Brian D

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.

I think I am finally done with the repair. This has been a long drawn out project. I finished cleaning up the weld repair of the jaws, then built a new spring, fabricated a new stand to mount it to and I will make a quick detach shelf some time in the future. Here are some pics of it done...

I think the heating is done in a vacuum, and the quenching is done in a different "controlled" chamber where there is some kind of hand off of the part. I agree. I don't think I would use the term "vacuum quenching". It would probably make sense to use the terms "vacuum carburizing" and "vacuum tempering" or vacuum drawing. Grant, don't worry about the way it sounds. I have thick skin. I have not physically "walked" the parts through the process. What I do know is that there are certain advantages that I have seen in the end result from a heat treat process with vacuum. Part stability (tighter tolerances) with less distortion and less finish grinding or other operation after heat treat is a big advantage. I understand that the steel still requires a heat-quench-draw, however, from what I understand, these all happen in different chambers and I understand the atmosphere is "controlled" in each. Just how, I don't know. Quite right, Grant. It is where the color and consistency of it come from, and it is more expensive. It does not always make sense to have "bright" finish parts.

I think the low was right around 0 F. It may have got to 20 here today, but I doubt it. It is headed back down in the basement now.

Yes, it makes for a very consistent and nice looking part when heat treat with vacuum is called out. I call out "Heat treat with Vacuum" on a lot of my machine tooling. As said, it looks straw yellow to bronze depending on the heat treat process, material, and surface finish of the part. Surface finish does make it look different, I don't know if it oxidizes faster, but same material with inconsistent surface finishes look very different than the same part with a consistent finish. I do not think it is an oxygen free atmosphere, I think it just makes it much more consistent throughout. I don't think the shop I use purges the chamber with an inert gas, I think they just pull a vacuum on their chamber in the oven. Most of the material that I call out a vacuum heat treat on is an air hardening material / heat treat process. Often makes for a more consistent, stable part minimizing the amount of operations that need to happen after heat treat.

Nice idea on the "wheelbarrow vise"! I can think of many instances where that would be useful around my place. Thanks for sharing.

Hello Jesse, Judging by your work, I'd say you are starting out in blacksmithing with a pretty impressive skill set. Skills and knowledge that will lend themselves well to being a blacksmith. I look forward to seeing some of your work....What type of work are you planning to do?

Thanks for the info Clinton, I too am using XP and will have to give that a try next time I post with a pic.

Whoa now, that's rough....I hope you don't have anything a little more "dangerous" around. This may be an area where our wives could add value to the workshop in helping to organize and make sense of things. How could you attract them into the shop and make it enjoyable for them? Could reap some great benefits from this......There is nothing wrong with a little order is there? Think of how much better the sanctuary could be.....It could be a lot of fun spending time doing something enjoyable with someone you enjoy being around....At least I hope you enjoy being in each others company, or you may as well not be married. ;)

Clinton, Nice pair of tongs. I need to make some similar to that sometime soon. Oh, and the pictures open nice and quick. I am on DSL, but I know what you mean about some of the pictures lately. Some are taking forever to open. What did you do different? is it all in the size of the file?

Now that is cool! That looks like fun, I wonder how he got his wife to do that. My wife will come outside and want to talk, but I don't think I could get her to do that. Of course, it I had a shop where she could get out of the wind, cold, and blowing snow, I think that may help. That's neat, thanks for the video.

Yes, they are formerly known as Rat Hole Forge. And I agree with you, I think they are good looking anvils too. I have called and talked to Steve a few times about his anvils. He is a really nice guy.

Right on Chad! I have been looking around quite a bit locally and missed that one. That looks like a good old usable anvil. How heavy is it? It looks like it has a clip horn on it. Is that anvil a farrier style anvil?

Thanks for the update Mark. I am looking forward to that same anvil some day.

I get skunks here all the time. If you can rig up a way to drown them, they will die without spraying or stinking. You just have to get rid of the carcass right away. I conveniently set a live trap with a large rock placed inside right next to the irrigation ditch. The trap has about a 30 foot nylon rope attached. When the skunk gets caught in the trap, I just give it a tug into the ditch. I know another guy that uses this same method with a large pit filled with water. I have not had a skunk that can resist watermelon rinds for bait, it gets em every time.

That's pretty good service from those compressors....I have talked to others that tried to use them in industrial or commercial service and they did not last very long at all. May be that they were in a little different application or consumption demands. If they hold up for your daily use, they should be an excellent fit for the average home workshop. I'm glad that they are holding up for you.

I apologize for my previous post on this thread. It was a little sarcastic and takes away from the original question asked regarding a safety concern. Certain restrictions or regulations that seem perfectly acceptable to others cut across my grain at right angles, and I get a little "fired" up......I will show more restraint.

Gaylan, That is a really nice looking sign. Very appealing and attractive with good detail, yet simple and not too busy. I like it a lot. Very much like other pieces of yours that I have seen. You are a very good craftsman. Thanks for sharing.

Are you kidding me? What kind of place do you live in? That sounds pretty extreme to me! Do you need a note or signed fire permit from the fire marshal to light the BBQ grill in the backyard too?

I guess another question regarding performance would be....What kind of temps do you want your forge to reach and with how many burners? I have not used the Plistix coating that you mentioned, so I can not comment on how this helps with efficiency. I would have to say though, with that volume, I would use two 3/4 inch burners.

Nice forge Ironstein! I plan to build a forge very similar to that. I like the fire pot, I also plan to use one from Lorance. It looks very similar to a picture I seen on this forum of Brian Brazeal's forge. I like the design, clean and simple looking. Nice job! Now quit admiring that thing and go and get it broke in already......

One thing to consider when selecting a burner is where will you be using it. I do not have a workshop and work outside under a covered patio. I have experimented with burners similar to this style and did not like the way they behaved out in the breezy / windy patio. The ones I tried were a bit unstable and finicky when a stiff breeze kicked up. I like the sidearm style burner for the environment that I am in due to the stable operation in the sometimes windy conditions. Any burner design that changes the direction of the intake air flow after the inlet (non-axial inlet) seem to be a lot more stable in the outdoors. Just something to consider....

Very sorry to hear this news....Prayers go out to him. Please keep us posted with any updates.

Thanks for the nice compliments. It sure has been more work than I thought it would be. I need to get it done soon so I can have the satisfaction of using it... No teeth cut in the jaws yet, I wanted to try it smooth first and if I want teeth cut later, I can cut some in. The pivot pin in this vise was very worn, and the pivot bearing plates were twisted a bit. I may have to do a very similar fix to this vise (larger pivot pin and holes) if I am not satisfied with the stability. I pre-heated the mass and O/A torch welded the voids. It was a lot of work, and it took a lot of stopping to re-heat the jaws, then back to welding. The welding tip on the torch did not provide enough heat to keep the mass heated sufficiently. If I was to do it again, I would use the torch to get down into the deep crevices and holes, then while it is still hot, burn some wire in with the MIG welder.