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I Forge Iron

SoCal Dave

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Everything posted by SoCal Dave

  1. Howdy Frank:  It's been some time since I've seen your name pop up.  I haven't surfing this website much lately so it's good to see your comments.  I hope things are well with you and hope you are still able to dance.  Stay healthy, Dave Grasshopper Pisarev 

  2. Ausfire: You can't get away that easy. Did you preheat? What rod did you use and what settings when welding the plate. Good job and good luck.
  3. The question is how to weld a bar for the hardy hole onto your cast material? I'm sure one of the guys on this forum would know. It may be better to ask on the welding section on this forum.
  4. You could be working the taper to long into the black or to small a taper. A thin taper can't be worked or moved around to much. As described above, set your leaf area first and then work the taper/stem. Good luck.
  5. There are a few cold saws that have been recommended to me over the years. I hear their names mentioned as reliable saws. Doringer is one that I hear all the time. Most German saw are good, but I would stay away from Baliegh. There are American saws that I'm sure are good but the prices for them are out of this world. I have a UK made metal cutting saw called the Evolution. So far it has held up to cutting all types of metal from solid bars to tubing with a clean, burr free cut. However, I don't use it every day or and you must be gentile with it. Good luck.
  6. I have a friend with a few acres of grapevines. He had a rodent problem and used a propane injection system to fill the holes and then would light it off. The problem was a rodent or two would spring out of a hole, on fire, and run all over the place. Now he had to put out the fires before someone called the FD.
  7. I agree that they are probably the hottest gas forge's around, but there are other forges that get very hot. It can depend on the burner, amount of koawool, size of the chamber, etc. Why hasn't someone produced ribbon burner models for sale? To much money, to difficult, to sensitive, to hot, not forgiving?
  8. That is really cool. What came first, the vision to make the creature or "I got all these parts that could make something wicked"????
  9. I saw the commercial for the Omega watch again. The watch frame is made in a plasma reactor, which is bombarded with hydrogen, methane, and argon. This turns Zirconium Oxide into Zirconium Carbide. Amazing!
  10. Thanks guys for the kind words: I forged everything from mild steel, except the copper tubing that carries the water up through the flower. All the metal had a good coat of primer on it and then the paint. Water over time is hard on the paint. It needs to be taken out once a year to be cleaned. It has provided enjoyment for years and many people think the green leaves are real.
  11. I saw a commercial on TV about an omega watch that was created after an astronaut said the moon is gray. It was something like that, but the interesting part was how they made the watch. They took a metal to make the frame and bombarded it with carbon, argon, and something else to make a new metal. This is got to be BS? I know that argon is an inert gas used in tig welding so I don't think in would impart any critical changes to any metal. Plus, I don't think bombarding it with gases would change the metal very much. If you have seen this commercial, is this possible? I'm not a metallurgist and inquiring minds want to know .
  12. I made a center punch for a friend out of coil spring. After a period of time, he said the point became dull. I'm not sure of the amount of use or abuse it took. I quenched it in oil to a golden straw color. In making a new one, I was thinking of using kasinet but didn't know if it would be best to treat it before or after running the colors? I think that if I treated it with Kasinet after tempering, I would loose some of the tempering. Before tempering, it might effect the tempering? Any suggestions?
  13. Sucker Rod is a good alternative to buying steel. It is available in most areas and if you know some people in rural areas they might give you some in trade for some work. With no job, you should have some time to give them. Again, seek out a local blacksmith with an anvil, bring your coal, and he might be willing to help you. You will learn a lot when you've seen it done right. Good luck.
  14. What the other members say is invaluable. The anvil issue is something I think would help greatly. I would try to contact a fellow blacksmith in your area and try out their anvil. I know from experience that the anvil and stand make a great deal of difference when moving metal. I had a horseshoeing anvil, 125 lbs or so, on a light stand for horseshoeing jobs, and now have a 325 lb blacksmith anvil on a solid as a rock stand. It doesn't move an inch no matter what I'm doing. I noticed that my hammer blows had a greater effect from the start of using the heavier anvil and stand. Good luck, and have fun.
  15. Part of my question, as Richard Furrer has stated, is to find out if steel is workable in some manner like glass. It is not so much the idea of working with glass and steel but I like that option. I will stay away from trying to heat steel and pull it or push it in a direction. I had thought about high hydraulic loads but it sounds like that isn't a good method either. I do have some ideas of using tubing and solid bars together, but we will see. I will need to make some larger tools for spreading/drifting, and acquire the steel. I will report on it later.
  16. Has anyone done Chihuly in steel. I saw an exhibit in Seattle of Chihuly glass works and wondered if some of these pieces were possible in steel. I see problems with tubing that make it difficult. I understand that glass and steel are completely different and behave differently, but it would be wonderful to be able to produce steel objects that can flow a little like glass.
  17. I will be in Seattle next weekend and wonder if there are any blacksmiths in town or near by? In Seattle for the first time so I don't know where everything is located, but would love to stop by a shop to talk and look. Leave me some names and addresses if possible. Thanks.
  18. I'm with HW on this. What ever he is adding will only have a surface effect. Kasenit is applied at a red heat and will not penetrate very far into the steel. I've used it to treat my blacksmith hardy helper dies and it has worked well, but the dies never are allowed to get very hot.
  19. Nice replication. The original scrolls look difficult to copy as there are small variations. Good work. Lots of time I imagine. I hope you charged them enough?
  20. You might look at Little Giant Power Hammers for ideas. I believe they have a system to easily change dies for their Little Giant Hammers. In the last photo from Wednesday of the dies welded and heat treated, one of the welds doesn't look like it's penetrated to the bottom plate and that you've gone really high up on the other die. My old eyes could be the problem. One good root pass with good heat to penetrate the dies is what is most important. Very nice work on the dies. Good luck.
  21. Take about 8 rods, break off the outer coating and bend them in half. Put each one in a vice and twist them. Sometimes they break and that is why you need about 8. Take 4 twisted rods and join them together by welding them on the ends. Now heat them up in a forge and twist them all together and they make a nice handle.
  22. Hey Crazy Ivan: I have a 50 lb LG also and would like to see the guard setup. Some pictures would be great, if possible. Thanks,
  23. Sorry Will but I don't think there are any coal suppliers near Pasadena. You might try Vista California at their school as they use only coal. There are junkyards in the San Fernando Valley that might have scrap metal. You also might try welding schools as they use lots of metal to practice. Good luck
  24. I have a similar one and also did not do a complete restore. Call Little Giant and they will tell you when yours was built and who it was sent to way back then. They can really help you with the restore process. I replaced the spring, knuckles, dies, and a motor. The old motor was 3 phase and the new single phase was not purchased through the Little Giant folks. Remember to oil it well, before each start up and each hour when in use. If it is not covered in oil you are not oiling it enough. I purchased the set of DVD's from Little Giant for a complete rebuild and it was very helpful even for setting up my hammer with the few new parts I ordered. Good luck and you are going to have so much fun with your hammer. Don't be afraid of posting pictures on this site as you progress or if you have questions.
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