pnut

Thomas, The price was pretty consistent across the four or five suppliers I checked. I did find one place selling bituminous for about fifty cents per pound. All the others I checked were about a dollar twenty per pound but included Free shipping. After shipping costs the fifty cents per pound jumped to the same price as the others. If you can't or don't want to buy it in person I guess you gotta pay. I just checked on USPS flat rate shipping boxes . it was about 19.90 and takes two for fifty pounds so the cost for coal and coke across all the places I checked was about 20-22 dollars per 50 pounds. The suppliers are well known blacksmith supply companies I've seen mentioned on this forum many times. Your guess is as good as mine as to why their coal is priced the way it is. I only want to try something other than charcoal to broaden my experience in case can't use my preferred fuel for some Reason so I will probably pay the convenience tax since I don't want to drive to get it and can't afford or have anywhere to store a ton which seems to be the minimum you have to buy to get the wholsale price of 400-600 dollars. And I still don't understand how coke is the same price as coal ;-) I don't think the coal is that expensive it seems like the coke is cheap. LoL Thanks Pnut (Mike)

Thomas, I believe the high price they are asking for both coal and coke is due somewhat to the shipping cost and the small quantity. A face to face transaction I would expect to be cheaper. I was of of the understanding that you'd beforging with coke in the end if you start withbituminous anyway. I would expect coke to be harder to light due to lack of volatiles that combust at lower temps . Like lighting anthracite. I thought coke would be more expensive because of the extra step in processing. I guess if there's not as much demand it would drive the price down. I still want to try a variety of fuels just in case I have to use something different one day than what I'm used to. Don't wanna be a one trickpony. Biggundoc, The sites didn't specify. I thought it was coked bituminous. I didn't see an analysis for the coke, I have to admit I didn't really look farther than the analysis for the bituminous coal. Anvil , I was thinking more along the lines of a pound of charcoal versus a pound of wood. The coke being the charcoal and the coal being the wood. Refined vs. unrefined. . I have a jabod at the moment so I can adjust the firepot as needed with minimal hassle. I found a place that sells 16 lb.samples of each so I may have to get both. I want to at least try different fuels just in case I don't have access to charcoal I'd at least have used other types of common fuels I might run across Thanks everyone for your insight and information. Pnut (Mike)

That was my first thought. Kinda like proofing a flintlock barrel with a triple powder charge!

Hi all, I've been wanting to give bituminous or coke a try and was looking to order some to see how I like it. One thing that puzzles me a bit is how a supplier can sell coke for the same price as coal for the same weight. What's the catch? Coke is more energy dense per pound and also isn't there some refining involved in producing coke compare to coal. I don't understand how it's the same price. Does anyone have any answers to this? Thanks for the help. I can't get my head around this unless I'm missing something obvious. Pnut (Mike)

Welcome to ifi, I use charcoal and tried corn. I don't have much experience blacksmithing but perhaps this may work. If not anyone else could point out the flaws. Charcoal does have a tendency to have some fire fleas especially when you're dialing in the air flow. I haven't had any problems it's been exceptionally wet this year. Would a hood with the flue traveling vertically with a 180 degree bend with another straight section pointing down above a bucket of water catch any stray embers and deposit them into the water? Pnut (Mike) Think of a hood with candy cane shaped flue with a bucket of water at the end to catch the embers.

14. Get my drift?

Some unregulated moonshine is dubious at best and down right toxic at worst. Mercury,lead, and assorted farm run-off like animal waste and fertilizer. I've seen pictures of illegal still sites with dead animals floating in the mash tanks. Moonshiners on TV isn't how that business is usually run. Quantity is the first concern quality is probably a distant third or fourth.

Sounds interesting, I'd give it a try and see what it tastes like. prickly pear isn't bad if you can get past the texture.

Thomas, yep I try to bring up blacksmithing anytime I talk to someone new. You never know who may have a diamond in the rough sitting around waiting for the right person to mention it. I have never seen a cognac still in person. There's not much difference between them and bourbon stills I wouldn't imagine. I have some basic experience with distilling from my younger years. Living in KY it's pretty common for people's family to have been involved in distilling one way or another. Just thought about it Thomas you're in N.M. I wonder what Gin would taste like with sage in the herbs?

To test the waters. Blacksmithing is nearly free. To equip a professional smithy will cost tens of thousands of dollars. If you are patient and not looking to make a living from your craft you can find most of what you need or want used at a substantial discount. When I first became interested in photography I was a teenager and had to save to buy quality used equipment. Same thing when I switched my kit to digital. I was patient kept my eyes open for good deals and now I have a pretty good photo kit. It's taken years of saving and seeking out the best deals, not buying the first thing I saw just because I wanted it right then. Back to blacksmithing. I think it's the same deal. Save your money and be patient, before you know it you'll accumulate a decent shop. There's a big difference in hobby smithing and and a business. I have invested a total of about forty dollars to build my first forge. That was for the electric matress pump, TSC hammer,and a hand pump because the electric pump was too annoying. Salvage yard improvised anvil and a jabod made from a night stand I got for free. I'm saving my money to upgrade my equipment when I run into a good deal. I'm patient and have no doubt when I run across a good deal I'll be able to get it. I'm also not trying to make a living from smithing so I have the luxury of biding my time and being frugal. That's just my opinion. Pnut (Mike)

Here's to a speedy recovery. Our thoughts are with you.

Meridianfrost, I sympathize with your situation. It's disappointing and discouraging to diligently save your money and get to the finish line only to find out that the finish line has been moved. Happened to me with photography equipment. The only suggestion I have is to keep squirreling away your cash to reach the new goal while keeping your eyes peeled for a used press. You could try industrial surplus. Sorry I wish I could offer more help. Just wanted to let you know your not alone in your situation it's happened to everyone involved in hobbies or vocations that require high dollar equipment. I wish you the best of luck and post when you decide what you want to do. I would like to know the outcome. Don't let it get to you. Pnut (Mike)

Don't I know it. ;-)

Also rendering a valuable item useless is a form of sacrifice practiced across many cultures.

It's just a guess but I'd say it's for ship/boat building.

Just get started. You can spend 30 years thinking up reasons why you can't, not enough money,not enough time, no place to do it blah blah blah. Here's one reason why you should get on with it....... YOU CAN!!!! So do it.

I have a Winchester that is marked Ted Williams Sears and Roebuck co. Many retailers have their brand put on products manufactured by someone else.

Apparently I didn't. LoL Thomas, the other day you posted a link in a different thread. We were talking about books. The link was for Abebooks. It's a great resource thanks.

Good idea. I'm going to make a hardy holder out of some square tubing and a stump. Now I know what to make an easy set of fullers from.

Thanks for the info. I looked em up. I don't know why the guy told me they were pandrol clips. He was friendly enough. I started taking to him to see if he had any old stock on his truck. He didn't have anything old but he gave me a couple new spikes. They were leaving one morning when I was heading in to start work. They had one of those trucks with the hydraulic wheels for the tracks so I kinda lingered a bit hoping to score some scrap. . I wish I would have looked it up BEFORE I posted but I didn't see any reason to since the guy works for the RR. Oh well lesson learned. Thanks for letting me know. And sorry for the confusion Pnut (Mike)

They were close to this just s shaped. Glenn , the pic you posted is the one I found when I looked it up. The clips I posted are what I was shown by a R R maintenance crew who were staying at the hotel where I work. When I asked about pandrol clips that is what he showed me. Guess you gotta watch who you listen to. Sorry for the confusion. Pnut (Mike) I also think I seen one lying on top of the other and thought it was s shaped. Oops.

pandrol clips are shaped like an s. They are easy to identify. I just looked up pandrol clips and they are different than what a railroad worker showed me just a couple weeks ago. I guess he was telling me bad info or this is another difference between u.s. and u.k. terminology. I'm going to post a pic of what he showed me as soon as I can find it.

Your guillotine looks a lot simpler to construct than many I've seen. Like JHCC said, please let us know how it works. In the future Id like to make one myself.

Welcome aboard. You will not be disappointed with the amount of combined experience on this site or the willingness of the members to to share that experience. I've learned more on this site in a couple months than I would have been able to pick up on YouTube in a year. I'm just starting out and you don't know what's good info or bad or even dangerous not just poor advice. If you plan on building a new gasser check out Wayne Coe. He is a member here and sells small amounts of supplies for building gas forges. Otherwise you'll have to buy more material than you'd need. When I was thinking about building a gasser he's who I was going to get the castable and inswool from so I wouldn't have to buy any more than needed. Of course it's up to you how you go about sourcing your supplies. However you go I wish you the best of luck because you are doing some nice work. Pnut (Mike) ..

Hey, I just checked out the website for your club. Pretty cool. I chopped a beach cruiser about twenty years ago. It wasn't anything special just did it for grins. I had an old Kawasaki gsxr -1000. It was set up like a drag bike. it was a 1980 iirc. That was the only bike that scared me. It was crazy fast and I was still a teenager. I rode it on the street like an idiot. Never got pulled over on it though. I have a Frankensteined pan head that my dad left me when he died. I've had it since I was two. Do most of your brothers ride like lowrider type stingrays and such? I seen a pretty good mix of styles on the website. They were all nice and clean. Do you do your own mods? I used to have an assembly business and put bikes together everyday. I miss it. I also had a garage full of frames and parts back then. One of the Walmarts I contracted with would give me all of the returned or damaged bikes that they didn't want me to fix. If it was going to take me two hours it wasn't worth them paying because it was the same price as a new bike . There's a scooter club with the coolest name ever. They're called the Mopagans. I think it's a great name. Anyway enough rambling. Take it easy and post some more pics of your work. If you work on your bike post some pics on the thread what did you do in the shop today Pnut (Mike)