bluerooster

WOW! I'm getting hosed at $30/ 50 pound bag of coal. Where in AL? I'm in north GA, and been paying over a buck and half per pound.

If you have 220 single phase, running 3 phase equipment is no problem. All you need is another 3 phase motor of same or greater HP, as the one you want to run. EZ PZ. (3 phase motors are way less expensive than single phase motors)

All I can say is give it a go, and see what happens. That's what I did.

Well, My first attempt at blind, square hole, first attempt at basket twist, and first attempt at a gas key all rolled into some forge time. First off The hole actually went quite well. Drilled a 9/32" hole, heated, and drifted to 5/16 square. Looked OK, albeit a tad off center. Then, slit, and started the basket, and twisted. Got all wonkey, so I just twisted it tight. (forget the basket) I believe it will be functional, but nowhere near aesthetically pleasing. So, it will hang on the wall, as a reminder of how not to make a gas key.

Drill and drift works very well.

Thank you all for the replys. TWISTEDWILLOW- Punching and filing was a thought, but too much time, and tedium. Purple Bullet- That's kinda what I had in mind, but would be a bit tedious for accuracy. Yes, carpenters are lowly, which is what is so great about them. being able to show up those with a college degree, and thousands of dollars in college debt, by using common sense, and simple math, on a regular basis, is what makes my day. And still be a lowly carpenter. teenylittlemetalguy- That may be a last resort. I'd rather do it all in one piece. PHDforge- I've no clue as to size of the hole, but process would be same, no matter the size.

First, a little back story; I work construction as a lowly carpenter. Our latest job, is about 2 years worth of building barns, houses, and "fishing shacks" on about 1200 acres for the same owner. We are working under contract for a builder hired by the owner. Well, Our first task was to renovate an old barn for hay storage. During the demo I found some old rusty metal suitable for forging. Some of it became my new post vise, And I made a bottle opener from another piece. The bottle opener I gave to the property owner, (it was his steel anyway). He liked it. Well, the guy we are working for, came back and asked if I could make hand forged gas keys, for gas log fireplaces. I told him I could certianly give it a go, and see. The handle and shaft I can do, it's the square hole in the end that I'm not sure about how to make. I can make a socket, and weld it to the shaft and handle, but I'd like to forge the entire thing from one piece of stock. Any ideas? Thanx, Shorty.

I have a rather eclectic taste in music. My collection runs from ABBA to ZAPPA. With everything in between. There's no telling what you may hear in the shop. It may be heavy metal violin, or Bach on metal guitar. Or Benny Goodman, or Muddy Waters, Lindsay Stirling, or Luna Lee, or Venom, or .....

Yes. My eyeglasses are safety glasses. Actually of much better material than run of the mill OSHA approved safety glasses. I only need to wear the side shields, which I purchase in bulk. I do need to get new ones though, because I've had them for nearly 20 years, and I'm certian that the prescription has changed. My boss asked me one day if I had safety glasses. I told him I was wearing them. He told me that they were not safety glasses. I took them off, laid them down, and shot them with a framing gun, at point blank range. The nail knocked them off the table, but the lens survived without a scratch. Then I took his "safety glasses" and did the same thing. The nail went completely through the lens. Big difference between $15 OSHA approved safety glasses, and $600 eyeglasses custom ordered to be safety glasses. Anyway, they don't block much IR radiation.

I gained a lot of experience on that project, and may well tackle another one this fall.

Makes sense to me. I allways wondered why they would be using a mile of that stuff, when one joint would do.

Spent some time making a couple of hooks to hang pool vacuum hose. I'll get pics when installed. Too hot here for much forgery.

What I'm familiar with being called "sucker rod" comes from water wells. The rod from the oil/gas industry we allways called "polish rod" . And it's usually surface hardened, and polished, much like what would be found in a hydraulic cylinder. Folks use them to make nice looking racks for their pickups, They stay shiny, and don't rust (much). They also use the pump balls for finials on the corners.

I used it to make the bottle opener laying on the anvil. It worked quite well. But the next vise will have different style jaws.

Using chainsaw is cheating. And thanx for the info Arkie.

I started a project many years ago requiring me to fabricate hand hewn beams. Not having a proper broad ax, and other tools put the stop to it after the first one. Using a felling ax for a broad axe is not the way to go. But I now have a forge, and may try my hand at a broad axe, if it works, I'll try another beam. To all that have done something and submitted pics: Good work guys! I have done nothing in the shop today except push a broom. I did get some grass cut, and bush hogged around the barn, (it was getting kinda snakey). took apart a nail gun to order parts for repair, only to find that what I need is discontinued/unobtaineum. Can we say "built in obsolescence"? That way they sell more nailers. Been hot, and humid here. There are many things that I want to do at the forge, but at 100 degrees, and 100% humidity, it's hard for me to build a fire in the forge, unless it's for something that just absoloutly has to be done.

Back to hammer control/accuracy; I make my living swinging a hammer framing houses, Barns, Stores, etc. I use a 16oz Bluegrass that I've had for 40 years. I usually drive a 16 penny nail with 2 blows after the set. I've done it in one blow, but can't do it more than a few times, but 2 licks I can do all day. That said, I guess if I had a 28oz hammer I could do it with one blow. Problem is I have yet to find a heavier framing hammer that is as well balanced as my little 16oz bluegrass. I can control my hammer, and hit what I'm aiming at accurately. A good test for accuracy is a piece of tie wire cut to the length of a 6 penny finishing nail. I can drive it with one blow after set. All that said, My go to general use smithing hammer is a 2 pound ball pien. I went through about 20 to find that one. It is well balanced, and after working the face, it is a good hammer. I have a 3 pound cross pien that works ok, but needs a little adjustment. And the 8 pound sledge is a nice one hander. I made a goofy looking cross pien and it's about useless for anything but a top tool. I do believe that hammer making is a true artform. I find a lot of folks trying to swing too much hammer, to do the same job that I can do with a smaller hammer. I firmly believe that accuracy far exceeds weight. A blow from a 30 pound hammer in the wrong spot, will move less than a blow from a 1 pound hammer in the right spot.

Finally got the chance for a little forge time today. Found that the homebrew post vise works well. And made a large bottle opener. Oh, and 3.5" in the rain gauge since Sunday.

We've been getting about 1/2" per day here in the southeast.

Free bees. Yesterday I ran accross a machine shop from the late 1800's/early 1900's. One lathe; 20"swing, 12' bed with steady rest, and tooling, along with 1 drill press, 1 shaper. and 1 bandsaw. All overhead shaft, belt drive. All still working. I get all the drive shafts, motors, etc. for one money. All I gotta do is help him sell a boatload of Model A stuff. There is also, a LeBlond lathe, 12" swing, 8 foot bed, with taper attachement, and a vertical mill, both of 1950's 1960's vintage. I "cut my teeth" on the older equipment. And all have been well kept, and well used, but have sat idle for about 7 years. I didn't have a way to get pics, but I will in the very near future.

Workmate was just to hold it for the pic. Where it's installed, it's attached to a stump, buried about 18" in the ground, and a steel plate under the leg to carry the impact forces. I'm certian I'll come up with various mods for it as I go. I've yet to use it, but it's ready for use. And I may be able to get some forge time in on Mon. But this weekend is all booked up with the honey do list.

That means a lot comming from you. Thanx Frosty.

Why izzit that once you get the forge fired, and the fire just where you want it, and in the middle of a project, the "boss lady" comes out to inform you that you need to make a store run? I'd just loaded it with fresh coal around the sides, and had iron in the fire. So, I banked it, opened the ash dump, and told her to keep an eye on it, because it's liable to go POP. Told her to just put out any fires started by the pop, and leave the forge alone, I'll be right back. (kinda wish I'd left the ash dump closed to re-enforce my point) Well I got back in jig time, and it went "Poot", but she said it blew it's self out, Oh, it's not out I told her, and gave the blower a crank or two, it came right back. Glad I left the iron in the fire, it was holding temp, so didn't take much to get back to forging temp.

Something I learned along the way is that the screw must be able to float, lest it bind. So the holes are oblong, and nut is not attached. I used a brass bushing in the moving part, to save wear on the screw. They have a flange on them, but, if you look at the pics, you'll notice that the outer flange has full contact, while the inner flange does not. No need on the inner flange, as there is no pressure there. Actually, no need for a flange on the inner half, But I had origionally thought about not using a spring, so the screw would have to do the work of opening as well as closing. But the spring worked so well, I decided to forgo the flat for the flange on the inner bushing. But it would look better with it. Thomas brought up a point that I'd not taken into account, and that is the need for the jaws to be angled in such a manner as to allow full contact with the thicker work piece. And another point was brought up about the 90 degree bend. Very good points that I hadn't thought of. I'll grind the jaws to fit a decent profile. But the angle of the bend in the jaws I'll address when I build another, larger vise. Thank you all for your input. This has been a great project, and I'm definately going to do another one, mabe with 6" jaws, and a more suitable angle, mabe 30 degrees instead of 90 degrees. Shoot! one of these days I might become a blacksmith. (if I live long enough)

Made some progress today. Still need to do a bit of grinding, and slicking up. Need to angle the jaws some, but it seems to work just fine, as far as operation goes. The handle may be a tad too long, but time will tell on that. Need to drill bolt holes in the mounting plate, and replace carriage bolts with cap screws. Last pic is 1 turn from full closed. About 5/16" open. I'll be making some major changes to the next one I build. But I figure this one should serve better than what I have now.