dwight55

Thanks everyone for the welcomes and other good words. My other job is leather work . . . I make belts, holsters, knife sheaths, etc . . . a little side business . . . and I've been busy with it for the last few weeks. Hoping to get out to that freezer box out there where my forge is . . . but every time I get ready to go . . . it snows . . . I gotta go out of town . . . something. But I'm looking fwd to getting back at it. May God bless, Dwight

Of all the things I've ever been involved in . . . my little leather goods shop has been one of the most fun things. It's a belt here . . . holster there . . . knife sheath . . . made my first fireman's suspenders a month or so ago . . . I pray that your venture will give you the emotional rewards mine has given me. May God bless, Dwight

As an Electrician's Mate in the Navy . . . I was taught the correct way to do generators . . . never have two of them on the line together unless they were absolutely designed for it to happen. But even then . . . there were accidents like described above. When I decided to fix ours up so we could use a generator . . . I started with an auxiliary panel . . . put the stuff over there that needed to be covered by the generator . . . as I could not afford a whole house one. It started with an auxiliary panel . . . and a dead man (for want of a better term) switch in the bottom. That switch has two sources of electricity coming into it . . . the main power . . . and the emergency power. They cannot intermingle . . . because the switch is designed so that when you move it . . . it turns off one circuit before it turns on the other. Pushing it to the left gives me normal power . . . to the right gives me emergency power. We started out just using an inverter . . . with all LED bulbs in the house . . . and surprisingly the inverter would give us computer and lighting power for several hours off of one 12v automotive sized battery. But the generator will power everything except the electric stove and the AC unit. I have a wood cook stove . . . and fans if necessary. Anyway . . . this design is safe . . . both for me . . . my family . . . and the linemen who would be working on our lines. Picture 1 & 2 shows the panel with the dead man switch in the bottom . . . picture three shows the electrical connection to the auxiliary panel on the right. The fridge, freezer, lights, TV, and computer all are hooked into that panel . . . powered normally by normal power . . . by the emegency power supply in other times. May God bless, Dwight

Thank you . . . now to find someone around here where I can buy a couple chunks of it . . . lol May God bless, Dwight

Just for the heck of it . . . I may build a very small power hammer . . . just to make a few things quicker and easier. I need two faces on it: one a "flat to flat" for making material extremely "flat" . . . the other "slightly rounded to slightly rounded" which would be for drawing out the material. I have an idea of how to make them so they would be easily removeable and changed . . . but will require me to use my little machine shop to work the steel. Therefore I need a steel I can work on with my little mill . . . then harden so it will do the desired work. I'm open to water harden / oil harden / whatever . . . have never done it . . . but will be glad to take a shot at doing it. Thanks, may God bless, Dwight

Still looking for a tree I can cut . . . mount my vise to a piece of it . . . put it near the forge . . . but that way it will be kinda sorta portable. Have to keep the center lane open so I can get my quad in and out . . . May God bless, Dwight

Good looking piece of machinery . . . May God bless, Dwight

Some of you may laugh . . . but I sat here for a full minute trying to figure how anyone was going to forge engine filters into a knife. I just knew it would be a waste of time . . . why would anyone do that??? Then I looked at it again . . . it was engine lifters not filters . . . Dang . . . it's a pain to get old and not be able to read right. May God bless, Dwight

OK . . . couple quick questions: did they fry the baloney? What kind of cheese? And was it on a bun or light bread? May God bless, Dwight

If your apron IS NOT SUEDE . . . I use a finish on belts, holsters, gun bags, and knife sheaths . . . it's called Resolene. Mix it 50/50 with water . . . brush it on with a cheap little ol pig bristle brush . . . go to bed. Get up the next day . . . you'll have a finish that will not resist the sparks . . . but the oils, grease, dust, . . . etc . . . it'll do that. Or if you feel especially stingy . . . grab your wife's Mop N Glo . . . mix it 50/50 with water . . . apply the same. You'll have to do this one twice. May God bless, Dwight (one of the new guys)

1) Dwight 2) North Central Ohio 3) Just getting into the forging aspect . . . have welded up and "created" any number of thingamabobs in my 77 yrs. Saw a truck brake drum forge made in Crawfordsville . . . decided to make one like it . . . to do a little forging . . . my grandfather was a fulltime blacksmith making wooden wagons . . . shoeing horses . . . worked for years in the clay mines of eastern Ky taking care of the mules, donkeys, sleds, and wagons for them. 4) Umm . . . just trying to get started 6) The back side of a vise . . . little area for beating on metal stuff 5) That would not have been a forge . . . would have been a cutting torch head . . . 7) Memory of my grandfather's old shop . . . desire to do something "new" 9) It will be my little forge as soon as I get it up and running . . . still need to get the "flu" put in I also own and operate a small leather business . . . holsters, belts, knife sheaths, . . . etc. . . . and I may team up with an acquaintance . . . putting smithed goods and leather goods out there with her stuff at craft shows.

Had to goggle where you are . . . about 70 or so miles away . . . I don't get up that way . . . y'all way too cold for this chicken . .. I'm just outside the metropolitan center of Waldo . . . ain't much there . . . but a bar that sells baloney sandwiches that people come from all over the state to get. Just a baloney sandwich in my book . . . but whatever. Holler at me if you come down this way . . . we're 3 miles off US 23 . . . and about 12 miles off I-71. May God bless, Dwight

Thanks guys for all the welcomes, etc . . . looking fwd to getting it cranked up and working. My grandfather didn't do much for getting the smoke and fumes out of his shop . . . he built it out of 4 to 6 inch logs . . . but did not chink anything between them. You could see thru the cracks all the way around . . . he had abundant fresh air. I'm doing mine different . . . but will have to have better weather than we are having right now to finish up the "smoke pipe" up thru the ceiling. And yes . . . George N.M. . . . I made my contributions to that place we called 'Nam. First trip was with a Navy destroyer . . . USS Hamner . . . we were involved in some of the very first shore shelling attacks there someplace north of Saigon . . . that was '65. My second tour started out running generators for the 17th field hospital in Saigon . . . got transferred after only a couple months . . . to the PBR's in the delta. We were some of the very first boats on the muddy river . . . up in a place called Long Xuyen . . . finished my year there . . . came home in Feb 67 . . . Did my 3rd trip on the USS Wiltsie . . . and we mostly played plane guard detail for the USS Coral Sea . . . Come April 1st 1968 . . . got my red reserve ID card after 4 1/2 years . . . went home. Have slept well most nights . . . my M14 and .45 auto within reach every night has contributed to that. May God bless, Dwight

Thanks for the welcome and good words . . . that forge in the picture actually is not mine . . . it is the one I patterned my after . . . and while he has a slot cut in his . . . mine is much bigger to get like you said a "pass thru" piece in there. There used to be a smith at a "old time village" that the Ohio Historical Society ran . . . his place was fun to watch . . . he had a ceiling mounted bellows that was absolutely huge . . . but they closed the whole thing down several years ago. Thanks for the pointers on where to look . . . just may take a trip to one or more of them. As for coal . . . a neighbor died up the street a few years back . . . his wife gave me a good half ton of their coal . . . I brought it home . . . will use it and the several bags of charcoal I have stashed . . . along with acres of dead wood laying out back waiting for me to come drag it in. May God bless, Dwight Thanks for the welcome . . . I like the Wyoming analogy . . . one day I want to visit the place . . . there, Montana, Idaho, and Oklahoma. Nothing against the other states . . . just want to wander thru some time. And I like your idea as well of the tangible gifts. One thing I learned early on . . . sometimes we only have memories of those we loved . . . but an artifact of theirs makes the memory more realistic. I plan on making that happen for those I love. May God bless, Dwight

Just wanted to take a moment to say Hello . . . introduce myself . . . name is Dwight . . . I am a pastor, veteran, and am setting my sights on "playing" with some steel . . . making some small things for friends . . . and maybe one day . . . taking some to a local craft show. At 77 yrs old . . . my Dr and friends and especially my cardiologist keep pushing me to get a bicycle . . . go swimming . . . go walking . . . or play golf. Just ain't gonna do it. Figured I'd do like my grandfather did . . . play out in the shop until the Lord says come home. He did alright . . . so I think I'll try it. My equipment so far is a home made forge patterned after this one . . . my anvil is like his . . . same blower type . . . but when I get done getting it installed . . . it will be in the shop . . . inside a building . . . and out of the Ohio winter weather. Again . . . Hello all . . . may God bless, Dwight