keithh999

I was wondering where the Fisher anvils were manufactured in the mid 1800s? Thanks!

Old cast iron is almost impossible to weld with nickel rods....even with pre and post heat they still crack and crackle into more pieces than you started out with!!....brazing is iffy unless you coat the inner pot with refractory.to help keep the heat down. Best luck ive had is with straps of mild steel being bolted across the cracks in several spot to hold it all together. prebend the straps to match the firepot radius and use grade 8 bolts. for the last forge i rebuilt i had a "donut" cut at my fab shop and using another forge dished it out to match the inside contour of the original pot and bolted in place. (see my rebuild post "whats missing on this forge " and "its not missing now" to see what im talking about. Good luck and i hope you manage to save the pot. Keith MMM Fab & Forge

just picked it up today....154 lbs ...has been weld repaired but not great and looks like its missing a bit of the horn. looks like its cast and if it has a tool steel top plate then its worn down to a 1/4" thick or less. looks more mushroomed on the edges than anything. ive never seen the underside of a heel quite like this one....any ideas? Keith MMM Fab & Forge

here are a cpl things i made yesterday and today. the pike commission is a copy of the pikes that John Brown ordered to arm the slaves during the civil war. size is according to specs that i found online.....10" blade and 80" staff. The cross was made for the couple that gave me the big champion forge. will present this and a framed picture of the newly rebuilt forge to them later this week. Keith MMM Fab & Forge

heres what i made for the people that gave me the forge...since she plays organ at my Scout troops church i figured this might be appropriate. made from 1" square its rather stout!!

Will try to answer as best i can about time on each of the items i have pictured above and pricing. Remember that pricing here in VA might be a bit different than where you are but dont cut your own throat just to get the sale but always have a friends and family discount as bottom line. The calla lillies were actually very easy to make. I did cheat a bit by mig welding the flower cups to the stamen and you can do that either before or after you roll them just blend them nicely and noone will know. I believe i have the three pack of lillies going for $75 and it took maybe an hr and a half to make all 3. the leaves were the hardest part of them to make actually! the mason jar candle holders were just one offs and each one had to be fit to each jar so it took time to get everything tweeked just right. if you have a bunch of jars of the same type then things could go much faster and increase bottom line. sold these at $25 with the jar. Nutcrackers made of 12" of 3/8 sq..took 20 minutes to make and sold at $22.50 each....at Xmas time i couldnt make them fast enough for the demand! make a bottle opener curl on one of the reins so they do double duty to increase functionality.. and test each bottle opener on your own bottle of choice to ensure they work!! Roses took about 2 hrs each to make from 3/8 rnd....hardest part is curling tightly enough but it gets easier as you make them... hint..use channel locks to curl themfrom the sideagainst the anvil for the tightest curl and put the stem in the center. Selling for $80 each the fancy polished utensil set and hanger took about 6-8 hrs to make as each one was matched but different leaf handle matched with leaf hook..wire wheel polished and waxed so they are actually blonde not forge blacked. spatula and spoon cup were riveted on . selling for $225.00 fireplace set is 1/2" sq with forge welded shovel and broom socket and poker tip. with stand selling at $175 heart with double hook is a favorite of folks. made with 1/2 sq using Brian B.s bluprint and just adding the two riveted hooks...total time 1/2 hr selling for $30. around valentines day i couldnt make hearts fast enough for the demand specially at a show/demo. the big honking bottle opener leaf thingy was a one off just playing around made with 1/2"....got $22.50 outa it somehow..LOL any other questions just ask and ill try to help as much as i can Keith MMM Fab & Forge

taking the legs off was a chore but a few shots of PB Blaster and a torch allowed it to creep enough so that a pipe wrench and piece of pipe as a cheater was able to unscrew them...hint...jockey the leg back and forth as in screw in and then unscrew...helps to break the rust bond. make new threaded legs from 1" gas pipe...not 1" schedule 40 pipe. Thanks for all the kind remarks guys!! having ones peers acknowledge an accomplishment is a real pleasure!! Keith MMM Fab & Forge

continuation of pics

well the new (old) forge is done and ready to fire up tomorrow now that ive rearranged the shop to support the way bigger forge!! attached are pics of before , during, and after the rebuild. replaced main flywheel shaft and poured new babbett bearings and made new internals for the one way clutch hub (took several trips to the belt sander to get the correct geometry on the drive teeth). Either wire wheeled or electro-derusted the entire thing and really let loose with the primer and paint!! New legs and new hardware and new belting and the main flywheel belt is 7 ft long!! Forge was a freebie and dropped maybe $80 in new material. dished out a 14" steel doughnut for the new firepot and fabbed a new tuyere out of some 3' pipe with a 2" stub going into the throat of the blower. Even highlighted the Champion logo on the casing. Looks good i think!! Keith MMM Fab & Forge

well with the exception of the belts that are on the way the forge has been completely rebuilt and lubed and painted....new main shaft and new babbett bearings.....new tuyere and firepot utilizing the not totally rotted out parts (just supplemented)...layer of refractory cement under the new firepot to keep the rotted parts out of the heat as well as an airgap between new and old firepot....totally wirewheeled or sandblasted to remove rust and a hefty layer of primer and heat resistant paint .....new legs.....new pump handle with some fancy stainless steel chain i had laying around. Even highlighted the champion logo on the blower!! If the uploader gets fixed i will add pics of the rebuild Keith MMM Fab & Forge

why wont this silly thing allow me to post updated photos of the progress on this forge??

actually thats kinda what im going to do but a wee bit different....check out the next installment of "how its made" LOL will update tomorrow

Yes i did consider bronze bushing instead of babbett but with the bearing block being worn egg shaped i thought it would be best to go back to a poured babbett bushing. got the one way clutch up and running now...took several trips to the belt sander to get the geometry right so that the 1/4X1X1 1/8" teeth catch correctly and release back into the hub. all parts are painted and now going to get the pipe and other things needed to rebuild the firepot. this forge should be ready to fire up this coming weekend if i dont have too many problems getting the new firepot built and installed. Keith

UPDATE....got the forge totally apart and a new flywheel shaft made on the lathe and the one way clutch apart and in electrolytic derusting...legs off and making new ones today as well as fabbing up a new firepot and pipe connections to the blower. Question i have now is about the flywheel shaft lead/babbit bearing....they were worn totally away so i melted the old stuff out and cleaned the bore and want to pour new bearings....how do i pour the bearings?? with shaft in place or not??? and if so how to keep the shaft from adhearing to the lead as its poured? Or do i pour it solid and then drill it out for the shaft? obviously i need to kinda get the shaft up off the bottom of the bearing socket and thats no problem really but wont the lead stick to the shaft or is there something i can put on the shaft to keep it leadfree? ive changed the ends of the shaft from the stepped shaft to one continuous dimension from end to end and there is plenty of wiggle room in the bearing blocks. should the shaft be kept like original with stepped down ends or will single dimension shaft be ok?? Thanks guys!! Keith MMM Fab & Forge

PS...what would you guesstimate its age to be??

was kind of planning on cutting out the tuyere and bottom of the firepot and building my own to attach to the blower. biggest issue was how the weighted arm was attached to the drive shaft of the flywheel. like i said i believe its a one way clutch kinda thing on the flywheel shaft. will know more when i dissassemble it to investigate further

Heres the freebie forge i got today and it appears it has a few missing parts cause i cant work out how the flywheel is turned.....appears as if there is a one way clutch hub for the flywheel but i cant work out how pump handle transmits power to the hub(handle is missing as well). anyone ever seen one of these styles of forges?? blower says Champion Model 81......any help with the mechanics of this thing would be appreciated before i end up removing all this stuff and converting to electric blower. Thanks Keith MMM Fab & Forge

Heres what followed me home at the unbelievable price of $00.00 !! Blower says Champion Model 81....is that also the forge model number?? obviously it needs a bit of work and i was wondering if anyone had any info on this model or type of forge....particulary how does it get power to turn the big flywheel? There is a weighted arm under the edge of the firepot that looks like it attaches in some way to what appears to be a one way clutch in the hub of the flywheel but i dont see how the shaft is driven. Any info would be greatly appreciated !! Its possible that if i cant figure out the mechanism (all the missing stuff) that i will bebuild it to house an electric blower so that i can use it.

Are the Big Blu hammers tempered soft or hard normally?? And who manufactures them?? Thanks!!

So you were playing on the forge in the warm while Peyton was freezing his butt off and working??? now we seeee!! LOL

nothing saying you cant improvise ,adapt and overcome the templates deficiencies....its just a baseline to help get you in the ballpark.

just found this pdf that will help with lengths of material for scrolls and has several sizes of scrolls drawn out that you can use for a template or a jig. http://www.metalcraftusa.com/documents/mk122223scrollbenderoutlines.pdf hoping this should help those of us who have an issue with scrolls Keith

awwwww twerent nuthin....just wish i was better at multitasking.....those 225 kids definately kept me on my toes tho!

what steel are forklift tines made of?? i have some chunks of it myself and wondered what i could make with them..

sorry guys but i just had to add this...my father in law is Clay Smith one of CWs gunsmiths until a cpl years ago and he has done forge welded barrels with Jon L and Peter Ross and Wallace Gusler and Richard Frasier all of whom i know personally except Wallace G. One of these days i want to get them over to my forge so together we can bang out a hand forged barrel just to say I helped. Clay is still making guns as before only now they are his creations totally. Two years ago he made one for Jerry Bruckheimer with over $5000 of gold and silver inlay. His work can be seen at WWW.claysmithguns.com . If you wanted some firsthand info about forging a barrel im sure he would give you his views if you contact him. Keith