Frosty

Johnny do NOT buy a weed burner it will ruin more steel than it will heat! I got my TurboTorch at a yard sale for $10.00 but he wouldn't throw in the 20lb bottle. No biggy I have a bunch of 20s. The 40 was a nice find and the two 100lb. bottles were $10.00 for the pair but I had to get them re-certified. Folk were clearing out an OLD mobile home and the tanks were part of the dump run they were hoping to minimize. Do NOT get in a hurry, patience pays big time. I know you're young and want to get with the program but moving fast has it's price. It's the Time vs. Money thing, if you have the time you don't have the money if you have the money you don't have the time. Honestly, just start cruising garage, yard, etc. sales, flea markets, swap meets, etc. The stuff is out there it just takes luck or time. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard, glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in the header you might be surprised how many of the IFI gang live within visiting distance. Lots of folk here with city folk issues, lots of solutions been written about already. Not to worry though, lots of folk will chime in, we're a talky bunch you know. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard Mr. Snippy, glad to have you. What is the jaw width? I don't see anything about that old girl a little oil won't fix right up. It sure looks complete, the mounting plate and spring is usually missing or long replaced. You even have the wedges. The hinge bolt might be easier to just replace though don't throw that one away. Nice score. Check out the TPAAAT, simple search by that term here. It's a good solid technique for finding anvils and heck most any kind of tools. Frosty The Lucky.

What do you mean you don't need two anvils?! What kind of blacksmith doesn't NEED two or more anvils! The next thing you're going to tell us is you park BOTH your cars in the garage! Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard new fellow with what looks like a Pyr on your shoulder. Before your next post we aren't going to remember where you are. If you'll put your general location in the header you might be surprised how many of the IFI gang live within visiting distance. I must say offering help is a pretty classy way to say hello, it's quite blacksmitherly you know. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard Chris, glad to have you. That's a pretty darned nice looking anvil, she's taken some knocks but nothing needing "repair or restoration!" Please don't take a grinder to her anywhere, what little her face is dinged up will work out under hot steel and hammer. Once you've used her a year or two you'll have a better idea what you might need and might MIGHT want to do a little work on her. I'd just put her to work. It looks like lots of chisels were tested on her body and some cutting done on her step. Common "thought" is it's a backer for cutting with a chisel or hot cut. A chisel plate is as easy as laying a piece of mild steel on the anvil to protect it and your hot cuts. I'm not familiar with H (or any) Boker as a maker but there's no telling, most of the large manufacturers sold anvils and other equipment for other brands, say Sears. Someone here has Anvils In America or recognizes her general lines. Good score Chris, you'll be able to pass her on to your Grandchildren. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard Doug, glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in the header you might be surprised how many of the IFI gang live within visiting distance. WE have some professional electricians aboard so I'm not going to add my amateur thoughts to the power situation. Another fellow living in the woods. I see quite a bit of deadfall in the background and don't recognize the big conifers. It looks like you have it brushed and cleaned up pretty well around the shop. It's good to see folk with a little forest sense. I'll be looking forward to seeing some pics of your work. We LOVE pics you know. Frosty The Lucky.

Hang a light bulb in it. High humidity can really slow drying but if it's warmer than the surrounding air it'll dry much faster. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard Redtail, glad to have you. Frosty The Lucky.

Sure she was a twitter to start and I'm not sure why the whole age and vice angle ruined the fun for her but . . . I mean really what's life without a little vice if one isn't too aged to enjoy it that is. You DO realize you're asking a primarily male group about Dating? Hmmmm, maybe that's what has her wondering. Frosty The Lucky.

I picked up a Turbo torch at a yard sale a few years ago for a small fraction of new cost and they'll do the job. I surfed through the Goss products too. I'm thinking the ones I remember were from a few decades ago and long off the market. <sigh> Frosty The Lucky.

Utility companies are all so unreasonable that way!! Frosty The Lucky.

Forbidden again! arghhhh!!!! I've been run around by the only contact with IPS I have long enough. This time I copied and pasted the "Forbidden" reply and asked for an explanation. I expect to be blocked soon now. Frosty The Lucky.

Well, okay I suppose your assistant's family deserves to eat now and then. You have all the other stuff just sitting there though. However if you're going to tally the electricity to drill some bolt holes . . . Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard Bob, glad to have you. If you pout your general location in the header and you might be surprised how many of the IFI gang live within visiting distance. Hook up with the local blacksmithing organization and it'll really flatten the learning curve for you. An hour with an experienced smith will show you more than days of teaching yourself. What kind of charcoal? Did you break it up? How deep was it piled? And no you don't need to cran the blower hard enough to have a plume of flame shooting out of the pile. Charcoal doesn't need a lot of air but the fire needs to be deep enough to consume all the oxygen or it will scale your work to nothing. Fire management isn't the easy part f blacksmithing but it's probably the single most important and it takes practice. Getting with someone experienced will answer your questions by showing you. Frosty The Lucky.

He got the polarity reversed. You can mask and etch some pretty intricate patterns with negative to the work and using the positive on a brush or other various . . . stingers? Basically it's reverse electro polishing. Nifty and fun. Frosty The Lucky.

That particular torch is a weed burner and will put too much oxygen in the forge so your work will scale up quickly and not get hot enough. This would be a bad choice. I'm not finding what I'm thinking of and I just spent a good hour looking at pics online. About the closest I've seen was the Bernzomatic jumbo propane torch but I just not seeing what I was thinking of. I've been making the things for years and not shopping to buy. I'm probably the wrong guy to be suggesting what to buy. I can spot bad ones but I don't know where the pro models are. Frosty The Lucky.

I'm looking forward to seeing your finished Kukri J. Frosty The Lucky.

My rule of knife fighting got Forbidden! <grrrr> My first rule of knife fights is be the better chef. Frosty The Lucky.

20k worth of work? I thought it was salvages stock on your own place. That makes it free doesn't it? Frosty The Lucky.

Or go with a gun burner, you can force more gas and air in a small volume so it's hotter. You need a blower/gun to make a ribbon burner work. Or so I've heard. Frosty The Lucky.

Do you have a dedicated shop? If so you might want to look into finding a source of smithing coal and a pot bellied stove. Use the smithing coal in the forge and hard coal in the pot belly come winter. On the other hand I can get stubborn about making a thing do what I want it to so I understand. We'll help how we can, we're all like that to a degree. Well, maybe more than A degree! Frosty The Lucky.

You need a proper blower, a blow drier just isn't going to do it. Start hitting yard, garage, etc. sales and look for a 12v inflator for rafts, air mattresses, etc. They will more than make too much air for your set up, then it's easy to put a gate on the intake so you can adjust it. You can adjust it for a neutral burn with the blow drier by turning the propane psi down but the forge temperature is a matter of putting enough BTUs in a contained area fast enough and a blow drier just doesn't make enough air. Ditto Thomas, get hooked up with the local blacksmith's organization, you'll be up and smooshing HOT steel in no time. It might not hurt to look into a new liner too, modern refractories can be much more efficient and flux resistant than just a few years ago let alone a few decades. Do you know the make & mod of that forge? Frosty The Lucky.

Don't apologize, not a lot of guys know how to control lighting photographing shiny stuff and the First wasn't bad. So I was a photography geek in years past. This pic is much better, I really like vivid contrast in patterns and yours is very nice. Thanks for the second look see. Frosty The Lucky.

Well there you go, I've widened your horizon to what 1966? Even as incredibly popular as it was during the first airings if a person were to wear a Star Trek costume any time but Halloween or perhaps a costume party, Star Trek fans would laugh at you. The closest to a Star Trek costume I've ever worn was a blue T shirt and a couple band aid points on my ears. I made a much better Charlie Brown except for the long hair. Well, I had to check and my memory wasn't as bad as I was afraid! I only missed by Mr. Spock not being 1st. officer. Not bad for 50 years and a Great White . . . birch attack eh? You know how you can tell Gene Roddenberry didn't have it quite right? You never saw Kirk interrupted with a text message while using his communicator. Of COURSE I have a Flip Phone! Silly thing to even wonder. Frosty The Lucky.