BillyBones

Only time she comes out is to tell me there are other things i need to do besides play in the fire. She is more of an indoor person, she does a little gardening but would rather be inside cooking or what ever it is women do indoors.

Welcome, your name reminds me of the wife. I call her a "monkey butted turkey duck."

Oh guards shmards. No just kidding. I have seen first hand what a cutting disc coming apart can do. A co-worker was using one on a surface grinder when it came apart. 15 stitches in his forehead. My dad taught me long ago : Do not fear the tool, respect the tool. Kind of like being gun shy. If your are scared of the gun that is when you dont get a firm grip, firmly set to the shoulder and end up bruised. But really if you are uneasy using an angle grinder ask your neighbor to do it for you while you watch. Ask him to put a grinding wheel on it and just touch the bar for a few seconds so you can see the spark pattern. You could even take the bar to him and explain what you are trying to see. Having another person do it can give another set of eyes also, not to mention free up your hands so that you can take some photos of the sparks. The pics will "freeze" them in time and i would think be able to match to pics of known materials better. Anyway, i spent the better part of the day studying the treasure of St. Ninians Isle. Pretty interesting. All silver, brooches, bowls, cross guards, sheath tips and 1 small knife. If anyone is interested in Celtic/Pictish art it really is quite stunning. Frosty would have got me if not for proof reading, i put studding instead of studying. That give a completely different meaning, farriers at least would have giggled...

My grandpa worked at Wright Pat AFB. He told me that it was his job to feed the aliens. That kind of looks how he described them. I know gramps would never pull my leg so it has to be true. But i am still waiting for my baby fingers to fall off so i can get my adult ones. I have an app on my phone, it is free, called sky view. I think it only shows thing that are visible with the naked eye but it show the planets, stars, constellations, and even the Hubble and ISS.

5mm is .096" approximately (doing math in my head...) 3/16". It also looks like you need a little more twist in the jaws. From the pic it looks like they are turned 45 degrees instead of 90 degrees.

US Army, Abrams tanker.

Welcome. Sounds like you have been bitten by the bug. Next thing you know you will be going to flea markets and stopping at every garage sale you come across. Standing in the hardware section looking at things and asking "How can i use that at the forge?" Anyway, stay safe and have fun.

George, get one. They do make life somewhat easier. I use mine mainly for making tenons and isolating areas of metal. Makes necking down pipe a breeze. I would suggest building it. They are not hard to build, especially if you have a welder. Get a couple good sized leaf springs and set aside and you can make many many dies as needed. Here is the one i built this past summer. Its ugly but it works great. The frame is made from a vibration dampener off the transmission of a Ranger, the dies are made from the leaf spring of a late 90's Dodge 2500. I have since added a bolt to hold the bottom die more stable, you can not see it in the pic but there is one on the back also under the mouse. I did however build it wrong. I built it to fit cut dies rather than the width of the spring. So my top die has to have an extension welded to it. If there is a wrong way to do something, i will figure it out. That dampener was a stack of steel plates about 10" long, stacked 6" or so high, held together with 2 big rivets. The rivets now have a home in 2 sets of tongs.

From what i know of tool manufacturers it could be a good quality steel for a knife it may not be a good quality steel. Pry bars are not made to cut nor hold an edge so who ever is making them is going to use the cheapest they can find that has the specs they need which would be strength and flexibility, not edge retention and hardenability. But having said that a pry bar should be something close to a car or truck leaf spring, at least that is what my quick reference says. That still dont tell you much about the steel though. If you are getting good results that you are happy with, whom ever is receiving the blade is happy with, and they are not flying apart hurting anyone, keep on. But for the price of them i can go to my supplier and get a drop of high carbon steel that would make 4x the knives that one pry bar would make.

A coworker i used to have, me and him used to try and find the most obscure words for things we could. Just a way of throwing each other for a loop everyday. I hear tale that the Arcturan megadonkey is quite a delicacy, Granddad told me that when i was knee high to an Arcturan mega grasshopper.

khmiller, welcome aboard. If you would please fill out your header. Let us know where in the great big ol' world you are. General location, not exact address. Many questions here can be answered by region. I could say go down to Bobs hardware and get a good quality hickory American made handle, but if you live in Romania there are not many Bobs hardware stores there. Handling a hammer is one of the most talked about and argued about subjects there are. BT or TT, that is new to me. TT i have seen for abbreviating "Tru-temper" which is a brand name. My method is get a handle that is close to what i want then sand, file, cut what ever to fit the eye. I may be an odd ball here but the store bought engineers handle is a perfect fit for me, just remove the slick finish is all i need to do to one. Anyway if you have not yet, go to the "Read this first" and read it. Fill out the header. Get out to your shop and make something beautiful. Then post pics for us. Stay safe and keep it fun.

Kexel, i like that book end. I think it is quite elegant.

Torx is a trademarked name, the drive is actually called a "hexalobular internal", abbreviated "6 lobe". Sort of the way we call them Allen drive is actually called a socket cap, Allen is a trade marked name. But in answer to your question yes, they are universal. They are makred with a "T" followed by a number "T-40" as an example. There are however internal and external Torx. Most of the major tool companies now, Snap-on, Mac, Matco, etc, have made multi drive sockets. They are designed to be used on standard 6-point, external Torx, even triple square, basically one socket used on all drives. Now a note about whiskey. The word whiskey comes from Irish Gaelic "uisca beatha" pronounced "Ish-ka Baha". Translated it means "Water of life." The original mountain dew.

Give them to your opponent when your throwin shoes.

I believe the royal cubit is how the Egyptian left hand latch wrench incremented. I also think i may have a set of anvil horn wear gauges that are in cubits but i am not sure if it is royal or not.

Some good advice here, i put a lot of stock into what they say.

My granddad was also a carpenter. I remember my vice living in the barn when i was a kid. When we moved to Ohio it got a new home in the garage. Me and my dad are both mechanics so that vice got used for automotive work there. When i was in the Army my dad got stationed in Louisiana (my dad was also in the Army) and took it with him there. That was when i rescued it. I went to visit my parents and was in my dads work shop. The vice was laying in the floor between the wall and a cabinet. I asked him why it was not mounted and what he ws going to do with it. He said, just an old vice and he was going to scrap it. Back then all i knew was that it was a blacksmiths vice and knew nothing really of the mechanics of it, i just knew that there was a lot of family history and memories in that old vice and there was no way in the world i would let it go to the scrap yard. It is in really great shape to have 4 generations working on it, only part that has been replaced is the wedge. And that was only replaced becuase it fell out somewhere along the line when we moved last time.

Natkova, on of the things that jump out at me it that you made "left handed tongs". Which is ok if you are left handed, but feel weird if you are right handed. The top reign when holding them in your tong hand should be on the side facing your hand, not your thigh. The idea is that if you loosen your grip the tongs should fall towards the palm of the hand not the finger tips. The fix is simple, twist them the other direction. If you hold the tongs in your left hand twist clockwise instead of counter clockwise. I know that just confused you didnt it? Left and right handed refer to the dominant hand, hammer hand, not which hand you hold the tongs with. I have a set like that i made years ago for my first tongs. I still use them. Mostly when i just have nothing else that fits, i heat up the jaw and shape it to what i need. You may need a left handed monkey wrench to make that twist though.

Oh, my no, you did not at all. My apologies also if you took it that i took it that way. I had actually said a bit more but back tracked, then got distracted getting ready for work and just posted real quick like. Actually i meant to add that your friends wife sounds a lot like my mom saying something like that. Anyway again, sorry if you took me as short. It some times takes me awhile to put a post together, i am on about 10 mins already, but i got in a hurry and did not finish. See here i had to go back and make an edit. George, my mom researched a bunch of stuff that she can make for my dad. So a lot of the stuff he has to satisfy the cravings she makes. She is also a pretty darned good cook. I can not think of many snacks she has made but this weekend she made him chocolate fudge and it was pretty danged good.

My dad is one of those people who had bread with every meal, he ate bread with bread. He also used to snack constantly, he would literally get up from the dinner table, get a bag of chips and go sit and watch TV. The other thing he had to cut out that was hard for him was beer. JHCC, i know that does not mean i will not get it, just my chances are lower than someone who does have a family history of it.

My dad is diabetic, not sure if it is 1 or 2, from exposure to agent orange in Vietnam. He does not take insulin but he is quite vigilant on his diet and keeping track of his sugar. Walking is his daily exercise, or if to cold he has a tread mill. Diabetes does not run in my family, so that aspect i am lucky. What kills my people is high blood pressure. I have to take 3 different meds for mine, not to mention the crazy pills (PTSD), and 2 years ago i was taken to the ER from the doctors office when they checked my BP.

Every shop i have ever worked in had Wilton vices. They are brutes that can take a beating. The thing i was looking at is the screw box. The Wilton is enclosed while the Rigid looks like it has an opening. With the amount of scale and debris in the shop i would go with enclosed to keep said debris out of the vice workings. My first "anvil" was the striking surface of an old Wilton that i broke the moving jaw on. It involved a stubborn U-joint and a 36oz ball pein... anyway it did not last long till it was replaced by something more suitable.

Ceramic fiber insulin? Huh did not know it was good for diabetics. Just pulling you chain a little, once ya been here a while you will get used to it. Anyway i cannot answer your question but i can give some small advice, go to the "Read this first" thread and read it, fill out your header let us know where abouts in this great big world you are at. Dont have to be specific, region is fine. But you may discover that one or more of us are quite close and can lend a hand if needed. Also the search function here is, well it is, anyway the best way to search the site is your favorite search engine. Put in what you are looking for with "iforgeiron" after it, becuase yes your question has provably been answered many times already. Pictures, we love pictures here. They also give a visual that can be seen. Like i said i cant answer your questions but those who can, a picture, like they say, is worth a thousand words. Anyway, welcome to the club. Stay safe and have fun. And remember, catching yourself on fire is only a big deal the first half dozen times.

I am using some old leaf springs to make wrapped eye axes out of right now. I believe they are 5160, a little tricky to weld but once i got the technique down they are coming along nicely. You could also try a local machine shop, they may let you piggy back on one of there orders. Or they may have a piece on hand they would be willing to sell you. I work in a machine shop and we have on hand in the tool room 4140, S-7, H-13, O-1, A-2, etc. I am sure if i look hard enough i would find 1060. We do a lot of in house repairs so we do have a variety.

I served on an Abrams in the Army, being a tanker my side arm was the M1911A1. Once i learned how to shoot one i bacame convinced that it was the best pistol ever made, the reason i own a couple, but way to big and heavy for EDC. During my time in was when they phased out the M1911 to the M9 Berretta. Universally hated by us. Acurate yeah, but no stopping power. 1 round from my M1911 was way more effective that all 17 from that M9. There is a reason that the military has switched to the Sig. When they phased out the M1911 the military actually put them up for sale to the public. $400 each and that was in '93, if memory serves, however you are talking about a weapon that mine was almost 40 years old at the time, the only original part was the lower, and it had 1000's of rounds fired through and of course we all know how a GI treats their weapon. Frosty, when i was in you would be surprised at the number of people who did in fact own their own side arm. My post vice has been passed down father to son since my Great-granddad. When i was a kid i used to heat nails with a propane torch and make little knives by hammering them out on that same vice. Me and my gramps would use that same vice to hold the mold for making shot. It held the wood for the first bow me and him made together, wish i would have paid more attention there. Lots of memories in that old vice. My gramps was a carpenter by trade but could pretty much do anything he set his mind to, growing up on a poor dirt farm in a KY hollar does that to a person. He was also a tanker in WW2. My Granddad was and still is my hero. He passed in 84' and i still miss him dearly. I consider my self lucky if i am half the man that he was. Dont get me wrong my Dad comes in a very, very close second, and fortunately him and my mom live about 5 mins away.