bluerooster

Got a little forge time in today. Decided to make a blade from a piece of 94 year old leaf spring. (I have a bunch of that stuff from Model A Ford) Got started thinking of micro fractures and what-all. So, rather than give up on it, I thought about giving it a low carbon internal "spine" to hold it all together. So, I hot cut a length of about 10", then folded it like a hotdog bun, and set it aside. Got a piece of 5/8" square stock and made about 9.5" of it to fit the "bun", and left the rest for a handle. Got it all cleaned up, and fluxed, then decided to put out the fire, clean the forge, and be ready to weld it all together tomorrow. I don't know how it will work but I'll know more tomorrow.

DNAdave, Nice towel rack. I was a voracious reader from about second grade on. I would read almost anything written on paper. Mom had a set of encyclopedias that also had a set of books filled with short stories, and longer stories. I read almost every one of them by the 5th grade. Some of the books that were required reading for school, I didn't read simply because they didn't hold my interest. Just not my type of reading. If it wasn't a story that I could relate to, it didn't hold my interest.

Daswulf, Most of the younger guys that I've worked with would rather replace parts, than to repair. So they soak up all the gravy, while I'm stuck with the big money jobs. But that's where the "tricks of the trade" really shine.

Rojo, rivet setter or not, those are some very nice looking ladles.

Torch welding aka gas welding, has been around for many years, and is still in use today. especially handy when all you have is a torch. Tens of thousands of airplanes were welded together with a torch, not because that's all they had at the time, but because it was deemed the best way to do it for structural integrity.

Good lookin' banjo hanger. And a nice big shear, you should be able to cut up some pretty heavy sheet with that. I finished up the tongs, then made a bottle opener. I tried to put a diamond on the end of it, but it came out all wonky. I'll find out if it works shortly.

I'm wondering if the OP found the trouble with his forge. He mentioned that there was some coke left that his grandpa used, and that it was rather large chunks. I wonder how his grandpa used that coke. Did he break it up into smaller pieces, or us it as is? Could that have a bearing on his problem?

Arthur210, That's a real nice spoon. Today I pinned the tongs together, and made some adjustments. I'm not satisfied with them at all. Made another set following a video on YT. (Thanx Jennifer) and I think they will do way better. still have some tweaking to do, but I can tell already they are a vast improvement over the method i was using. Even the rivet came out better. Alexandr, I like those "fleur de lis" brackets on the beams. That's a nice touch. But -13c is way too cold for me.;)

No I didn't. But it's still in the back of my mind. I burned a lot of coal upsetting the ends for the jaws. And I haven't had much forge time since Jan. anyway. Had to rebuild the exhaust hood due to rust, then had to move a bunch of stuff around, to accommodate the side draft hood, which required me to re-mount the vise which i haven't done yet, because I want to replace the stump with a better one. Then My tractor has a flat tire, (I need the tractor to move the new stump) I had to order new tires online, and just got them, but no tubes. So it will be next weekend before I can get the vise mounted again. I sure miss that little vise. I don't know how I got on without it.

Went to the scrapyard today, found a bucket full of 3' x 5/8" square stock, but was already spoken for. Came back and worked at cleaning up the shop. Found and fixed a fuel leak in the shop heater. Small pinhole on the bottom of the tank, causing diesel to soak into the wood floor. Then out to the forge to draw out the reins on the tong project. For some reason the camera can see in the dark better than I can. I thought I had them in pretty good shape, the camera tells me there's more work to be done. Guess I need to put a light in the smithy.

That was quite interesting. I plan to watch the rest of them. Good find.

It would take two or three of the boxes that you just got to hold all my tools, between work and home. But the most used daily tools will fit in a tool tray from a carry box. And that's where they live on a shelf under the drawers. Here's a pic of the tool box that I've used at home for about 24 years. When I got my current job last year I needed a toolbox for work. so I put doors that can be secured, and took it to work. The drawer pulls are bought, the door handles/thumb latches, and hinges. are forged by me from scrap. Top drawer is standard wrenches, middle is standard sockets, ratchets, extensions, and Torx, Bottom drawer is various and sundry items, screw drivers, pliers, punches, files, etc. Shelf holds various power tools, Bottom holds another set of drawers with all metric stuff. Most all specialty tools are in their own cases, and fit on the shelves on either side. Hammers, dollys, etc, fit on the bottom left, along with battery impact, and drill. Yes, toolboxes are like cars, they lose about 1/3 of the value before the ink is dry on the sales agreement.

Daswulf, That sounds about right. Matco, and Snap-itoff come by the shop regular. I haven't seen Cornwell Around or I would check it out. As for tool boxes, they're nice boxes, but dang, they're pricey. I prefer to spend the $ on what goes into the box, rather than the box it's self. Boss bought a new box from Snap-on, to the tune of $12k+ after trade in of his old one. We need a R1234 machine more than he needed a new box. Oh well. I'll stick with my old box, and keep it full of quality tools. And keep an eye out for more of those $36 deals at the scrap yard.

Daswulf, How do Cornwell prices compare to other dealers like Matco, Mac, or Snap-off?

Goods, That's a real nice picket. Les L, I've got a V swedge, and used it as well. I started out by opening it just slightly, heating it, then flux, and tighten. Then slowly brought it up to welding heat, and held it there to allow it to soak through. Clamped it in the vise and twisted it tight as I could, more flux, then back in the heat. Then to the V block tapping and turning as to tighten it more. It seemed to be getting solid by the third welding heat. And also considerably smaller cross section than what I started out with. I continued to work it a high heat, just on the verge of fuming, bright yellow. For a few more heats, then started drawing and shaping at a bright orange/red heat. Just in hopes that the wires will continue to merge under the hammer. I'll post pic of the results. Cable, and blade made from it. One of the delaminations. And another,

Yes it is a workout. I guess hammer in the direction of the lay, as to tighten it up under the hammer.

I've just about given up on cable. I end up with cold shuts all the way through it. And don't know about them until I'm just about finished with the project. Anyway, I got a little forge time in today. Tried to make another basket twist, but I couldn't get the weld to take on one end. The other end set just fine. I thought I had this end set, but after another heat, it blew apart, and can't get it to stick again. I've done about 5 or 6 of these, without too much trouble. But this one is being a pain. One thing I did differently today is, I didn't tie the ends together. I usually tie them together with a bit of tie wire. Mabe that's what it is. The tie keeps things in place and doesn't let them move around. So, I set it to the side, and set about the task of flat jaw tongs, and a rivit to hold them together. I still need to draw out the reins, punch the hole, and dress them up. \ Also managed to fabricate a big old clinker.

Waiting on some material that was supposed to be in on the 22nd of last month. Just the last couple of items before covering.

Went to the local scrap yard today. Got a tool cart, and a chunk of Aluminum. $36.

A friend of mine carves some very nice and detailed duck decoys as a hobby. He told me that it was easy. Just cut away anything that doesn't look like a duck.

could well be dried camel dung for forge fuel. I can even see the end of the tuyre.

Yes, the bearing snowman is fantastic.

Form follows function. IOW; make something that works well, and that's the form it takes. BillyBones, I learned on a lathe built in the 1800's, 12' bed, 24" swing. Ran off of a flat belt. We had an electric motor to run it, the band saw, Drill press, and the shaper. I could do anything needed for the shop on those equipment. Did a lot of tapered shaft repair, mostly Model A Ford axles, and front spindles. Build it up with weld, cut the taper on the lath, then cut the keyway with the shaper. Later, we got a LeBlond with taper attachement, Got it used, but I thought I was in heaven. The LeBlond was from the 40's. I had to make a major part for it though. Apparently, some time in it's life someone started the feed with the lead screw engaged. Destroyed the split nut on the lead screw. But, I had a chunk of brass, and an old lathe to make a new split nut. "New" lathe had a short 6 foot bed, with about 16" swing. But it worked quite well for what we were doing. Then years later they got an old Bridgeport vertical mill.

Welding with a torch, the procedure is very much akin to tig, in that, you heat the metal with the torch, and dip filler rod into the puddle. But it's slower, so you have some time to observe what is happening. Like tig you can puddle the weld around and flatten it out. Can't be done with stick, and mig.

If you don't have a tig, you can gas weld to same effect.