Phil Patrick

I had again one of those strokes of luck that happen on rare occasion. A friend of mine recently purchased a home. It is about 100 years old. In the basement was the original coal furnace(not in use). Well, beside it was the coal bunker, a room about 10x8 feet. It is half full of coal. He called me and asked me if I would want it. I took some home and tested it in the forge. It burns rather well with pretty low ash and lots of heat. The interesting thing is that it is very small pieces, about the size of lima beans. So now I am the proud owner of probably a ton and a half at least of coal for no cost!!!!

I have seen on the site pictures from the Quad State Meet 2006. I was wondering where that was held. Also, will there be a meet this year in 2007? Thanks everyone. Phil

Ron, Welds look pretty darn good! Alot of people don't realize that a torch is very good platform for welding. When I first learned how to stick metal together, first I gas welded, then I learned brazing, then arc then mig then a little tig. This has spanned some 19 years. What most people don't know is that if you gas gas weld, you can tig. I've also gas welded Stainless steel as well as cast iron. Keep at it!! PS The nice thing too is that you don't need electric to gas weld!!!

For my money, I keep both my oxy and actyl at 4 pounds when welding. Of course your tip size will determine your volume of gas you are using. I seem get prett good mileage out of my tanks. My tanks are the same size as yours. I weld ALOT. I refilled both in October and I at about half a tank on the fuel. The O2 I am about three quarters. The trick to gas welding is sizing your tip right for the job, and watching your operating pressures. Phil

Here are the pics of the hood finished. It measured out 36" square by about 12 deep. It is made form 18ga mild steel. I put a hem along the bottom edged to stiffen it up. I plan to hang it from chains along the top corners. The flue hole is 6" in dia. If I find I need a larger one I will simply cut it out larger. Any questions or comments are as usual welcomed. If anyone would like my drawings of the pieces in the flat with bending lines, just ask. I have to admit, I did the blanking and bending at work on the equipment there, but they are not so complicated that anyone can do it. Phil

The material is 18GA (0.048") mild steel. I will have more pictures this afternoon.

Attached are a few pics of my new hood I am making for my forge. It measures 36"x36"x9ish deep. I have built it in five pieces all oxy/actl welded together. I did the blanking and forming at my job. Enjoy

JPH, The equipment I work with for cnc sheetmetal fabrication has alot of hydraulic circuits. The main one on our punch shear machines run at 480 BAR. That translates to about 6900 PSI @ aroung 100 liters a minute. One of our customers I visited on a service call ruptered a steel Pressure line to the punching head while in production. Luckily it burst up, so no one was hurt. The jet coming out of a 50mm steel pressure line at that pressure is enough to kill you. The funny part was when I arrived there to make repairs 12 hours after it had happened, there was still hydraulic oil dripping from the ceiling and light fixtures 18 feet up. It covered the working surfaces of the machine, the control cabinet, everywhere. The machine shut itself down when it saw the drop of circuit pressure, but it still ran long enough to pump close to 35 gallon of oil everywhere. I worked with these machines and others for many years that run hydraulics. ALWAYS exercise mucho mucho respect for hydraulic pressure. Be safe!!!!!! OH FYI,, if your gloves get soaked in any oil, and you want to salvage them,, just bury them in kitty litter overnight. It draws it right out. Phil

ApprenticeMan, I got the 4x36 belt sander from Harbor Freight about four weeks ago. So far it has been a decent tool. I have only two things that I have noticed that could be better. One, the belt will track a little goofy belt to belt, so it requires a little track adjustment. (which the adjustment is pretty simple to do) And two, if you really wail away at the metal and try to hog off alot of stock at once, it does bog a little. Othe than that for now it is an OK tool for me. Oh, FYI, arbor freight sanding belts are relativley cheap and hold up very well. Good Luck

Thanks every body!! I really appreciate the help.

I have seen some really nice work from everyone using motorcycle chain/ chainsaw chain for damascus. I am really interested in trying this. So I was hoping I could get some advice, tips and info on getting started on this. Any info would be recieved with much appreciation!!! Thanks Phil

HOLY COW!!!!!! Well,, that should make a pretty big knife. Phil

I had to laugh when I read your reponse. I just emailed pictures of some work I did to a friend. They were wind chimes I just finished and they were hanging in my shop. I noticed that my shop looked like a bomb inside a huge container of scrap metal, tools , water bottles, spent sanding belts etc,, had exploded in my shop. Maybe I should clean up tonight. That forge looks really nice. Is table(?) of it made from quaterplate? what are the approximate dimesions of it? Anyway,, nicely done! Happy holidays all!!!! Phil

I took a look at the math,,, It made my brain itch. I'll stick to round ones

Ah, that's what the holes are for. I thought it weighed about 195 when I picked it up to put it on my workbench. Thanks for all the info everyone.

So,, what the heck does the two "fours" signify on the foot?!!! It is driving me crazy. Also,, I have heard alot of different answers to my next questions. One, what is the hole in the foot for? Two, what is the hole in the waist of the anvil for? Phil

Here are the promised pics.

Yes, It has a flat area about .500 inch around the feet. It does have the weight stamped on either side of the maker's mark. It is a "1" then "2" then a "6". This does not include the the "2" in the center of the makers mark. I didn't believe that the numeral in the maker's mark would be included in the weight. That would be a total of four digits digits in the weight calculation and didn't seem to make sense. I plan on posting some pics this afternoon. Yes it is an English pattern. FYI, I used soapstone dust to make the marks show.

Hello All, I discovered three things of interest on my anvil this afternoon. I was cleaning off some old grime and what not off of it came acros three things, One, was what I assume to be the makers mark. In a circular fashion is stamped the words "Solid Wrought" with a "2" stamped in the center of it. Two, on the horn side foot are two "4"'s stamped on either side of the small hole on the foot. Third and I think the most intersting is what I believe to be one the anvil's former user's name "H.A. KEBBY" and the date "JAN 1881" chisled on the side. If anyone has some info on the makers mark or the numbers stamped on the foot feel free to let me know. I have owned this Anvil for about 16 years. I purchased it at an Amish community auction in south east ohio. I felt pretty weird at the time being 15 years old and bidding against a 60 something Amish fellow. Regards Phil

Good evening all from the Buckeye state. I just saw the new blueprint on homemade charcoal. I found it quite interesting in the fact that it brought back the memory of MANY years ago when I first made charcoal. I started blacksmithing at around 14. Now, I had the same problem then as I do now. Not so much money. (As a side note, I have never had the problem of "spare change." Anyway, my coal copnsumption was rising alot faster than my meager income at the time.So the decsion was made to make my own charcoal. I mean, heck, that's what was the first smithes used right. So I settled on a very similar design as the blue prints. I loaded up a 55 gallon barrel with cut up pallets, honeysuckle brush, anything else remotely woody. I capped the barrel with it's cap and turned it on it's side on two liberated street sign posts over a fire. I let it cook for a rather long period of time,, three plus hours I think. I didn't have to keep the fire roaring,, just steady. I left the small bung on the barrel top open to let the gasses escape. Which by the way, the gases that are released during coaling are VERY volitile, so watch out everyone. As another side note, there were fuel systems developed during WWII that used charcoal producer gas.. ANYWAY, I let it cool opened it up and much to my suprise it worked perfectly. I had alot of very nice charcoal for my efforts. Not bad for a 14 year old. There is a publishing compant called Lindsay Books that has a nice book on homemade charcoal making for those interested. So people,, the you have it. Watch for me in the future as I start buildingg a new shop. I hope to post all my construction progress here. Yours truly Phil Patrick

Just wanted to take a moment to say hi to everyone. Also I would like to thank those responsible for a really well put together site. It is nice to know that there are those out there keeping this trade alive.