AngryOnion

On 6/24/2022 at 4:50 PM, ThomasPowers said:

If you have access to a bench grinder you can modify jigsaw blades into small keyhole saws.

I read this about 5 times trying to figure out how you mount blades to a bench grinder.

Did anyone else notice it's broken on the moveable jaw side? Definitely not worth that price.

Matthews?

On 6/13/2022 at 8:26 PM, Frosty said:

Avocados are actually good dog food so long as they don't swallow a pit.

The issue with avocado is it is completely random how much it takes to hurt your dog. Some are sensitive and others are not. Much like the raisin story earlier. Also hydrogen peroxide is the correct way for making dogs throw up. And as a related note, if your dog ever gets into antifreeze, you give them the strongest alcohol possible. It competes with the deadly type in the liver for being broken down.  Everclear is even pure enough to be given IV. 

Raisins and avocado are some of the worst for dogs, but people don't know those ones as well as chocolate.

I really like o'keefes. Doesn't burn at all even in cracks and cuts like some others.

Okay cleaned it up some. No markings that I can see. The mounting bracket appears to be hand forged. It looks like scarf welds around the 'U'. This is my first post vise, but I've looked at others. I thought they always had more squared off threads instead of pointed. The screw and screwbox both seem in good shape and don't have any play in them. And only the first inch or so of the screw has wear. Is this factory or a homemade replacement?

Hi guys, picked up this post vise today that needs some work(seized up currently and needs a handle) But I figured it was still worth $100 for a 5.5". I probably won't get to cleaning it right away, but does it look like an Iron City? It weighs 91#. I didn't see any obvious marks, where would be the best place to look? Also does it matter what type of steel I use for the new handle? Thank you.

Well it took me a long time to get started since house renovations took priority, but I finally got set up and made a few things. I think it went okay for my first time. 

I have a Reed 104 that has a bent handle but is otherwise in good shape. Are handles usually heat treated in some way or can I just heat it up, straighten it, and let it cool? Thanks guys.

6-12 hours depending on the piece. 

The after photos. No paint, just rub down with BLO. Everything inside was in perfect condition. It was used but not abused.

This may be a dumb question, but can the scrap piece be rusty already as long as I clean a spot for the lead?

Thank you, I'd much rather take advice from the people here than random youtube videos.

Hi, so I bought a large bench vise and want to clean it up. I think electrolysis is the way to go, but I've never done it before. How big of a piece of scrap do I need in comparison to what I'm putting in the tank? I've seen videos of people using laundry crystals, is there any certain ratio to use, and is there a special kind to get? Thanks for the help.

Found a super nice Prentiss no 21 today. Everything feels perfect on it and just needed a spritz of wd40 to get the swivel jaw moving.

I haven't had one blow up like that yet, but usually when I get a chuck taken out it's when I'm cutting hollow tubing. One habit I have in the workplace when that happens is to snap the whole thing in half so nobody else tries to use it. I've seen them pull half broken ones out of the trash to use.

It ended up going for over 1200, and I'm no collector.

Hey I found an 8" Fisher post vise for sale. Looks good in the pictures to me. Any idea what a decent price is in the Midwest for it? I was thinking like 350$. 

I'm just getting everything together and getting started, so this is my first haul outside of a box of RR spikes. Found these on FB from an old farm for 300$. Total weight was just under 1600lbs. This should last me a very long time. Since I'm very green at this, what sort of prices are decent on the rust belt for high carbon steel?

I may have seen a few of those posts trying to find more information on the board. I won't argue, it's easily the best anvil I have.

So after several missed opportunities with Craigslist and Facebook ads for anything at a decent price, I bought this 161# Mouse Hole for 500 at an auction. I actually thought it was a Fisher at first but cleaned it up some at home. Based on what I've read it was made 1820-1830 right? Pritchel looks drilled, not punched. Amazed at how good a ~200 year old anvil looks. Will not be doing anything more than a wire wheel to clean it further. I had not researched these much before, so what are the advantages or disadvantages with them? What does the little triangle mark in the second to last picture mean? Thanks as always guys!

So I'm beginning to aquire the tools I need to start blacksmithing, and I'm trying to plan ahead. When you find somebody with old tongs, anvil, or whatever else and doesn't have a price in mind, what do you offer? Do you low-ball and risk offending them and killing the sale? I'm probably more worried people will Google the tool and have some rediculous price in mind.

Are the helium tanks made of steel? Just trying to figure out what I can weld onto it.

I have read/watched the safety hazards related to this. I have a good respirator on hand and am an experienced welder/fabricator. 

So I've been reading up on what materials to make a ceramic blanket forge, but wanted to run it by people with experience first. The picture is very similar to what I want to do. As far as the shell on the outside, what sort of dimensions work well? I wanted to start making knives and other small things. I've been looking at using either an old propane tank(potentially dangerous) or air compressor cylinder. Any other suggestions? I've seen these somewhere around 12" diameter, but have no idea on what a good length would be. I was going to have a hole in both sides in case I did something longer.

As for the inside, I was going to do two layers of 1" ceramic blanket, and rigidize them both. I'm not sure how stiff it gets when you do that, so do you heat and dry them out as flat sheets, or put it inside the cylinder and use the burner to dry it out? For the refractory I've seen a lot of people on here using Kast-o-lite, so probably that. If I remember right, it's not the greatest against flux, but I don't know how often I will use any.  Now if I have a fire brick bottom as shown, do I put the refractory on that as well? I'm trying to follow the advice from the pined thread about this. 

 My consolidated notes for new forge builders - Gas Forges - I Forge Iron 

As far as actually using the forge, how close to a stud wall in a garage would be safe if I put cement backer board as an insulator on it? 

Thank you again for all the help guys.