BillyBones

The sand box is pretty easy to build. I am sure you will find one in the "show me your anvil satnd thread". Mine is more of a pedestal, 4, 4x4's with 2x4's ringing the top and bottom. It is narrow but i have a concrete floor and it is solidly anchored with angle iron and concrete anchors. I used turn buckles and angle iron to hold down the anvil. When i hit it it is a dull thud. John at Black bear forge did a video on tying down the anvil to reduce ring. Quite the informative video. Anyway i am envious of the new anvil, nice score. It is cool to say it was grandpa's anvil, but saying grandma's anvil is even better.

I just use the walls. I like the chalk boards though pretty cool.

Going to be a scorcher Friday. I think here it is supposed to be 93 and of course humid.

It has been a long time since i lived somewheres you could run into a bear. The one and only time i have ever been bear hunting was when one of our dogs got tore up pretty bad from one. The dog was a huge Norwegian Elkhound so it werent no cub we were looking for. Never did find it.

I loves me some spiders also. We got mostly red tails here and rarely you will see an Eagle. Lots and lots of turkey however. We also got a good sized population of owls. I am really fond of the barn owls and barred owls though. Just about any given summer night i can sit outside and here them hootin in the distance. Interesting story: I was driving to work one day and there was a hawk on the side of the road eating his dinner. I got that feeling that said he was going to jump out in front of me. And he did. He flew in front of my windsheild of my truck, between the windshield and antenna. He had to turn and i could see every spot and could have counted the feathers. Dragonflies are the only creature other than humans that can anticipate where their prey will be and take up a flight path to intercept. They can see 360*. They can fly in any direction up, down, sideways, and diagonally and hover. Some dragonfly larva can get big enough to eat small frogs. They stay in the larva stage for 5 years and the adult stage for a single season. Truly an amazing creature. Well the old lady just came in and told me wind just about ripped my barn door off, gotta go fix it.

Glad to hear that.

Or start another forest fire, if there is any forest left un-burned in Cali that is.

Your wife aint the only one, i thought that it was a trivet till i actually read what you posted. Pretty cool.

I used to live in Denham Springs. I talked to a friend who is in Walker and he said that the news was hyping it all up.

Well Frosty, ya caught me there. I was not thinking when i used the hog reference. What i would usually say is not family friendly. About the urine being clear, that was preached to me to no end when i was off in the ME. That may be the reason they also pushed the salt tablets on us, however if i recall correctly i am thinking they were the medi-lyte tabs that irondragon speaks of. I also had a nurse once tell me that if nothing else drink pedilyte, remember that stuff we used to give our kids when they were babies and sick. Another thing, take a break. Sit in the shade for a few minutes, or even inside in the AC. Like we say in the shop "it will be here tommorrow." That was one of the hardest lessons i have ever had to learn. This is the easiest set of tongs i have ever made. They are just 2 pieces of 1/4 x 1" flat bar, i think about 18" long. Heat both together put in a vice and give a 1/4 twist. Drill the hole through both at the same time and set a rivet or even a small bolt. Mushroom the end over if you use a bolt. I have heated and form the ends many numerous times for different purposes. Watch which way you twist though, i made right handed tongs when i needed left.

Hydration is of utmost importance. Watch your urine, keep it clear. I also sweat like a hog. My forge used to be outside with no shade. I got me one of them big old umbrellas and set it in a 5 gal. bucket full of dirt so i could move it around with ease. It also has the tilt feature. Sometimes when tilted i did have to add a support even though it was set in a bucket of dirt. But just that little bit of shade helped tremendously. I got me a small fridge i keep my ice tea in, water gets boring after a while, and a couple beers for when i am done and ready to sit in the shade. If you can not get a fridge get a cooler. I also got me one of them "as seen on TV" cooling towels. Get one, or at least a wet dish towel. If not hung around your neck a wet towel is great just to wipe off the sweat. I also dunk in my rain barrel every once in a while. I wear a hat to keep my bald spot from getting sun burnt and i have found keeping it wet helps too. Good luck and welcome to the club.

Are you starting over the bolster? Try on a flat surface first. I got a flat piece 1/4 thick i put on the face of my anvil. Punch one side, flip it over do the other side. You can feel it when you get through. Then i move over my pritchel hole and push out the biscuit. That works for me at least. I do not think the plate on my anvil in necessary becuase you are not hitting the face with the punch, the biscuit is in between, but better safe than sorry. It also helped when i was trying to show someone how to punch a hole who could not hit the same spot twice to save his life. Hmmm...biscuits, time for biscuits and gravy.

Finished my 3rd hawk, they are getting much better. Also made a set of 90* tongs. Both mouse approved.

Have had this guy hanging about the past few days. I am fond of the mantis along with dragonflies.

Louisiana Metalsmiths Association - location varies depending on the smith hosting the class. Gulf coast black smith association - Robert, LA

" doing the ball bearing test will wreck any anvil due to the ball bearing being harder than the face of the anvil." I am thinking that they are referring to Brinell hardness testing and not dropping a ball bearing on to the face.

M48, i saw one of those in a museum. I too served on an M1A1 and A2. This has to be the most tankers i have seen gathered on the internet in 1 place. Or at least on things that have nothing at all to do with tanks or military. I will tip a cold one to my fellow tread heads. Slante!

We kept a bar like that in the bustle rack of my tank when i was in the Army. We called them tankers bars. Mostly used when working on the track.

Nothing to add but this is a fascinating post to read.

My folks were more interested in how fast the car would go in a 1/4. The most body work i was exposed to was maybe rivet in a piece of sheet metal, usually an old sign or something, mud it up, sand it down and shoot a little primer on our of a can. I got ATF for blood. Anyway there was a place near my shop that i did not even know existed till today when i saw a sign next to a little road that said "BARN SALE". So of course i went. I found a place with 11 acres and 4 barns. Big beautiful mid 19th century farm house. Whilest perusing amongst the old stuff in the barns i found this. So i asked the guy there how much. He said make me an offer. I said $100 and help me loading it in my truck. He said sold. While loading it he told me he would have taken just about any offer. Him and his wife were selling everything, buying an RV, hitting the road and never looking back. I asked about blacksmith or ferrier tools but he had none.

Cannon cocker...you lucky dog, you. Dogblazer, vixen file aye. I am old enough to remember lead in cars. Anyway i did a little research on them and found they are still used today for soft metal such as aluminum. Glad i did not go to town with it on hardened steel. Gaz, i was thinking that the floats had the wooden handles, not a file type handle but more like a wire brush handle. Sits above the cutting surface rather than attach to the end. like a sideways letter "D".

Went to a garage sale this afternoon. Not much but these guys. The top one is ultra fine i mean like whet stone fine. one of them there "knife" shaped files that the flat edge has no teeth, i know what they are used for but cant remember what they are called. A super course rasp (more on it in a minute) I think a mill bastard. Another mill bastard, 2 square 1 course 1 fine, and a round. The rasp. It is a half round, that is the rounded side hence the curves, but there is no cross teeth. I have been around carpenters, metal workers, mechanics, machinists and i have never seen a rasp that course. Some help on the use and purpose would be appreciated. Anyway for $2 i could not pass them up. And the guy said he had a bucket full more files and he would dig them out for me to stop tomorrow and look at.

I cannot speak for Norway, but here in the states black iron is used mostly for natural gas while galvanized is for plumbing water applications. Or at least used to be, mostly PVC i see anymore. So it may be worth looking into building codes to see what kind of pipe can be used for what applications. You could also look for automobile exhaust pipes. I have seen a lot of stainless but never a galvanized one. If it is going into a JABOD, maybe lay the pipe in and put clay around it, then when the clay is dry remove the pipe. Make a hollow passage rather than a steel pipe? I am assuming it will be side blast that is. I should clarify galvanized is used in high corrosion areas, not just plumbing. Things like fence post it is used. I just used the plumbing reference as to what part of my local hardware store i would go to if i needed a piece of pipe.

In the 90's high humidity, so i have made a lot of sweat. I my self like longer tools. Almost all my punches and chisels and the like are at least 10 inches (or at least were) I have better control holding the chisel rather than a handle or tongs. I also do not like to wear gloves so i like the extra length. Mowed the grass also, early so along with that and the green coal i been burning you can guess i am a popular guy right now.

I aint no vice expert but shouldnt the fasteners holding the collar be counter sunk? I would put my money on there is either a part missing that the little bracket is making up for, or something broken that the little bracket is making up for. Possibly the collar could even be a part from a donor vice that just did not quite fit.