Pault17

AM,
I actually just finished a new rough set of tongs. I have no Idea what type they would be, but they hold 1/2 inch square both flat and on edge.I guess they would do well with round as well.I'll add pics a little later.

Bruce,
If I am ever in isles, and you have nothing better to do, would you mind If I swept up the "debris" taking up space under your benches? You know, "a home without clutter is someone else's home", or something like that.

Thanks for the tips. I ordered a czech one and a swedish one. I may have addicted my little brother to banging iron and thought I would give him a hammer as a gift. Now I just have to get them and see which one is more comfortable. Maybe even give him a pair of tongs. who knows

(maybe I'm dense, but) dirt makes good flux?:D

Thomas,
I wish I lived nearby. knowlege and stuff, two great tastes taste great together

Great deal on getting the chance to talk with a real live history book. If I had the chance, I would ask him EVERYTHING up until he kicked me out:D

Colleen,
Welcometo IFI. I see we have another gold (copper is valuable too) mine to dig through for knowlege.

Hey RC. those are nice looking basket twists. That is one of the things I have been aching to try. cool deal

Mark,
thanks for the offer. the tubing is 1.25 ID piping only about 3-4 inches long. I have had my piece soaking in vinegar since I started this whole thread and the galv is almost all gone. I have changed out the vinegar three times so far just to keep it fresh. The waste I dilute heavily with water and water the woods with it. nothing has died yet and the tube rusts up almost completely in just a few hours. When it all rusts up, I will blue the whole thing and run with it.

Here are a few shots or where it is being used. there is no dope anywhere near the burner mount, other than on the burner supply. The smoke that did come out was almost like teflon tape in solid thickness (no other way to describe it). As soon as I saw it, I shut everything down. I always have the garage door open partway for ventilation as well.





If this doesn't work, I will be getting in touch with you again to discuss shipping. many thanks, again
paul

Hey Finn;-
I like your tag line. you have everything in the right perspective.

thanks Glenn. I tried to view the blueprints between 300 and 400 and was told I did not have authorization. I was logged in but did not see the choice for the 300-400 set

here is what is visible:

Blueprints Blacksmithing Blueprints

Blueprints 000-100 ( 97 items )
Blueprints 000-100
Blueprints 100-200 ( 96 items )
Blueprints 100-200
Blueprints 200-300 ( 99 items )
Blueprints 200-300
Blueprints 400-500 ( 35 items )
Blueprints 400-500
Blueprints 1000 ( 20 items )

there is no 300-400 in there

Kristopher,
weighing the pieces I cut off, it lost 7.5 oz. that does not include the width of the cutting disc and the sanding. I would think between 8 and 9 ounces. My two other main hammers are a little 2 lb mini-engineers and a 2.5 lb cross pein with fiberglass handle from home depot. The "new" one feels a little lighter than my cross pein and way-better balanced.

I wasn't sure where to put this. I added a few new pictures to my gallery. After reading through a blueprint by B.Norris (wasn't sure if I saw it on IFI or anvilfire) I thought to try my hand at hammer re-making. I picked up a cheap three pounder at harbour freight and, using the trusty 4.5 inch grinder proceeded to cut a diagonal pein on one end. to balance the head, I guesstimated about 1/4 inch needed to come off the face. I flap-disc'd the whole thing to get rid of the black paint (man I love that grinder) them buffed it down with 80, 150, then plumbers emery tape. through out the cutting and grinding I never let it get hot enough that I could not pick it up.

took about 2 hours. Now I have to wait for a fire to test it out.

Link removed at the request of anvilfire

Link removed at the request of anvilfire

Marc
are your roses all one piece? I have a vision of bending the spike end 90 degrees and spreading/flattening the bent piece really thin, somehow making the petal shapes and then hot-rolling the whole thing.

they are beautiful too!

All,
thank you all very much for the multiple facets of the safety and danger of working with zinc. a year and a half ago when I first started actively "bangin iron", I discovered anvilfire. I read through pretty much the whole site. I paid very close attention to the write-up on paw-paw's passing and the reasoning of and behind it. That is the one thing above all others that kept, and still keeps, me from having any real desire of working with anything to do with zinc or galvanization.

Because I am working on a new, slightly larger forge (my orignal 'bean can' forges are just too small for where I am progressing) one of the components is a means of securing my new torch (rex price shorty). I had been unable to locate a piece of tubing or pipe large enough to let me slide the torch into, other than a piece of galvanized nipple. When I first fired up the forge, after getting my gas lines and fittings to stop blowing soap bubbles, I saw a small amount of whitish smoke coming from the top of the nipple and instantly shut everything down and asked the question that started this whole thing.

I am now looking for a different material to use, and will have to continue using my bean can for a while longer. My wife and children are worth the wait, and I am constantly praying for patience.

Again, thank you all for the knowledge and for not calling me an idiot.
Glenn, thanks again for your help and for keeping such a wonderful site up and running.

Thanks Rusty. glad to hear from you!
I have family on your continent.

Thanks for the clarification Glenn. I should have put " " around the silver. My wife and children (we just had our #8) all know that I (1) work with steel and iron and (2) there is the black or rusty (good) or the "silver" a,a galvanized (bad).

I did not know or had not read that the zinc dust was bad as well. I will keep that in mind. thanks again

Thanks to all! I chatted this over with my wife and decided never to work with the silver.
Now just to find what I normally work and make it do.

thanks again

I haven't searched yet, but was wondering if there is a way to remove the zinc from small items by any other means than heat. Or is heating the easiest/fastest/"safest" way.

I have some smallish tubing and things that I have only been able to find in galvanized condition and would like it clean.

any help is appreciated

I recently picked up two of the 119 lb "new" model russians. There is a harbor freight in north Raleigh, NC that carries them in stock. They also have several cast iron ASO's that range from 55 lbs down to 1 lb. I picked up a 15 lb-er for my two oldest boys, drilled a couple of 1/4" holes on either end and bolted a piece of 1/4" plate on the top. They beat and bang like crazy just about anything they can and haven't hurt that little thing yet.

As for the russians, they do have the twisted hardy holes that measure roughly 1 1/8". I figured if I made (or had someone make) a collection of pieces of 2"x4"x1/4" plate and welded the hardy post at one end and the desired hardy tool on the other, as painful as it would be to use, It would allow strikes over the main body.

I have been using mine for about 2-3 months on and off with minimal complaints, other than the carpy horn. I was afraid of trying to drill out the pritchel though. I would like a half-inch hole instead of the 5/16 mine currently has. That thing is all but useless.

Here is a try at putting a picture of a small spoon or ladle bowl I made after watching last week's tuesday nite class
hope it works

Being a neophyte smith, I don't have teh funds or knowlege (yet) for using a bunch of the tooling you guys and gals talk about. But, I am a healthy scrounger. I found a block of steel (type unkown) that measures 7x7x4.5 and weighs around 25 lbs. I used a drill press and a 4.5 inch grinder to put three different types of spoon shaped dishes in it so far. I am trying to figure out how to put fullering grooves in it that doesn't go beyond my tools and current skills.

Being a home inspector, I meet all kinds of people and recently did a home inspection for a gent that works in a really fancy machine shop. He has been supplying me with little cut-offs and drops of metals ranging from s-series and d-series, along with hot rolled, in sizes ranging from 5/8 round to 5-inch round. pretty neat guy.

The shop he is in has some awesome tooling ranging from a monster 80+ year old gigantic machine-type drill press, to a 3/4 million$ computerized milling machine. They do water jet cutting and this cool thing with metal sitting in a liquid but usnig a little electrified wire that cuts just about any shape. When I was in the shop it was hollowing out the inside of a metal box. pretty cool.

pax
pt

Glenn,
I have used the metal strapping for easy leaves on flowers and things. It heats up quick and needs to be worked fast, but I have had no complaints on the leaves I have made. I have also found (for now, maybe it's just a phase) that if you sand/polish the leaves down to bare metal and heat them up through the temper colors, you can make some pretty interesting patterns.

carpe malleus
pt

irnsrgn,
you are absolutely correct. without honesty, Well I just have no idea what else there is. I offered my client money for all that he was offering and he just said that I was very helpful during his home inspection and this was his way of saying thanks.

Noo-b comments here.
I work as a home inspector in NC so I get to see a lot of different places. Earlier in October, I looked at a house that was built in the really early 1900's: main house was over 3,800 square feet with no additions - big for the day. Well this house had several outbuildings, one of which was the "work shop". Mostly wood stuff, but in the far corner was very clean four or five inch 40-50+ lb leg vice. I mentioned to the buyer that he could probably get a nice penny for that on ebay if the thing was still there when he closed.

He called me the other day almost a month after our inspection and said that he had talked to the seller, who said that he didn't want it and didn't know what it was for. My client said that when he moves in he will give it to me.
Oh, yeah; he is also a machinist and fabricator that works for a shop that makes custom "things' from a wide variety of tool steels and other non-ferrous metals like brass and aluminum alloys. He said that he will start collecting random sized cutoffs and give those to me when he gives me the vice. He was also going to ask around the shop if anybody has any copies of machinist handbooks that they would like to get rid of or sell off.

Chistmas seems to have come a little early. I am waiting to see if any of this really comes to fruition.

carpe malleus:D