Phil Patrick

Happy birthday!!!

I had one our newbie mechanics find me at work the other day and ask me where we keep new bandsaw blades. I hooked him up. I then found out he was trying to cut hardered HPS tool steel with it. So, that is another way you can wear out a blade.

"Aye, aye! and I'll chase him round Good Hope, and round the horn, and round the norway maelstrom, and round perdition's flames before I give him up. And this is what ye have shipped for, men! to chase that white whale on both sides of land, and over all sides of earth, till he spouts black blood and rolls fin out. What say ye, men, will ye splice hands on it, now? I think ye do look brave." Moby Dick

One) It is completely possible to cut with an arc welder. you can buy rods that are made for cutting, or use normal rods and turn up the amps. Either way, beware as your cut may not be as smooth as a torch cut, or plasma. Two) as for a clinker breaker, stand on the shoulders of those before us who knew alot more than us. My forge is a pretty old cast iron affair. The clinker breaker looks like a sweet roll about 80mm in diameter, with a rod through it to spin it over to break up the clinkers. It is mounted in the bottom of the tuyre, in the throat. I will get a picture tonight and post it if that would help ya. Phil

I would agree, very nicely done. If you like that genre of books, try Bernard Cornwell's series about the Arthurian legend.

This one is fiction. It is called "The Skystone" by Jack Whyte. Pretty neat take on the Arthurian legend. It is really a nice mix of historical fiction plus the start of the Arthur legend. It is set in England, end of Roman occupation. The lead in the story is a former soldier, gone back to his original occupation as a blacksmith. My description does not do the book any credit. It is the first of a series that Whyte wrote. Very nice indeed. Enjoy

Duke of Wellington

I listened to Bob and Tom for a long time. It's been pretty hard because I travel a lot for my job. It's like a game to find a station that carries them in what ever region I'm in. All in all, the Asylum Street Spankers are pretty darn talented and funny.

Nine inch Nails, Stabbing westward, Flogging Molly, Dulahan, The Irish Rovers, Asylum Street Spankers, classic rock, KMFDM, Ramstein, Pearl jam, Johnny Cash, Alison Kraus, Stevie Wonder, Gorgol Bordello, Gorillaz, Harry Connick JR. most new stuff, and NO 80's music!!!!!!!!!! ie most hair metal.

There exists a cutting rig that uses gasoline instead of actylene. The name of the manufacturer escapes me right now. Also, I know the rock quarry industry uses a torch that is fueled with fuel oil to blast channels into rock face. I would imagine that the biggest sticky widget is feeding the fuel.

Sounds like an over-funded US government defense project from the 1950's!!!! Never heard of it,, what is it?

The thing to consider when you for an oxy/ac rig is where you will source your bottles. The small rigs(portable) are fine if you use it not so often. If you use your torch alot, welding, cutting bending whatever you are going to use alot more gas. Now, some weld shop suppliers won't fill tanks, some will. The ones that do, make sure they fill them on site, rather than sending them out to be filled. If you are like me, I don't have time to wait on that. What a lot of suppliers do is lease you the tanks. They (the supplier)own the tanks, so if there is a problem with one, it is their problem, not yours. Also, tanks have to be pressure tested every so many years. If you own the tank, you are responsible for seeing to this. A supplier will not fill a tank unless it is certified for pressure test. So, in a lease situation, when you run out of gas, you take them back to the supplier, and exchange them. You then pay just the cost of the gas. (My last bill for both oxy and ac was 35$. I have medium sized tanks) My lease is for 99 years for both tanks. It cost me ,with the first gas fill, about 450$. I'm sure you can go down a size and go a little cheaper. The other option that has opened up is through my local farm supply TSC. They do an exchange program, like propane.In short, like a lease. They also supply shielding gas as well. As for the pricing,, not sure. Medium sized tanks last me a good while, and I use my torch on a fairly regular basis. And they really won't take up that much more space. I do a lot of welding with my set up.

Ha Ha Ha Ha!!! The only woman that hangs around my shop is my wife and she already knows all my pick up lines!!!

I am currently not wearing my band. I am on number 4. Destroyed the first three. My last one is made of titanium. Broke my ring finger 3 years ago, had to pull the ring off over the break. Couldn't wear it for 6 months. Tried again for a bit, recently bashed the same finger again, finger swelled, etc. I just gave up on it. It doesn't help that I am left handed so that hand is the first into battle too many times!!! My wife would rather me have my finger on than my ring.

Fiiiiiiive tons of coal!!!!!!!!

Ditto to that. Thank you very much Glenn for all of you effort, sweat and determination. Take heart in the fact that through all of your effort, everyone here, old and new smiths benefit greatly from it. Thanks

You know, Glenn I believe you are correct. Because, every time I go to find one of my welding magnets, it's NOT on the tabe. That would mean that the poles of the table and the magnet are facing the same way, thus repelling one another. Which would explain why I can find everything else on the table except them. HMMMMM.......

I use a Miller AC/DC stick and an oxy/actel rig as well. With that, I can pretty much cover all my bases. Oh yeah,, and my forge. Phil

AM, In that case,, take it to Mexico, Coke is sold down there in the bottle, so you would be all set! Cool design, thanks for sharing.

Well, that bottle opener should be thoroughly tested by being sent to my house and run through about twelve cycles of opening Guiness bottles. Very cool!!

I don't ever buy things on impulse. I simply do not have that much space to waste. I have found myself getting into projects where I need to move metal in specific ways that a fly press would be a positive addition to the effort. One of the other things that have been attracting me towards it is the relatively smaller footprint. To a degree, it is easier and cheaper to go up than out. I always like to get others opinions on things of this nature just to get a better feel of the market of items. Sometimes fads can blaze through anything and blow up the prices of anything. Thomas, I'm already thinking along your lines. I have a couple of feelers out right now with a few contacts in the machinery biz,, I hope to hear back soon. thanx again everyone. Phil.

Good points folks,, thanks. Sometimes I need a fresh perspective on things. Thanks again!

Ok,, I have been researching the use of a flypress in blacksmithing. The overall result of my labors is this; One) A flypress seems to be an overall use full piece of equipment, even more so for the solo metal worker. Two) They are not cheap,,on any level, new or used. Now,, I know I am a frugal guy,, but I'm not afraid to spend some dough. But holy moly!!! They seem a bit on the expensive side. I believe that I may be on the naive side on this one. I have suffered a syndrome my entire life that some things in this world are just a bit too expensive,, but that is my personal fault. Thanks everybody.

Well, the first thing you must do is purify your inner Spirit with a month of fasting, then make a journey into the dark mountains of Mordor to learn at the feet of ancient dwarf masters for 36.765 years or until you have a moment of clairity. After that,, you must journey back to this world via the secret map from the last Pirates of the Carribean movie. After that, you mine the ore for the iron of your new knife from crater of meteorite strike from the 3rd century BC. Then, you must extract the magical uber special meteor iron with the fire from a purple dragon of 2222 years of age. THEN, using the hardened anvil of Allfred Krupp himself, forge your blade using only your fists and stern language. The hard part is finding enough unicorn blood (red unicorn,,,not green) to quench the blade. The last part is to hone the blade on the 5 O'clock shadow of the Venerable and Powerful Chuck Norris. Then bind the handle is skin taken from the belly of the meat eating voles of the Andes mountains. This should pretty much do it for your first knife. Or,,,,, Keep it simple and concentrate on what you are doing, and how you are doing it. Check out the blueprints,, scour the forums. There is a MOUNTAIN of knowledge here. Don A is right,, learn your craft well,, even if you are making a paring knife, or a coffee pot hook, or an ornate stag handled damascas bladed bowie. Good luck,, ask questions,, they will be answered. Phil

I have used such coal myself with success. I do find that it tends to be a bit on the sulfury (yeah,, it's a real word,,) side, but it will coke up and work ok. I too have literally 2 tons of coal from a home and it works fine. The only other drawback that I run into is that its has about 50 years of dust and dirt in it,, so it can stink a bit. Since you have bigger lumps, just break them up. I use a piece of 1 inch bar and bash it up in a sturdy bucket. Good luck