Brian D

I like to use a dry lube that can be painted on wet and when it dries, it leaves a thick film of dry lubricant. It has worked well for me in the past.
The stuff I use is made by Loctite and is called Moly Dry Film Lubricant.
Some good reasons for dry lube...

• Not affected much by cold weather
• Dry does not attract dust, grit, junk
• Thick dry film stays in place better than grease or oil (does not squeeze out of threads)
  

Interesting design for your forge....Would like to see more pictures as you progress.


Good looking dog also. Drahthaar right? I have hunted with a few buddies that have them. I was very impressed with how tough a dog they are, yet how easy they are to be around.

Thanks for the photos....
Looks like some really neat history there. Someplace one could spend days there soaking it all in.

Nice anvil for sure Brian!

One day, I'm going to drive up there and come home with one of his anvils....I want the little brother to yours.

Enjoy that anvil, she is a beauty.

Hey Tom,

Next time you are out this way and have a little time, look me up and I'll show you how pretty these mountains really are. We can get up close and personal with some real pretty country. If there is time maybe even saddle up and take a good day ride.

COOL!!! IT WORKED!!! -Just testing the new & improved photo upload instructions...

Ha Ha!

Is that the best test pic you could come up with?

I have not seen one of those cars in quite some time. They were down right UGLY...

Wesley, nice looking hand built shoes. Do you use a lot of hand builds, or do you find yourself using mostly keg shoes?

Thanks for the reminder...My eyes were watering while I was watching that.

 Hey Jeff,

You can get a cleanout fitting for the chimney. It is basically just a tee with one side capped off. When the flu needs cleaned, you just pull the cap off, and the sediment falls out or can be lightly scrubbed with a chimney brush. Lots of folks use them for their wood stove chimneys where the pipe is exposed. Really simple to keep clean without having to remove any fittings.

Now that thar is funny!




I wonder if we could get EMJ to produce a new handout like that... Probably not since EMJ seems to only supply material to industrial wholesale customers these days.... A very kewl gizzy....

Get your hands on a Jorgensen "Blue Book" they are a great reference too.

Very nice work. I really like the way you did the handles. looks really good!

That is not an uncommon thing really, you should never leave the shop right after welding or making sparks, I always wait atleast 15 minutes.
I have never really started a fire but I did one time, while grinding with a 4" grinder, set off a whole pile of firecrackers, the sparks set them off, scared the living daylights out of too, threw my grinder and ran, it took me a couple minutes to figure out what happend...and get my heart back to a normal rate.
I still think about it every time I pick up my grinder.

welder19

I have set numerous things smoldering or on fire by grinding or welding. I have set my clothes smoldering to the point of detection by feeling the heat on my leg and thigh. I have been grinding on a workbench to turn and see a rag engulfed in flames many times.
I can easily see how this could happen.

If you have a problem with condensation then it is best to put a water seperator right at your plasma cutter as they do not like any water at all, it doesn't take much at all to affect performance or prevent it from cutting at all.

welder19

Yea, he said earlier that he has one at the cutter, It sounds to me like he needs a bulk separator before the desiccant or chemical type. He is getting a lot more moisture than the filter at the device can handle.

Regards,

............ I'm not familiar with the centrifugal type of separator though. I'll have to research that.

"Centrifugal" may not be the official name of the separator, it may just be called a moisture separator. Basically how it works is to "spin" the air within a bowl. The motion of the air causes the heavier particles of water, oil, and contaminants to collect to the walls and fall out of the air stream. They then can be removed from the bowl via a manual or automatic drain valve. There are different types of these separators, some use the concept of spinning the air, some use the concept of moving the air over a series of baffles to make the air change direction to allow the moisture to fall out of the air.

Read through this, there is some good info here:

http://www.wilkerson...-2_Complete.pdf

Depending on how ornate you get, a tubing bender would work fine. You can even use items like pulleys to bend tubing around, and minimize collapsing. There are also coil spring tube benders that go on the outside of the tube.

I have also heard of packing fine sand into tubing, then capping it, along with freezing water inside to support it. All of this is done cold. You could even fill the tube with lead, bend it up, shape it, then melt it out.

Whichever way you do it the tubing will need some support, either on the outside, or the inside.

I have also bent tubing by capping ends, use a test plug on one end to fill with compressed air (keep as low a pressure as will support tubing wall) and bend tubing using localized heat from a torch. I have also used this method to expand exhaust pipes and other tubes which have collapsed and or been smashed.

If you use this method, just be very careful and pay close attention to the area being heated and be mindful of how much air pressure is inside of the tube. Realize that pressurized air could rush out if tube is overheated or split, and anticipate the most likely places and direction that it will escape. Just take proper precautions and pay attention.

Thanks for the info. I have a filter/water trap on it now and it works well in the winter. My problem is in the summer when humidity hits 80-90 percent and it's 80 degrees outside. My plasma cutter doesn't like the water.

I have a chemical dryer added at the cutter that turns color when water comes through. I can bake the pellets dry and reuse them but it can get to be pain. I may try to attach lines to refridgeration setup to help cool air and add automatic popoff drain for water, then use filters etc.

I have not had to manage moisture in compressed air in a high humidity area as you are in. If I were in your position, I would put in place some sort of aftercooler, or device to cool the air to get the moisture to condense. Then, I would place some sort of mechanical separator such as a centrifugal type coupled with a lower velocity mist separator after to manage and remove entrained particles that make it through the higher velocity. That may remove enough moisture prior to the chemical or desiccant filter it sounds like you are using prior to the cutter.

One other thing, What is the CFM rating on your compressor compared to the air consumption demand? It gets really hard to remove moisture from the air effectively if you are using it at a rate close to what the compressor can put out. Some things that can help are multiple compressors manifolded into the system, and a larger air reservoir to "buffer" the consumption.

Talk to an industrial compressor sales expert in your area, they should be able to help you with some location specific methods that will work for you. They usually will not charge you for a consultation, and they may have some "simple" suggestions.

Just some thoughts from my experiences.

Sounds good. How about sharing your custom venturi profile? I would be interested to see it. Remember that you will likely need to do a little fine tuning to the burners after placing them in the forge chamber in relation to the "open air" environment. Looks and sounds like you are on track. Good luck!

Does anyone know what the maximum psi that can be run through flexible copper or rigid copper "plumbing lines"? I want to add a section to my air lines to cool the air to aid in removing water from the air this coming summer.

Maximum pressure rating will depend on the size of pipe/tube and temperature. You will be not exceed max pressure of general purpose copper tubing with a common air compressor. Tubing with different wall thickness and ratings are available, but you will not need heavy wall thickness if you are under 400 psi.

The burners sure do look nice and clean. Nice job!

Have you test fired them yet? Do you have plans for a flare or flame holder? I'd like to see the finished forge.

That is looking better!

Another suggestion for a welding aid.....Use your solidworks model and translate the footprint geometry to a layout drawing showing the positions of the feet. You can use the layout to place the feet in position and tack them in place right to your welding table. Then position your stands top plate and transfer a predetermined reference point to your layout in relation to your feet with a plumb bob or square or whatever makes sense. Once everything is tacked in place, weld it all up.

It's all harder to explain than to actually do. Make that Solidworks model work for you, you went to the effort to model it all, now use the model to make fabrication easy! Many reference points and measurements can be determined with very little effort.......Does that make sense?

Hey, how 'bout we call em "Orgtwisters"?

Sounds good to me......

I believe those are early pipe wrenchs called pipe tongs.

Looks like he beat me to it......

I've seen an old tool similar to those, I think the ol boy called 'em pipe pliers. They had a flat spot with small teeth cut into it instead of a sharp pointed jaw.

Quite simply:

Give the customer what they want......
In the quantity they want it ......
When they want it......

If the customer's expectations cannot be met, then simply be honest and say so.

Pretty simple to me.

Here is one that I just finished rebuilding and making a stand for.