Brian D

Well, it's been a while, but I have found a little time here and there to work on this old vise. Here are some update pics.... What a chore! It will sure be nice when this thing is done so I can use it. It should not be long now, almost ready for paint. I still need to fix the mounting bracket, make a new wedge and spring, and make a suitable stand.

It is still available. I have seen it used in dispensers near the sinks at shops and various other places. Here is a link....Heavy-duty Hand Soaps at Keysan

No matter what I try, these darn critters just come back with a vengeance. :mad: Is it just me, or did the pesticides we used 20-30 years ago seem to work a lot better. I don't remember having the problems with the hornets and yellow jackets or any of the nuisance insects nearly as much back then....

Pick some of that stuff up if you can....Seems to be reasonably priced!

Yea, may be a requirement in some states. I have seen them for sale both welded and not. Wow! never seen them bring quite that much. All I know is that in Utah, I have to have wire, buttons, or another device that provides a gap in the jaws on even my small fox and bobcat traps to be legal. I have not seen any new bear traps for sale, I think that is why they bring so much money. Do you have any info on where to purchase new bear traps?

Congrats, looks like a fine anvil....Might want to invest in a camera that can focus a little better...... Just kidding, the pics are a little blurry. Have fun with the new anvil. Looks like a dandy.

If the jaws are not welded on the bear trap, and it looks like they aren't, I would bet it is worth near $1000.00. Most of the big traps that you come across now days are welded. I think it is illegal to have them without being welded shut.

I use ITC-100. It is not just a rigidizer or stabilizer. ITC-100 is a ceramic coating, making the refractory material more "reflective" and used to insulate beyond what the capability of the refractory material by itself. I have not used Plistex, but would like to hear of your results if you use it. I think it is quite a bit cheaper than the ITC products.

Try McMaster-Carr. Do a search on their site for Stainless Steel wire mesh. McMaster-Carr I think they will sell in short quantity.

Rob, I have and currently use a 70# Cliff Carrol anvil. It is a farrier anvil and that is what I bought it for. I don't shoe many horses anymore, but it works o.k. for light blacksmith work. If this type of anvil is what you are looking for, do as Rich suggested and look at a local farrier supply. Shipping is expensive on this kind of stuff. A quick search for South Carolina turned up Monetta Farrier Specialties I don't know how close they are to you, but could be worth a shot. I just looked at Monetta Farrier Specialties website, under their anvil selection, they carry NC tool anvils. Very comparable to Cliff Carrol. Take a look at the NC big face, it is very similar to the Cliff Carrol wide face anvil. If you can spend the little extra money, you may opt for a JM 70 # anvil. A little bit better anvil in my opinion. Not finding many used anvils in your area?

What kind of pressure are you running at when it burns ok, and when it goes out? How much of a fuller did you get on it? What is the I.D. of the pipe at the smallest point? Got any more pics? You want to be careful to not reduce the I.D. too much. This can limit the burner by not allowing the needed amount of air for proper combustion. (it will pull air through the smaller hole at a higher velocity, but it will start to restrict the volume)

Randy, Thank you for sharing the videos of the press and tooling. Very nice indeed!

I would not worry about it much with Propane (LPG). From what I have learned, propane has a pretty small mixture percentage band where it can burn. (from about 2% to 10% gas percentage to oxygen) This small mixture percentage means that the flame can and will not burn straight from the hose or follow the gas up the hose. It must be mixed with air at the right percentage to burn at all, if it is too rich or lean, it will extinguish itself. I would be more worried about small leaks in the fuel line or fittings that allow the propane to settle to low spots or sumps and accumulate in pools that could rapidly ignite under the right conditions.

Johnptc, Thanks for the link! Now that looks like a very robust machine, I bet it works real well. Grant, I did use a fence, but it kept trying to jump on me from the vibration and chatter. It was not so bad with a lighter cut.

After looking at your pictures, I think the reduction diameter (fuller) in the pipe will be a big help. It looks to me like you are not getting enough oxygen at the right velocity for proper mixing and it is seeking it out at the intake of the burner. Try the fuller section in the pipe first and light it up again. If you don't have a means to fuller the pipe, try a reducer bushing and another bell to open it back up just for a trial. A handy trick to check the alignment of the hole down the axis of the pipe is to adapt a fitting to connect a water hose or shower hose to the tube and squirt water down the axis of the pipe. It is pretty easy to see the stream of water vs. guess on the alignment of the gas jet. Good luck and Be safe.

GreenMan, I had to look up the blueprint BP0192. I have not attempted this burner assembly, but have built several other kinds. I see a few problems right of the bat in your post. Make sure the jet hole is drilled straight, aligned down the axis of the pipe, and burr free. This will make a difference! Fuller the pipe for this burner...... The intent is to create a high to low pressure change, thus slowing down the velocity of the mixture and letting it mix and burn properly. If the fuller in the pipe is not there, you will have to change other characteristics of the burner to get the mixture to burn properly. Have you had much experience making burners? Please use caution and follow directions closely if you do not understand the behavior and dynamics of these various types of burners. The easiest and safest way to learn and understand the burners and how they work is to build them as specified from someone who understands how to build them. Once you have a better understanding, then by all means, try new things and improve them, but definitely, respect them and most of all.....PLEASE BE SAFE!

Straight cutters will most likely be less expensive than an angled cutter, another plus. The cutters shown looked like a dovetail cutter (generally 60 degrees) and the other could have been a countersink cutter, they generally come in 82 and 100 degree angles. They do make a 90 degree chamfer cutter also, Just be sure to look at the angle of the cutter if 45 degree cut is desired.

Just for kicks, I tried this at work today with a scrap piece of A36. I used a pneumatic router with a 1/4" collet and a solid carbide end mill. Tried to take about a 1/8" cut pass to simulate cutting in 3 passes and holy chatter, kick, snap. The cutter flutes broke right off. With this small of cutter, take lighter cuts, run the speed very fast, and it cut like butter. It took about 6 passes, would have had an easier time if the collet diameter was bigger in the router. With a deeper cut, it was harder to control the lateral speed of the router and I toasted the cutter. With a bigger diameter cutter, you may have to throttle the speed down a bit with a flow control though.

What!, Where did that post come from? I'd swear it wasn't there before.....:rolleyes:

Grant, Will this router you referenced make this kind of cut? It looks like it only has a 1/4" collet. A chamfer of .375" X 45 degree is quite a healthy cut, how many cuts do you figure with this router?

Sorry to hear of the misfortune, and glad to hear your wife will be o.k. I hope she has a speedy recovery. I'm sure there will be prayers of thanks around your place tonight.

Sketchup?.....from Google? Never heard of this program before. We currently use Solidworks for tool and machine design at work. We also have Autodesk Mechanical desktop and Catia V5. I use Solidworks the most and like it the best. It is very intuitive and easy to use. It is a program with great capabilities and most who use it do not even use half of the tools and functions that it has.

Well, I'll let it ring here. I think It will be 11:30 around these parts.

Do it! It will be interesting to see what comes of it. Instead of folks coming up with a useful tool to help make a job easier, they will come up with an interesting widget to make using an unknown tool. :)

Nice looking stand. Nice anvil too. Good job!