pkrankow

I recall downloading a book with this in it. Phil

Ok, now what is the ulterior motive that cleaning an anvil by electrolysis enables? The effort of upsizing your equipment vs the effort of using common means of cleaning an anvil are not similar. Phil

Option a : work some hot metal on it to clean it up. Option b : take a cup wheel on your grinder to it, slap some linseed oil (or wax) on it, then work some hot metal on it to finish cleaning up the face. Looks like the edges are in good shape even. Unbelievable score! (well, almost) Phil

Did you need to do anything to the mold to prevent the lead from sticking? I recall having to "candle" sinker molds to soot cover them or sinkers would stick in the mold making fishing tackle. Your mold is much more massive. Is anything done to the ironwork to encourage the lead to stick? Was this done in place or in the shop? Very nice results. Phil

Those big masonry nails are good starter stock for flint strikers. Garage door spring can be good starter stock for patch knives, but I haven't figured out the HT for the striker (Oil didn't spark reliably, water cracked...haven't tried in a while) Visit your local garage door installer and you can probably have a couple. Run something through the spring (broomstick?) and go up one side with a cutoff wheel to get nice size rings. The broomstick is just so the springs can't go flying if one catches the wheel. Phil

So this is a participation event? Same list of stuff, except the one-heat bits (take longer) Phil

Key fobs - leaf and other simple designs bottle openers - several designs on IFI to chose from horse heads -Brian Brazeal shows how to do them in one heat in videos (Brian Brazeal has presented several items that can be done in just a few heats) hearts several designs available (including from Brian Brazeal) S hooks, drive hooks, nails... split crosses BBQ tools, forks, steak turner, skewer... There are several threads on demo and craft fair items Don't forget crowd management and safety. Phil

The "forge weld" on the 1/2 inch bar is pretty cool, to say the least. Phil

Nothing to give the size of the pipe or burners unless you can read the letters on the pipe. That is a heck of a flame though! The flame holders on the burners look like couplers, just like many of us used for testing our home made plumbing part burners. Phil

Why do you touch the steel with the magnet? Magnets stop being magnetic after getting heated up too much. Some are more resistant to heat than others, with ceramic magnets being among the most resistant to heat. Flexible strip magnets are plastic, and most chrome plated magnets will start to disintegrate if they touch red hot steel. I use a strong magnet, like a ceramic donut available at Radio shack, 5 for about $3, hang it from a thin copper wire such as the inside of a telephone cord or network cable, and pass the item closely below the hanging magnet. If the magnet swings naturally the steel is non-magnetic, if the magnet is attracted it is still magnetic. I hang my magnet from the loop of the handle of my hand truck, so it is at a convinient height, near the forge, and available when I need it. (I also need my hand truck to move the shop out onto the driveway, and put the shop away, so I just leave it attached.) The steel of the hand truck is far enough away that it is not a problem. Phil

Looks intentional, yes. Probably more effort than its is worth though, that anvil looks just about perfect. Repairing it you would want a good color match so it is perfect, otherwise some fool welded on it to "repair" what some other fool did done. Phil

There is a how-to on knapped steel http://www.sterlingsculptures.com/Resources_folder/Knapped_Steel_folder/knapped_steel_tutorial_01.htm Wm makes it look good to say the least. Very nice. Phil

I would suggest a table on large wheels that can be easily rolled out the door onto the grass, but you have to keep it mostly clear or it will become immobile. An old umbrella can make for a nice workspace outside. It might see a lot of service outside the shop. Pretty handy having a table near the garden, or when doing other yard and exterior work. Phil

Some alloys of aluminum have the same strength as mild steel, with a weight of about 1/3 the steel. Alloy and high carbon steels can be much stronger and stiffer than aluminum, and some aluminum alloys are much weaker than others. There is more information that tensile strenght. Look at modulus of elasticity too. You must thouroughly check your design especially if stiffness or weight is important. Hardness is not similar to steel, aluminum is softer (I am sure there are some comparison exceptions, very soft iron to hard alloy, and surface wear treatments such as hard anodizing or platings) Aluminum tends to have a definate fatigue life, even when operated in elastic loading. Steel tends to have an indefinite, and sometimes "infinite" fatigue life when operated in elastic loading. I would suggest you locate examples that aluminum and steel are both used such as bike frames, on-road trailers, camera tripods, and lawn furniture and compare them for design considerations, then apply these considerations to your designs and see if aluminum is approprate. Phil

6k is a rough shave for most faces. I shave with straight razors regularly, 2 or 3 times a week (frequently I only shave 2-3 times a week). If you would like a Belgian coticule edge to try I'll hone them up for you. PM me and I'll shoot you my address if you want. First class shipping in a padded mailer for a couple razors with tracking is cheap. I second BadgerandBlade.com for shaving tips. Phil

Fair to good edges, slight sway. $2/lb is fair. Better deals exist, but this is fair, and will outlast you. Phil

On such thin stock working on the edge of the anvil may move the material too fast for control. Even the heart is less than 1/4 inch stock by the looks, and the fork tines are smaller than the hearts. As for tapering the ends on the middle of the anvil instead of the far edge, he is using rather light hammer blows to move the metal quickly. While I agree that the use of the middle of the anvil expends extra energy, I think this example is a difficult one to cite as an example one way or the other. For most of his blows he is only lifting the hammer about 8 inches or less. Phil

Water won't help. I never thought of sand, but portability is part of why I made my vise stand the way I did. I have some pipe leftover that is long enough to go from the table, or near the top of the post, down to the feet. I expect some added reinforcement is the answer for me. I tested my welder on the new circuit today and was most pleased. Only a matter of finding time before I reinforce the stand. Phil

You can try heating a stack of mild with the blade and burying it all together in the vermiculite. I read "very slow furnace cool" for anneal on 440C. Phil

I am not arguing the dust, it is worse than a pile of biomass. However a pile of biomass that has adaquate moisture will heat up all on its own and if insulated, will eventually self ignite without a spark. Airborn dust can be positively scary with how fast and vigerous it ignites contained or not! BTW moist bulk coal can do this too, but you need several tons in a hopper (read about the Titanic, it had a fire in one of the coal hoppers), don't worry about the 1-2 ton pile in the corner or that skid of bags. Bags is one way to prevent it, as is packing the coal into the pile and keeping it dry till you are ready to use it. Phil

So after returning the welder, getting it back, having MASSIVE squirrel damage to my garage, stripped the paneling, shoveled and vacuumed out over 60 gallons of walnut shell, trash and dozens of squirrel skeletons, wrestling a piece of 3-3-3-6 copper through conduit under my house to the mains, installing a 100A sub panel in the garage, repairing the 2x4's that were CHEWED through (squirrels...), installing insulation in the stripped garage walls, then pulling a piece of #6 OVER the garage ceiling, hung 7/16 OSB paneling on the walls... I have proper power and this machine runs SWEET! My garage looks awesome on the inside too...still only space for my wife's car though. I just welded together some thinwall steel pipe for my new forge tue. I was having less headache and better fill with 3/32 6011 at 60A than with the 1/16 6013 at 30A. The pipe is about 1/16 inch wall thickness. (and non-kosher tricks sometimes make up for skill, especially with burn through and a second rod...) This pipe will get welded to a piece of 3/8 that gets bolted to the bottom of the firepot my brother made for me. I am trying to decide on using the grate he cut (CNC plasma cutters are awesome) or making a triangular ash dump... And my wife is pleased with how the garage turned out! Phil

I bet he has minimal vibration with that big heavy stump/telephone pole in the center of all that reinforcement. Vibration is the only complaint I have about my creation, especially with sawing I have to be careful since the whole vise starts vibrating. The natural frequency seems pretty low, and hitting the 1/2 or 1/4 frequency is a moderate sawing speed. I should put angle braces on, but haven't gotten that far and I returned my Dad's welder. I now have power for my welder but need practice with AC stick. Phil

You can get a clean 90 degree cut on one part of the bar by angling the stock, up or down, to the cutoff hardy. The saw gets you clean 90 fegree cuts on both parts. You are right, my tightly closed 5 gallon can of hot can be hot enough to light off some things out the outside (and it has happened once with dry leaves) even though the paint isn't burnt off the can. Knowing that 20 feet or more of gravel separates my can of hot from anything more flammable than a blowing leaf eases my mind quite well. Phil

This video? Courtesy of Firey Furnace Forge, Dave Custer. Phil

I shovel the entire fire into a steel bucket that has a tight fitting steel lid. Cleaning big clinker out is a good idea. I set the bucket on the end of my driveway and it is cool the next day. Since my fuel stays dry relighting it is easy compared to shoveling the fire into a bucket of water or dousing the fire with water. Dousing with water can crack firepots, so be careful. Phil