, i can almost always see both immediately. Which i beleive also gives me a better than average ability to "see outside the box" so to say. When i studied the Tao Te Ching one lesson always stuck with me "it is what is not there that makes something useful".

Scott, i do not think those are rejects. The top one looks like he was trying to make a "faster" drill. The steeper the angle of the flutes the "faster" the drill is. Not cutting speed but chip evacuation. The bottom is a type of drill, that for the life of me i cannot recall the name of, i keep thinking parabolic but that aint it. The deep flutes give better chip clearance.

I got to snow board the Alps. Well, fall down on my drunken behind and roll down the mountain. When i was stationed in Germany we took a trip to the Alps and one of my cohorts got me liquored up and talk me into it. I had never done it, nor had i ever skied, skated or anything. My experience with snow sports was snow ball fights and sledding down a 20" embankment on a piece of cardboard. I made it about 10' before i rolled. I was provably on the beginner kiddy hill working my way up to kiddy hill as well. Good fun though and no broken bones, that came later in the trip.