SoCal Dave

When you sat your kids down for a talk, is that what you used? You have a heck of a fire going in New Mexico these days. Is it effecting your area Frank? One of your old students, Dave P

I found this: Borax (redirect from Sodium borate) Borax, also known as sodium borate, sodium tetraborate, or disodium tetraborate, is an important boron compound, a mineral , and a salt ... 20 KB (2,645 words) - 05:12, 27 May 2012 Borate Borates are the name for a large number of boron -containing oxoanions . ...Disodium octaborate tetrahydrate is used as wood preservative s ... 10 KB (1,314 words) - 18:32, 19 May 2012 If it sounds to good to be true??????

Great looking project. I like the before and after pictures. I'm sure another set of hands would have been nice at times, but you clearly have figured it out. I like the way you hung the welder. Keep up the great work and send update pictures, please.

Where and how can you get a power hammer from China for $1800? Who make them?

What type of welder are you using and what were the settings? I'm thinking that the metal was not just alum but some other alloy, as possibly titanium. How thick was the 4 X 4 tubing and what happened when you did try to weld it? Did nothing happen or did it form a clump? Sorry for the questions, but it's an interesting problem.

The South Carolina guide is listed under Phillip Simmons and another one for South Carolina listed below that here on this website.

I have a cement floor in my barn/shop. I may get a 50 lb Little Giant and wonder what would be a reasonably good foundation for my flooring. I 've heard of using wood beams, railroad ties, and rubber horse floor mats. I've read posts that plywood and rubber floor mats were good enough. Opinions.

Where would I get that kind of motor and what would be an average price?

The current little giant hammer I'm look at has a 2 horsepower, three phase, 1800 rpm, 220/440v, 52 amp motor on it. My shop is at my home and I don't have three phase. Can I replace this with a 2 horsepower, single phase, 220v, 1800 rpm motor without running into issues like not enough power, or not strong enough which will eventually burn up the single phase? I know very, very little about motors. My initial thought was that they put a 3 phase motor on the hammer for a reason, because of the issues I mentioned above. There could be others that I'm not aware of. I would prefer not to use a phase converter. Any help/suggestions would be appreciated.

I have been in contact with someone with a 50 lb Little Giant. I've been dealing with a couple of people and they don't know if the motor is a three phase of single phase motor. It is 240v but not wired at this time. Does any one know what phase this type of hammer motor might be? They are researching that info now but didn't have that handy.

High School Metal Shop, watching a rancher friend stick weld in the field, and Community Adult Education School. In the adult welding classes, I started with Oxy/Acet. welding, and cutting, next stick, then mig, and last tig. A great day for me is when I get to use all my welders that day.

Bryan: I heard the same things about water and oil and 5160. I've used oil for chisels and punches, but wonder if water would be better. With the quicker quench I wonder what that would do for hardness and toughness? I'll give it a try the next time around. Maybe the difference is in theory only and doesn't really have any difference in the performance of the tool?

Not to bring up the old tempering issues, but I have always use quenching oil for my 5160 steel. That's what I've heard and read repeatedly. I 'm sure you can quench 5160 in water, but does this make a difference? Does quenching in water make the steel harder or tougher than in oil.

It doesn't look like you have enough penetration. Also, the unit maybe an AC and not a DC type of welder. 7018 rod may perform better with a DC unit. You didn't actually mention the settings you used.

J B Weld

Ideally speaking, would you want to forge weld when the entire piece has reached an austentite state? Is this why you let the piece soak in the forge to ensure the entire piece has reached and austentite state? What happens when the entire piece is not at an austentite state? Again, it seems there is a lot of technical aspects to annealing, hardening, and tempering of different types of steel, but not on when is it best to forge weld and what condition/phase the steel should be in for forge welding. Also, I've heard for years that in arc/electric welding the weld can be stronger than the steel.

I just read an article by Dave Smucker on Heat Treatment of Tool Steel. As I was reading it, I was wonder if there is a minimum temperature that tool steel needs to reach to forge weld for a blacksmith with a 3 lb hammer and anvil. I would image that at room temperature it would be impossible to weld two pieces of tool steel together by hand. However, as the steel is heated, is there a grain structure that is reached that allows for forge welding to take place with less stress and deformation? Or, do we want to reach a certain grain structure before forge welding? Do we want to forge weld at a specific grain structure. Dave indicated that after forging we don't want to just heat the steel up to much otherwise we start increasing the large grain structures. Clearly, I am trying to understand what is going on while heating and quenching. If we heat treat, anneal, harden, and temper at certain temps, then it seems to me that we would forge weld at certain temps and grain structures and what would that be? Any help in answering these question would be appreciated.

I would also check and see what the military is doing these days with prosthetics. They might give you an idea for something you can modify for blacksmithing.

Thanks for the information on Charleston, SC. I will definitely try to stop by the jail to see the iron window grill. It does appear that the Philip Simmons website is not being maintained. It is sad to hear about the lack of maintenance of the iron works. I understand there is a lot of blacksmith works throughout Charleston and I am looking forward to see them. David

Female-Blacksmith: I will leave the door attachment issues to the buyer of the door knocker. There are to many types of doors to provide one solution. Of course, I would help the person customize it to their specific door and the look they are after.

I positioned the cows head in the middle of the rod. On the back side of the rod, I tac welded just a little drop of welding rod, like a bump, on both sides of the head to keep the head from sliding left or right. I used a tig welder and practiced a few times on a similar size rod first. I got the drops of welding rod as close as possible to the cows head without touch it. There is about a 1/4" of play on each side. I placed the bump on the back side so you won't be able to see it when it's on a door. I can take a picture of it tomorrow and post it for you if needed. Good luck with yours and please post a picture of your door knocker.

I've been fooling around with horseshoes making hat racks with cow heads and horse heads. I liked the cow heads and decided to make a door knocker. The only problem is that the first attempt I made the cow's head with 1/2" square bar and it needed a draft horse shoe. It's a little to big for the average door. My next attempt will be a smaller version. I like the fact that the striker plate is the bottom of the shoe.

I agree with the above statements, except I would remove the table from the all white back round and flooring. I suggest putting the table in a hall way or room and take pictures that show more of the top shelf. The photo you offered shows the lower shelf more than the top and the top is much more appealing.

I am traveling to Charleston, South Carolina this May 1st. What are the blacksmithing sites I should she when I'm there? What should I see when it comes to Philip Simmons blacksmithing?

Seldom: I saw the lamp and nicely done. To be honest and detailed, don't we have to include every minute spent on a project plus materials, cost of a wire brush, finishing, welding rod, propane or coal, electricity, etc The first to go in the calculations for me is my time, or more exactly, the amount I'm charging for my time. And, that is why I started this post to figure out what to charge. For your lamp, I would start at $150.00. Also, I would ask some friends what they would pay for something. I did for the horseshoe projects and interestingly they were all pretty close in price. I haven't sold any yet, and that really is the telling reality. I do this as a hobby but could use some extra money. I just saw the taxman! I ask myself what would be a good price be for me and for the buyer, or what would they reasonably pay. No clear answers yet.