Davishomesteadandforge

On 3/9/2019 at 10:29 AM, Anachronist58 said:

Black locust can also be both fluorescent and chatoyant.

Got two each 5" dia. x 6' sticks - been drying for 18 years......

Robert Taylor

What do you mean by fluorescent? As in glows?  Also chatoyant if it's polished with a gem like cut to shimmer since it's so dense correct?

On 3/9/2019 at 5:24 AM, 45-70nut said:

One of the first knifes I made the scales of black locust. It is very hard, rot resistant, and beautiful when polished. The locust in my area is almost neon yellow. I have been told that black locust in the southern states are mostly unusable due to a borer. Fortunately they havent made it as far north as Maine.

Mine seems very yellow not quite neon though lol. I'm lucky down here I haven't had too much of an issue with Beatles yet but I definitely need to do some clearing in my forest.

On 3/8/2019 at 9:52 PM, ThomasPowers said:

When I was young and impatient I was thinking "a year per inch---that's impossibly long!"  I have some going on 20 years per inch of my own cutting.  Bought some walnut a farmer cut and tarred the ends in the 30's to make fore stocks for shotguns---his Grandson was cleaning out the barn and was willing to sell them to me cheap...and finally I haved one piece that's been air drying for around 250 years.  Came from a Barn in NJ that the Historical Society didn't manage to save from a developer; but I was able to get a piece from the spoil pile before they burned it.  Stock for a crossbow if I ever get too it---I've had it since the late 1970's.  White oak and works a lot like metal rather than wood.

250 years is crazy Id have a hard time using it being that old! I think I can be patient but we'll see in a couple months what I say lol

Thanks for the info remind me in a few months and if I'm making enough money for postage ill send you a package of them for the great advice

Great info slag! Does it follow 1 year per inch like most woods for aging?

Also I know about the rot resistence from experience they make great fence posts nice and straight at that. 

The heat of them burning is amazing to know i have a whole forest of them so if I'm short on coal that would be great. Do you age it before burning usually or just burn it green?

Has anyone used black locus for knife scales? Im about to clear out a patch of forest around my house for more farm use and read its close to hickory in hardness. It would be a shame to waste it if it could be used. 

If it is of any use any tips on aging it? I'm familiar with the microwave method but I'm not in a hurry to uses it. Should I just debark it, cut it in foot long peices and wax the ends? 

We have a farrier store the next town over where I get my coal I don't know why I didn't think to ask the owner he seems like a pretty nice guy.  Thanks for the info frosty its appreciated. 

Does anyone know how if farriers generally take on apprentices or do you have to go to a school? Its something I'm thinking about getting into, but I'm not sure how one would go about it. 

As a side note is it a pretty decent area to have a job or is it a pretty hard area to make a living?

I'll definitely have to make one asap that's a great idea I have plenty of spare sockets to make a pretty modular system too

Other then avoiding zinc any tips on blot selection? just a plain steel bolt should work even with it being in the forge right?

14 hours ago, Glenn said:

Weld a piece of pipe for the top loop of the cleft to go around and it will have a much smoother look.

Kind of like a bending hardee tool?

15 hours ago, ausfire said:

A jig makes life easier:

Nice jig I'll have to check into that it would help with the positioning a ton lol is that just a 1/4 inch plate?

Even if i could derust them that's what they mostly are lol I wouldn't even have a place to grab them. I'm thinking drill them out then use long carriage bolts all the way through thoughts?

Do you just use an oxy acetylene or propane?

I didn't find much info for making a treble clef so I figured it tell yall what I learned while I made one for my wife for mothers day.

The total stock length should be 3 times longer then what you want the finished product to be. The bigger scroll diameter should be 1/3rd The total length of the peice. The smaller scroll like wise should be 1/6th it's easiest to forge both scrolls first then do the final bend.

So for making a 1 foot treble clef;

Cut a three foot section of stock

Forge a scroll 4 inches in diameter.

Forge a second scroll 2 inches in diameter on the other end facing out the same direction

Using the 4inch scroll as a guide or measuring 1 foot from the bottom bend the middle price in a half circle fashion where in intersects the large scroll directly half way through making the peice 1 foot tall.

18 hours ago, Charles R. Stevens said:

Are the bolt holes blind or do they do all the way threw?

 

All the way through 

12 minutes ago, Jim Coke said:

Greetings Davis,

        What you have is a Champion Wirlwind fire pot . The clinker beaker is an odd shaped ball arrangement with fingers that stick up through the slots. Not so easy to make.. I have a few but no pictures at this time.

Forge on and make beautiful things

Jim

Just looked it up and I think your 100% right

I'm thinking drill out old bolts then jbweld some all thread into the forge and thread it through the blower and bolt it on

The rust isn't too bad I think it would just come off with use the tuyere is unmountable as is so I'm trying to decide if I want to drill out the original bolts or make a track system to mount it. Is the little turny thing inside a air control or a clunker breaker you think?

The man who owned this forge died in the 1980s he used it before electrucity came to oklahoma in 1937 he inherited it from his father it was the main forge in the dibble/Blanchard Washington region for a long time how long I'm not sure. Any ideas of the origin before that or how to restore it?

Perfect sense not a bad idea I'll see what I can figure up

25 minutes ago, Charles R. Stevens said:

Might consider a pile of dirt to bank charcoal against. And other than keeping rain out of the forge the tub on top isn’t necisary

What do you mean by dirt to bank against? Also the top portion is removable mainly for rain and wind protection

18 minutes ago, Frosty said:

That's a beast of a piece of I beam. If you build an anvil stand like John's with it I definitely want to see the pictures! However if you just want to use it for a stand I'd just stand it on end and put the anvil where the web and flange meets. Maybe use the rest for a table vise, etc. stand. Even that heavy the flange will flex under the hammer if you use it as shown in the picture.

Frosty The Lucky.

Any ideas how to connect it up there? I considered welding it but my welding is still pretty iffy

9 hours ago, JHCC said:

Hang onto the I-beam; there's a lot of stuff you can make from it. For example, an anvil stand.

That's the plan I think if I can think of a good way to mount my anvil

5 hours ago, Horacekincannon said:

What part of Oklahoma are you from I would be happy to help you.

Yep Washington , it's actually Cole but most people recognize Washington better.

Anyone know if it's possible to pay dues for saltfork in person? I hate dealing with the post office.

Also although further ado here's some pics of what i got accomplished. 

I got pretty busy over the weekend but I managed to upgrade my forge, I used a washtub and mounted it in 3/4" plywood. I'll post pictures later after work.

10 hours ago, Charles R. Stevens said:

I think the Transmition pump exploded. 

Things you might already have...

sledgehammer head (10-20#) splitting maul, steel tractor weight (not cast iron) these all work, things you can find, large drops from machine and fab shops, large pins from excavators and bull dozers (dozers are made from anvils). 

Dang that's not a fun one to fix, I'll check around I should atleast have a sledge

1 hour ago, ThomasPowers said:

I've seen a number of forges built in discarded gas grills.  It can be nice to have a lid you can close on it in rainy or fire season...

I think my father-in-law has an old propane grill i could swipe

Thanks for the heads up you saved me from grinding the rust off and trying to fabricate a stand, the bad news is I drug about 70lbs of i beam about 100 yards for nothing lol i guess I'll find something for it to do, maybe i can get some nails into my stump to hold the door stop for now. I'll take a look and good luck with your buddies car. 

I tried making a hot cut hardee tool and it got hard enough to skate a file so I'm guessing I got lucky with the bit I was working or it's atleast 1095. If I get a chance I'll try another one soon.

Thanks for the heads up I'll check it out

I have saterday free to forge, I'll take a look around I betcha I have something to work better as a forge. Being on a farm and working construction I get plenty of materials to mess around with I'll report back with what I find tommarow, maybe i can convince the wife to let me atleast build a roof to forge under as well lol. As for the door stop it's not staying long I'll get a I beam rounded up sooner than I use that sucker it already fell on my toe once thank God for steel toe boots lol.