SoCal Dave

Jack: I have a 50# LG. It should not be hitting anything during the entire stroke. Pictures would help and there are lots of people on this website that can help. The people at Little Giant are more than helpful if you call them. Something is not right. It could be your adjustment of the crosshead when the flywheel is at the lowest 6:00 position. There should be about 1 inch +/- space between the top and bottom dies at the 6 o'clock position. I had to reverse my crosshead. It was to low on the pitman and needed to be higher. So, I turned it upside down, so to speak, and it now sits much higher on the pitman. Send pictures. Good luck.

I agree with Mr Sells. The alternative I found for outside pieces was to use a good primer and paint, but it is never totally carefree. I found that even when I clear coated everything that rust found its way and slowly but surely it spread across the clear coat. Give rust and inch and it will take the world one day.

It looks like it was made out of steel. Very nice job and I imagine it looks great on the sign post.

I think it is also a timing issue. It was the right machine at the right time. My LG has a 1901 date on the ram. That is the date the patient was established. They were around for a long time at a period of dynamic economic expansion in the USA. An LG could increase your production and that was important during the 50 years they were a viable machine. As I have found out, the Little Giants could be modified or worked on by the blacksmiths using them. You didn't need a computer to analyze an issue with the machine. It was mechanical and practical and understandable by the people using it.

As Aditya indicated, it was made most likely in Germany and because of the Swastika, I assume it was made during the Hitler era. Helmut Hillenkamp from New Mexico wrote an article for ABANA on a German Blacksmith that worked during this time. Helmut may know something about the anvils of this period or at least may know. Good luck and enjoy the anvil.

You simple need a heating device. You can use a brush burning torch from harbor freight, or a mapp gas torch, a benzomatic torch. Or have a friend bring one over. You have propane. Good luck.

I would like to get a copy of the CBA July/August issue. But, I don't belong to that organization anymore. Do you know how I can get a copy?

Great idea. It will take the place of my horizontal band saw that I rarely use. But, I'm not clear on how you attached the table and how it's kept stationary, level and securely attached. I'm a picture guy so if you could take a few photos that would help. Thanks.

I love this category. It reminds me of the movie Jaws when they were sitting around the table telling stories of shark attacks and the Captain said he was on the Indianapolis when it sank. Keep them coming.

JR: You are assuming that you skills stay the same as time passes. That is not true as you gain experience and try different projects. For all blacksmiths, newbies or old timers, each project requires that they think about how to proceed, how to join things, how to forge things first, second, etc, with the tools they have at hand. So, to some degree, the same issues face you as some old experienced blacksmith. I was intimidated by all the great stuff I saw on this website, until I made a water fountain that I was very proud of. It didn't require a lot of skill, but did require a lot of work. I got lots of complements and thought that maybe I could do nice work. I am more willing now to try larger and more complicated projects that include things I have never tried before. Good luck to you and start forging.

The Bill Epps instruction is on AnvilFire, Iforge How to, and number 100. It looks nice and I will have to try that one. That one was made of steel and mine was bronze. I will try the Bill Epps version with the little piece of bronze I have left. I did find that with bronze the beak tends to get to hot and will break off easily.

Is this guy new at cattle rustling. Give him what he wants. Maybe he isn't going to use it on cattle?

There is some wisdom in those words.

Definitely a farriers anvil. The end opposite the horn is designed to turn the heals of horseshoes, and the bulge in the middle on the side is for pulling clips. Frank Turley may know more about the history of these anvils. It looks in good shape and is clearly from the past when farriers would have portable stands and anvils. These days, you've got to have an expensive rig with a swing out anvil, drill press, belt sander, and welder. Use it in good health. I use my 125lb farriers anvil for all my blacksmithing needs. It serves me well. Good luck.

How about a picture without the shade so we can see the hand forged section.

That is really cool. One day you can show your grandkids.

Great old machine. I did notice the lack of safety eyeglasses.

I agree that spring still is probably 5160. I have used lots of spring steel and oil quenched them in heated oil without problems.

Hi Dave: First, what happened with the hardening of the coil spring? Did you quench it in oil or water? How long did you let it soak above magnetic? And, did you run the colors after hardening?

I finished the Hummingbird for a friend. I posted in the welding section first, since I tig welded the beak and wings. This was my first time working with bronze and I like the highlights/textures that you end up with. It was coated with some Johnson Wax.

Looks can be deceiving. See how it runs. See if it hits evenly at different speeds. Can it hit light and hard without missing hits? I would lower the dies to their lowest point and measure all around to see if it things are square. Good luck.

Thanks Ric and Basher.

Beautiful.

First, I want to thank "Nobody Special" for directly answering the question. Of course, given enough time, the proper heat, and conditions, you can get metal to weld by itself. But, the question, I believe, is when you are in your shop and you have your forge fired up, what is the temp that you need to reach to forge weld. I understand it depends on all these variable, but assume the condition are perfect, the forge is perfect, and you are perfect, the hammer is perfect, the time in the forge is perfect, the temperature outside is ideal, the flux is perfect, the mild steel is perfect, jupiter aligns with mars, and so at what temperature could you reasonably expect to take out your piece from the forge, and the way you do it is perfect, and you waist no time in hitting it perfectly to join the two pieces together. Lets say I have a pyrometer on my forge, and it's works perfectly, and I have lot of forge welding to accomplish on different days. What would be the temperature that I would be looking for to start my forge welding. This is all in the name of science and accuracy and astrology. Has anyone used a mill chart that shows forging temp and welding temps for mild steel and what that temperature might be? It was already suggested to look at the mill specification chats for that information, it is not the same temps for all metal combinations. What type of mild do you have? 1005 ? 1020 ? A36 isnt always mild or consistant, but many new people like to think it is.

My question has always been: If you need the metal to get to a white heat with a solid fuel forge to forge weld, why doesn't it need to be a white heat with a gas forge? Why do most people have trouble with forge welding in a gas forge. It is my belief that the gas forges are not getting hot enough. They seem to be very hot, but they need that one more step up to the 2300/2400+ heat level. Does any one know what the temperature is in a solid fuel forge when the metal gets to the white heat needed to forge weld?