Pat Roy

I know this is coming late, but have you tried finding a 1200 rpm motor. That would save some belting and sheaves. A combination of 3" and 12" sheaves is a big reduction, but the biggest problem is there will be very little wrap on the small sheave and you might get slip and excessive wear. If you are going to use double reduction make them both a ratio of 2.5, but that's the engineer in me.

I am of French Canadian descent. When I was little I didn't speak any english. When I went to school I started to gradually lose it as I leasrned English. I can still read a little and understand somewhat when it is spoken, but don't expect me to respond in kind.

I'm too lazy to mix up a formula, but I have had good luck with simply warming the iron and brushing on some boiled linseed oil. If it smokes or flames it's too hot and you won't get a uniform finish. I sometimes I the rub on some parafin wax while the iron is still warm enough to melt it. Wipe off the excess in each step. Sometimes I just rub the parafin on the warm iron and wipe off the excess. Darkens the iron quickly. I wouldn't expect these treatments to weather all that well.

I ended up making 20 of these hearts. It got easier and faster as I went along. After shaping I hammered them flat to get a uniform surface, warmed them in the fire and applied parafin wax. Resulted in a nice satin black finish. The were very well recieved by the recipients. That bend detail will be useful in other projects.

I use a floor mount Craftsman(Sears)drill press that I found used. I have been using a chop saw to cut metal but is a messy operation. I think I will replace it with a portable/handheld band saw. I believe they are called "Porta-Bands". I will be hinting for that come Father's day. Anyone use one of these and have comments either way? Please jump in.

Work safely guys. I learned a hard lesson a couple years ago by not wearing my face shield when I was doing some grinding with a die grinder. I just needed to touch up on a weld. Can you imagine how much fun it can be to sit in a chair while a doctor digs around in your eye to pull out foreigh materials? The tool he uses looks like one of those curly tools the dentist uses on your teeth. Then you get to wear a patch on your eye for 4-5 days. Use the personal protective gear.

Thanks for a great idea and good detail. I was looking for a way to incorporate hearts into a napkin ring design. Perfect and just in time. I know what I'll be doing today. Okay, this edit is coming later in the day. I spent a little time in the shop trying out this detail. Very neat hearts and a neat bend technique. I have time to make a whole bunch before the weekend. Thanks again for a great idea. I learned something today.

It doesn't work that well for everyone.

If you are a blacksmith, your hands are supposed to be dirty. It will wear off.

I feed my tuyere through a 3 inch flex hose. I have an electric blower with plenty of capacity and had to use a speed control on the motor, plus I have a shutoff damper. Into the bottom of the fire box I cut two slots about 3/8" wide and 2 1/2" long. That allows all the air I need until the clinkers build up. Jmercier, that is a great looking bellows. What size is your pipe at the end of the cone?

I use John B's method regularly any time the fire isn't performing. Also any time I have banked the fire and shut off the air while I do other work, I will fish out the clinkers before I run air again. Keep a clean fire.

Here is a flower made from circular saw blades. A number of them are planted in various friends' gardens.

Nice yard art Divermike. I make some flowers from circular saw blades. If I can round up a photo I'll post one.

On a lot of things I don't want to paint, I use boiled linseed oil. The toughest part is getting the temperature right. Too hot you get a lot of smoke or in the extreme a flash fire. I wipe off the excess and usually have enough heat left to melt on some parafin wax. Makes a pretty durable coating.

Chris, How do you keep the squirrels and other critters out of the feeder?

My supplier told me steel was selling at $0.50-$0.80 /pound depending on the shape.

My impression is that there is not enough air. You need bigger pipes to deliver the air.

I've been working in a 12'X20' wood frame shed for a few years. I have just started building a new 20'X24' shop. It soon won't be big enough but that's what I can afford now. I don't do big projects but I have so much stuff that I don't have much room for layout and assembly. More room will allow bigger projects which will take up all the space and I will need a bigger shop. Does it ever stop?

I'll have to check my local PBS listing. I'm due for my daily humbling. I'm always inspired though seeing what other people can do. What I have noticed is that the more I try and the more I do, the better I get.

I have an average sized forge with an electric blower which is rheostat controlled and there is a shutoff gate on the blower. I shut the gate when I am not actively heating iron and if I will not be forging for a while I shut off the blower and bank the coal. I haven't really stopped to figure out my fuel consumption but I would guess that if I worked both days on a weekend I might use 12 pounds or maybe a little more. Most of my work is of small bar stock and I don't do much welding (yet). I buy my coal in 50# bags and paid $14.00/bag the last time. It's pretty good blacksmithing coal. I usually get 200-300# at a time and that holds me for a while. I used about 600# last year working alternate weekends and some of that was cut back due to a nasty "tennis elbow" issue. Lately I have been spending more time in the shop since the economic conditions nationally caused a layoff at work. I'm waiting for the stimulus package to kick in.

Thanks a lot. That is is an awesome rose. I hope I can approach that quality without first creating a pile of scrap.

I read the original post about the time it was posted (nice work by the way) and somehow I was lead to another location where someone made a rose by a different method and now I can't find my way back there. The rose sepals and petals were made from square bar (1" I think) and the site had nice pictures showing the various steps. I almost remember how it was done (almost!). Does anyone know where this might be found? I would like to try it.

I picked up some rebar for the best possible price. Unfortunately it is short pieces and has been in the ground. This particular stuff takes quite a high heat before it submits to my hammer and is pretty ratty where it's been in the ground. I wouldn't try to make something pretty out of it.

I went into the city to visit a shop that makes custom lighting fixtures. The "lightsmith" was very interested in my project and very helpful. He will be providing materials and design help. We discussed the UL issue. He does not obtain UL labels for his product and is careful to use only the best materials and wire. The biggest concern is that the insulation can stand up to the heat generated by the bulbs. This confirms a discussion I had with an electrician. I feel comfortable going ahead with this project.

I've gone an committed myself to making a chandelier for a family I know. I've previously made then a pot rack and now they want a chandelier, and it has to be electric. That is where the problems come in. Are there any codes I need to be aware of? Where can I find the lighting fixtures I will need? What don't I know about yet? So far this thing is just a blurry image in my mind but something will have to shape up pretty soon. Any one been there and done that? The only chandelier I've built so far had candles for lighting.