CtG

Seen 34 and 76 this week.

I'm hoping once I make it home (work-week away, helping another branch catch up with jobs) that I can check on my adobe experiment and fire back up the JABOD and get to working... well, something darn it! I had mental thoughts of the pipe being utilized for an ash-dump perhaps. That is, provided my rivet-forge pan arrives at the upcoming local event. My clay and adobe experiments should help prepare me for that (though I will still need to either braze or Ni the crack...)

Was given some train car springs by one customer. Another let me have a length of steel pipe. Fairly thick wall no less!

Yuck. I moved south for many reasons, not freezing my tuckus off being one. Well, more like fingers. Cold big yellow iron tends to suck the heat right out of your digits. This morning was 36*F and 90% where I'm at this week.. plenty cold enough thank you. Thomas, I'm glad you are on the mend. You are certainly an appreciated asset here. I'm not diabetic however I fight hypoglycemia at times- the joyous kind that eating makes temporarily worse if let go out of sorts... I remember (very fuzzily mind) right before we found out my HS nurse checked my sugars on a whim and I was at 40. Don't remember much else of the day. Thankfully I haven't dipped below 60 in about 8 years. Away from home for a week, so no "shop" projects have transpired just yet

I think that looks pretty good!

Try to get pictures of identifying marks. Numbers, letters, etc. That should help. In addition, adding a location is helpful for future questions. Nice heirloom either way!

I visited littleblacksmith today, heck of a nice guy. Being a blue collar worker, I appreciate it when people have knowledge and experience (especially when beyond their years) and are willing to share. So, 2-fold today. In my own garage, I dropped the floor on my JABOD MkIII to allow for the extra 1.5" below the tuyere for insulation. I also experimented briefly with the clay I separated from the muck behind work mixed with general-purpose sand. It is drying so I can see how well it holds. At that point I got a call from a local smith! In lbs (Mark)'s shop, I got to have my first striking experience and swung a 12lb sledge like I haven't swung in 5 years! I asked him about a Brazeal-style hot-cut, and he put me to work making one! So awesome! I will be looking into setting aside funds for some classes, no doubt. I learned several things today. I need better wood-focused drills. I am not too old to make mud-pies (without my kids no less!). I am not the most accurate person with a 12lb-er (but I improved, if I dare say). I also learned that I indeed am quite green. I have a lot to learn, but I'm enjoying the ride.

EVERYTHING is overpriced on the Front Range... moved for a reason. Hang in there, it'll work out. The way they price things there you'd think a certain recreational activity was legal or something..... oh, wait... Moved for... many reasons

The challenge with just welding on a tool steel plate is getting the heat treat and HAZ treat right. If you have proper rod available and plenty of welding experience, I think if you follow the link IF&C provided, you are unlikely to hurt her worse than she already is. If you do do any repairs, try to see how bad the delam is under the remaining plate.

Wow, that's awesome!

The learning! The learning! I have 2 buckets of clay-ish dirts, one from the shop and one from a customers excavator undercarriage haha I did a bit of a wash experiment (3rd bucket with 1/3 "dirt" and 1/3 water) to get the detritus out of it, and am letting it settle now. It came out looking like slick, and my squirrel-cage mixer for my drill acted like a course mesh to isolate pebbles, leaves, and twigs. Is it necessary? I have no idea!! However by golly I'm giving it a shot! Pretty clear that I'm isolating the clay. No idea if I need to, but today's experiment was certainly worth the go. Anywho...

I started with a 1/2" masonry bit in my hand drill, then I hand-worked the openings with the corner of a sharp chisel bit- in my case, a rail spike. I used a 12oz ballpein to lightly strike the spike, with the edge canted slightly to only place the corner on the point needing removal. Be careful how you support the brick, and also be alert to how the stress forces may affect the brick. They are super brittle, so exercise patience and caution. You aren't removing chunks at a time, more like grains and chips. If my diesel mechanic hands can do it, so can you!

Das, don't cheap out on cats. Or you will be doing it again in 1-3 years. You are US, yes? If so, go CARB approved. Quad cat is a booger... However. OE, the setup will have slightly varying catalytic precious metal compounds on the substrate upstream and down- this will aid in warmup and mid-range NOX and CO reduction. It "should" also live longer that way. The Platinum/palladium/rhodium balance will be shifted slightly. Cheap aftermarket units will have sub-par soak concentration of the precious metals. Anyway..... Y'all are knocking out some gorgeous work!

Not quite the same, but....

Wonderful! Congrats! If you get a chance, give her a brush-and-oil and snap some more pictures. I'm a complete greenhorn myself, but from what I've heard, Mousehole has quite the heritage.

I was thinking along similar lines. I thought I might try a half inch of litter under the brick bowl next session and see how she goes. Quite frankly, I may very well turn my old trusty Matco service cart into a JABOD- wall up the edges for more depth. Probably the full 8inches? I dunno, spitballing. I need to check relative height for comfort. Another advantage to that approach is.. wheels!! Less need for breakdown, just let her rip! I've been a bit tentative in my fueling and air supply knowing my box charring issue. I have not achieved what I assume to be a welding heat (we didn't learn FW in class, but I have a decent idea of where that color range may be)

Can I mirror TP? Only exception might be a non-knotted wirebrush to knock the loose nasties off then a light coat of oil. Fogging oil, WD, Boiled Linseed... Just avoid abrasives. A time may come for that down the line, but the time is not now. Get some hot steel on her and work it in. You'll learn what you like about her! Have you had a chance to do a ring test and rebound test? What's her weight? Sweet find!

Wow, looking good!

First things I made at my first class were nails. Lots of nails. Then leaves, several of them. Then a flower. Then, a horse head bottle opener. At that point, we were allowed to do what we wanted so I made a fire poker, a wall hook, and another opener. Very enjoyable, and highly educational! Had some great teachers in Jeff and Allen Lee.

Played with the forge for 4 hours today, and amongst some just random beating for the sake of beating hot metal and practicing hammer control, I took a stick of S40 1/2" rebar (supposedly medium carbon steel, lower grade than S60) and made a vaguely knife shape, just to see if I could. It sure isn't pretty, but it's mine! I wire-wheeled it off, then tried to put some temper colors in. There is less straw than I was hoping for, but there is royal and purple. I finished up with some Johnson Paste Wax. I definitely need to keep practicing haha

Well, the wind finally calmed down today and I got to play for about 4 hours. I used a double stack of the TS firebrick, each layer staggered to try and mitigate the seam heat flow on the floor. About 2/3 through I noticed a slightly glassy look on my tuyere wall brick, around the tuyere pipe. After I cleaned it out and inspected the bricks and box, it looks like the wall brick and floor brick melted slightly- not crumbly though. The box under the brick turned to charcoal on the first ply layer directly under the fire. So it seems that these bricks aren't quite cutting it, I imagine the next 4-8 hours might crunch a hole through. Maybe time to rethink? The advantage to the brick and litter is easy breakdown for storage, of which is at a bit of a premium. I can get about as much frac sand as I can carry from one customer, which is a fairly fine grain sand. Possibly some mixed grain, but it isn't kilned and screened. Regardless, enjoyed the time today!

What with the wind blowing in ~25mph gusts, I figured reassembling and firing the forge might not be wise. Instead I wire-brushed the 150 and BLO'd it. I've never used that stuff... it smells like fish funk and must hahaha... I think I prefer Sea-Foam fogging oil. Ahhh, oh well. I found an anchor. Whether an inspection mark or a sign of naval service, it is still awesome. I found a couple points that look suspiciously like cracks. I'll have to perform some verification before repair. Regardless, it is still a sweet anvil. I also used the MAP torch on some small stock just because. Noticed the decreased rebound, but it still worked!

Sounds good! Either way it should be a nice weekend I hope!

I know this seems to have gone quiet, but for what it's worth, the video here shows a bit of the tooling, the forge, etc Pretty cool! Hadn't seen a traveling forge. https://www.starkvillecivilwararsenal.com/the-traveling-forge.html

I have 3 stump/trunks, only 1 got the height set, the other big one just got the rough cut trimmed straight. I am hoping to get some time to use it and see how it feels before I go too much further. The 124lb'er is a half inch shorter than the 150 (for now, until I can get time to fix up the 150) so, if taller works better, that extra bit of the 150 may make it the better match. 31 years here. I sincerely appreciate folks with wiser minds and more experience sharing nuggets of gold with me. Across the board.