pnut

That's too bad. It would have been the simplest solution. Pnut

I made a wind turbine in school using an ac motor from a treadmill. It was very simple and would definitely power a blower. It's been thirty years ago. I don't remember if an automobile alternator was involved. I got the plans from mother Earth news. Pnut

It seems like when I'm tired the aphasia gets much more pronounced. Thanks , JHCC. Pnut

Very interesting. Coincidentally I was just reading about copper mining in pre 1600 North America, in the Michigan, Minnesota, Canadian border region of modern day U.S. Pnut

I haven't considered that. It's an intriguing idea though and definitely warrants some further research. Depending on location there's many options for powering your blower/shop. Wind powered generators arent very complicated but is location dependent as is water power. Solar is much more complicated than any of the other options but is worth looking into. I'm going to do some research on the system you described. Thanks for posting this as I'm unfamiliar with this method of generating power. Pnut

Getting close to being done. You should have pulled everybody's leg for a while and said no it is butter, you told me to butter it first! I was just doing what you said. I spent two hours spreading country Crock on it. Pnut

I see you mentioned RR timbers. If they are in fact timbers from the RR they will be coated in some nasty stuff. I'm having some word selection issues lately I want to say it's creosote but It doesn't sound right. Just be aware that the tarry substance on RR ties is carcinogenic. Pnut

You can make the fire deeper with a few well placed bricks. Google ducks nest iforgeiron. Pnut

That's a nice anvil. Looks bigger than 109# in the pictures. I'm a fan of this this style of anvil. Looks like drawing out would be quick on that horn. Pnut

A cast iron skillet will crack if it isn't clayed, ask me how I know. Pnut

The pipe in my jabod is nearly flush with the wall. Maybe an eighth of an inch back. I just use a plain pipe surrounded by clay. Pnut

I have seen a T used at the bottom of a chimney after it passes through a wall there's a T with the vertical pipe on one arm and an open arm at the bottom. I don't know how well it worked. It was a long time ago that I seen it. Pnut

I used to date a girl that graduated from Antioch University. Yellow Springs is a nice little college town. Pnut

You could definitely find a cultivator disk in the size you need. If you know where a feed store or farm co-op is I bet you could get a used one for free. If not they only run about 25-35 bucks new and they look like they would last a while. Pnut

Tangldiver, good looking stand. JLPSERVICES, that looks rock solid.That's a burly anvil. Glad you finally got it and it's ready to be put to task. Pnut

Did anyone attend the Kentucky Crafted fair at alltech arena? It looks like a good place to sell. I didn't attend but saw a piece on TV about it. It had a pretty wide and varied array of items available from craftspeople and vendors. As it's inside I don't know if it would be possible to have a forge going at a booth or not. If anyone attended I'd like to know how it was and if there was any forged items there. Thanks Pnut

DHarris, that's a good point. A hot cut is easy to make and you need a way to cut stock. Pnut

Mikeyn, the pipe in my jabod is set back into the clay maybe an eighth of an inch and hasn't had any appreciable damage in six or seven months. I left about two and a half feet to feed into it as it degrades but haven't had to as of yet. I think you're having problems with the end of your tuyere melting because you are leaving parts of it exposed to the fire. Maybe try just a pipe that doesn't extend past the clay. It's worked for me. Clay is a pretty good insulator. Two inches will keep a wooden box from igniting and a black iron pipe that isn't sticking past the clay wall of the jabod holds up pretty well also. I would still leave some extra length where the air supply connects just in case it does degrade you have some to feed in. Pnut

Whenever I see a maintenance crew working on the tracks I make time to talk to them and try to bring some refreshments and I've always had good luck getting spikes, fair clips, and such. Pnut

Keep in mind that removing anything from the RR tracks or RR property is a federal offense and on privately owned lines that stuff belongs to somebody. Pnut

It is a federal offense to remove anything from RR property. Those laws are being enforced quite a bit more stringently since the occurrence of scrap metal theft has skyrocketed in the last few years. Pnut

Chris, what I meant when I said it depends on the liquor store was there's some liquor stores that if their clientele had twenty more dollars they would buy more booze and then there's liquor stores whose customers would be willing to spend some money on something unique. I don't know what type your friend owns but since you mentioned it I suspect it's the latter. If so I'd do what Frosty recommend. Sell them for 10 or 15 dollars and let your friend make a tenner on each one. Good luck. Pnut

The problem I've found with those types of clips is the T shaped cross section. I think they are medium carbon if I remember correctly. Pnut

How long does it take you to make one and what is that amount of time worth to you? The rub when it comes to selling things like bottle openers at a retail store is there's usually one that's mass produced sitting next to it for 3.99. At a craft fair or somewhere similar you could charge what they are worth but depending on the liquor store you may find it difficult to make it worth your time and materials. Short answer is it depends on the liquor store. pnut

With mystery steel you can heat a small test coupon to non magnetic quench in oil clamp it in the vise and whack it with a hammer after you lay a rag over it. If it doesn't break heat another piece and quench it in brine and repeat. If it still doesn't break try it in plain water and repeat if it's still not hard whip up some super quench and repeat. If it still doesn't harden it's not going to be hardenable in the average shop. There's plenty of posts here about junkyard rules, spark testing, and testing for hardening. If I hadaccess to free rebar I would use it more but I live fifteen minutes away from a steel supplier that will sell to the public. I also haven't been blacksmithing very long and I like to keep the variables down. I don't turn down free steel though if I can use it. Pnut No kidding. That texture doesn't like to go away. I had to grind it off with an angle grinder prior to putting it in the forge.