Frosty

A friend just posted this in FB and I thought I'd pass it on. It's a pretty slick trick for removing a ring from a swollen finger without having to cut it off. The ring or finger. Frosty The Lucky. http://www.littlethings.com/how-to-remove-a-ring/?utm_source=huffingtonpost.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=pubexchange

Ah HAH! The mythical bladesmith in Homer, at last we meet. . . sort of. You sure kept a low profile, then again I'm no detective. Pat checks in here occasionally, maybe he'll say hi. I believe you're referring to Rob Gunter's anvil rebuild technique. Yes? It sure sounds like it and I've used the technique myself with good results. A person does need to know how to use hardfacing rods, it isn't just strike and run rod and you're limited in the number of passes you can overlay. Done correctly it's THE way to reface an anvil with an arc welder. Frosty The Lucky.

Put that thing to work. If you have two burners light the other one till it gets hot then idle it back and one will maintain good working heat. If it won't keep yellow heat open the second one up more. The flame has a good shape and the dragon's breath looks nice and clean she's burning about neutral and a touch. One burner reaching mid high orange in 20 mins in a two burner forge is good. Put it to work, you'll drive yourself crazy trying for perfection. Frosty The Lucky.

Somebody likes you. Keep up the good vibe. Frosty The Lucky.

Ayup, that's a spring fuller made by a fellow with a welder. Looks just fine. Do you draw down round, or square then round it up? The better technique is to draw square it minimizes the chance of "fish mouthing" the stock, is easier to keep uniform and takes a lot fewer blows for the effect. The little anagram is SOR Square, Octagonal, Round. Another bit of hammer control technique that makes a HUGE difference is learning to strike straight through the anvil. You want to visualize driving the center of the hammer through the center of the anvil and put the work in the way. When you're drawing the tong reins they tended to bend up or down. Yes? This is because the center of the hammer was slightly off center of the anvil face, corner or horn. If the far end bends down the hammer is striking on the far side of center. If it bends up it's striking on the near side of center. It's normal for new folk to chase the work with the hammer and it makes drawing a uniform taper a bear. Really long tapers are a LOT easier because there is so much to blend plannishing. Try making nails and you'll see what I mean by wandering blows. Learn to strike ONE spot on the anvil per operation and move the work by measured increments. It's not as easy as it sounds but is the heart of hammer control. You do realize Boots is saying, "A little to the right two legs." with a hint of, "if you let my food dish get half empty again I'm going to crap in your shoe." Cats are good people, I like cats, dogs . . . well, mammals. Frosty The Lucky.

Profile gauge. http://www.eastwood.com/15in-adjustable-profile-gauge.html It is one mean mother hummer of a profile gauge though. And do not let the confidence with which I say that fool you, I could be wrong. Frosty The Lucky.

Good advice Bryan, truer words were never spoken. There's enough of a learning curve just getting proficient with the processes, adding variables only steepens the curve and slows you down. Once you become proficient learning to ID and work with salvaged stock is a snap, you're only adjusting practiced moves to a different feel. Easy peasy. The proper distance in a "working triangle or Kitchen triangle" is 1 pace, not one step. That's left and right step or about 6'. Closer and you're tripping over your tools and don't have room to pass between them easily. Farther and you not only have to move things too far but you screw up your natural rhythm, think dancing. This also makes the best distance a personal thing, everybody has a slightly different pace distance and rhythm. It's one reason it's always easier to work in your own space with your own tools. Sure you will get used to working in another's space but your own fits you. Frosty The Lucky.

Evening Neil. Yes sir I recommend a maximum of 1/8" radius. If a person has to ask they don't really know what THEY need yet so I lowball the number. It's easy to widen the radius but a real BEAR tightening it back up. Once a person uses a tool for a while and get an idea of what they need they can start modifying them. it's easy to take steel off. Putting it back without damaging the anvil is a whole new trade and learning curve. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard Pancho glad to have you. What kind of refractory liner does your forge have? I don't know anything about Redco forges. Welding fluxes typically contain borax which is pretty caustic at welding temperatures and literally dissolves ceramics based on silicates that being fire brick, hard and soft and most ceramic blankets. Molten borax treats ceramic blankets like hot water treats cotton candy and isn't much nicer to fire brick. There are simple and complicated solutions. A phosphate bonded ceramic refractory is proof against fluxes but has the same problem all hard refractories have it's a poor insulator and a great heat sink so it takes more fuel and time to get it hot and keep it hot. On the up side a strong heat sink refractory will heat the steel much faster so if you're going to have the fire running a long time and cycle a lot of pieces through hard refractories might be economical for you. What is becoming more popular is using a kiln wash to protect the liner. Kiln washes are used extensively in ceramic kilns to protect the kilns, prevent glazes from welding to the liner and prevent chemical erosion. What borax does to silicates is chemical erosion. Another serious benefit of using a kiln wash on ceramic blanket refractories is encapsulating fibers which can pose a health hazard. See silicosis or mesotheleoma for the kind of health hazard breathing ceramic fibers pose. Another benefit is the types of kiln wash that contains a high IR reflective material, usually zirconium silicate. Zirconium laughs at hot caustics and acids so we ain't putting anything in our forges that can touch the stuff. There are other methods of dealing with welding fluxes that aren't so complex but not as effective. You can just lay a kiln shelf or stainless steel pan in the bottom of your forge to catch most of the spilled flux. Use split hard fire brick for the floor, kiln wash it and replace it when it's eroded. Probably one of the simplest, cheapest and easiest ways to reduce flux erosion in your forge is don't use much. You do NOT need to douse your weld in flux, just a sprinkle is plenty if you've prepared the weld properly, get it hot enough and let it soak. Flux ain't glue it won't stick anything together, all it does is keep the oxygen off the steel so it doesn't contaminate it. Frosty The Lucky.

Birch Farms milk carton yes? Part made it home maybe but my mind still wanders constantly, gone Dutchman I'm afraid. The view's nice from out here though. Frosty The Lucky.

You've done it again, I don't know how to express how great it makes me feel to look at your work. Thanks. Frosty The Lucky.

I made my little spring fuller y simply bending some 5/8" round stock so there was a tight hair pin section that drops into the hardy hole one leg lays flat on the anvil and the other arches up then down parallel for the top die. I use it mostly for starting shoulders evenly on both sides of a piece though it works well for drawing. For general drawing I tend to work whatever part of the horn seems to work best and use my 32oz. turning hammer. I'll use my straight pein if I really have to draw something down. Say a RR spike to tong reins. I like laying leaves lengthwise on the horn and using the cross pein to draw laterally and texture. I use the larger radius cross pein to draw and the sharp one to texture. You DO have more than one of each hammer don't you? I do use the horn quite a bit, just not for turning rings, scrolls, etc. Frosty The Lucky.

See if I can get through without being forbidden . . . AGAIN! The folk at the counter of a rental center can't sell you broken tools, it's a liability issue. If they sold something broken and the person tried to use it as designed guess who'd lose in court. However if you talk to the guys out back, the guys who work on and maintain the equipment a few bucks or box of doughnuts and they just might not notice someone walking out with one of those heavy old broken pieces of junk. Heck, just do a little dumpster diving even. I got a couple spade bits for $1.00 ea. donated to the coffee fund. The next time I dropped by I discovered two dropped in the back of my pickup when I wasn't looking and I was there to rent a blade trimmer. You can also find pry, crow, pinch, spud, etc. bars at garage, yard, etc. sales for darned cheap. Believe me a 25lb. spud bar makes an awful LOT of outstanding medium carbon tools. Frosty The Lucky.

I usually use my straight pein on the end of the horn before I get out my spring fuller. I address the anvil from the horn end for this technique. Frosty The Lucky.

And me singing to the Priest! Here's another for "De Re Smith Biblica." "Use the KISS method just don't give it tongue!" The Cranky Canticle, Book III chapter VII, verse Ad. Frosty The Lucky.

Kids today. <sigh> I remember reading about dinosaurs and eras, ages and epochs on cereal boxes as a kid. I'm trying to remember what cereal used to have multiple choice quizs under the box lid. Send it in for Fabulous prizes! I aced the dinosaur quiz every time. What kind of dinosaur would a cave man fight most often: A, Brontosaurus? B, T Rex? C, none of the above? I mean REALLY! I wonder when my fabulous prize will get here? Goodness doesn't everybody have a "Roadside Geology" on the same shelf as their state's "Atlas and Gazeteer?" Seriously, Geology, can't get away from it! Frosty The Lucky.

Watch out Steve, he might be a chef and woodworker too. I've worked with engineers who were report writers and had virtually no experience doing things so it's not an impossible claim I suppose. Maybe he stays up front when welders are taking a train? Frosty The Lucky.

He has in more than one Woodwright shop episode, whenever it was part of the process. IIRC the draw knife and chest hardware episodes come to mind though I think the plates on the locks were draw filed. Frosty The Lucky.

Ah HAH! that last one is what Ninja teams used to open a brewski after a successful assassination. They're called Beeriken, Ninja drinking stars. Pop, fizz and they're gone in a whoosh of foam. Frosty The Lucky.

If we have to explain that to you we're going to be very disappointed! <sigh> Frosty The Lucky.

Have you made a spring fuller to help drawing things out with yet? So easy to make so much fun to use. Spring fullers! Frosty The Lucky.

Charles brings up one situation where a bottom blower is far superior and that's when you get a little dig at your end and it needs cooling. You don't have to keep turning around like you will using a side blower. Frosty The Lucky.

How are you preparing your coal? Are you breaking it into walnut or acorn size pieces? If you use large lumps of coal it has too little exposed surface to consume all the oxy from the blast. The excess air blowing through the pile will carry heat away from the fire even if all the oxy is gone. Breaking into small pieces exposes more surface in a cube of the volume change. This applies to the voids between particles so the oxy is consumed quickly and the heat has to go around a LOT more corners to find a cranny to escape through. So what this means is nut coal fires tend to trap the heat in the center of the pile over the air blast. And the oxy has been consumed just at the lower boundary of the sweet spot where it's hottest. So, have you broken your coal up? It's important. Frosty The Lucky.

It looks pretty good to me. How long have you let it run? Frosty The Lucky.

If you beat hot steel into submission on it, it's a REAL anvil. Period. That's the only valid definition of anvil. Frosty The Lucky.