Frosty

Johnnie: If you absolutely MUST try restoring it, try a museum for references to a qualified restorer of antiquities. There's almost nothing you or I could to to a piece like that without diminishing it's value at best to virtually destroying it's value at worst. A LIGHT oiling is probably the most you can do for it without a restoration specialist cursing you. Even oil can damage the wood so be VERY LIGHT with it if you must. If you must oil it store it barrel down to help prevent oil from migrating into the wood. Firing it is likely to be a crap shoot even if its been certified. There's not much an inspector can tell you about the quality and condition of the welds. Maybe cat scanning it but. . . Frosty The Lucky.

Ryan: 100rpm max. 1/4" pilot hole then to 1/2". No drilling in really small increments is NOT a good thing, no less than 1/3rd increase i diameter or you'll chip out the outsides of the edges. With a little proper technique you can drill as quenched hardened 5160 with a cobalt bit. Using carbide bits requires MORE skill than using standard bits. Having the tool does NOT mean you know how to use it. About the cobalts you burned: toss em they're scrap you don't have the experience nor equipment to re-heat treat them. Oh for the days they offered shop classes in Jr. and high school. You would've studied and passed all this info before getting to put a project in a drill vise. Not your fault Ryan, I just get ticked about modern education is all. Ain't we all Charles, I just don't catch you in one very often. I'm just not that swift. Another aspect of small pieces of solid fuel in the fire, the increased surface area allows the fuel to consume more oxygen so the fire's sweet spot will be closer to the air blast and hotter. I've found it doesn't matter what kind of fuel I use, I can burn steel with em all. Frosty The Lucky.

Ain't we all Charles, I just don't catch you in one very often. I'm just not that swift. Another aspect of small pieces of solid fuel in the fire, the increased surface area allows the fuel to consume more oxygen so the fire's sweet spot will be closer to the air blast and hotter. I've found it doesn't matter what kind of fuel I use, I can burn steel with em all. Frosty The Lucky.

A36 can be a somewhat mystery steel, it's made to meet strength specs and not a specific analysis. That said it will make temporary punches and drifts, short lived but will do for a while. I don't know about making a slitter though, they get HOT in use I don't think A36 or mild will hold up. If you have a bargain tool store or hit garage/yard sales you can find chisels and or large allen wrenches, either will make a decent slitting chisel. Sure they aren't going to hold up long in use but they will hold up long enough. If that is IF you don't dally and you keep them quenched. Can't you find old coil springs? Those make decent punches, slitters, chisels, drifts, etc. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard, glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in the header you might be surprised at how many of the IFI gang live within visiting distance. Nice looking anvil, it looks like you put a lot of thought into the stand too. There's plenty of room to put small tools while keeping hammers and top tools handy without being in the way. Looking good. Frosty The Lucky.

Another trick for freeing up a stuck drift is to quench the drift, it'll shrink and you'll be able to drive it out. As I recall Brian's drifts freed up pretty easily and we did a LOT of forging with the drifts in the eye. If you click on the "More Options" button select the file to attach from the "Browse" button and lastly you have to click the "Add this File" button. It'd be a lot easier to give you good advice if we could see the tools. Heck it may be something as simple as a rough drift. Frosty The Lucky.

Nice improv, Arftist. I'll be pleased as punch to adopt and adapt such a set. Frosty The Lucky.

Can you skin grizz Jim? Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard James, glad to have you If you'll put your general location in the header you might be surprised at how many of the IFI gang live within visiting distance. Have you started reading through the sections here? Almost anything you might ask has probably been answered more than once. The sections are organized by general subject such as coal forges, welding, gas forges, finding tools, etc. at the bottom of the front page is the section of regional organizations. Find the one closest to you and meet the guys, hooking up with an experienced smith can teach you more in an afternoon than weeks trying to teach yourself. You'll also have much better luck finding tools, equipment fuel materials, etc. Besides it's just plain fun to hang with a bunch of blacksmiths. Welcome to the affliction, the craft is addictive and highly contagious. Frosty The Lucky.

Don't sweat asking for help Anthony we all do now and again. Figuring this all out on your own is really over rated, I did and will so testify. I learned more the first day I watched an experienced smith work than I had seriously skull sweating for months trying to teach myself. Holding your hand is maybe a bit much but . . . <grin> Frosty The Lucky.

I'll go for a snatchblock. Frosty The Lucky.

No NO, adopt ME, Jake! Nice score, well done. Frosty The Lucky.

Thanks for more eye candy Nick. I'll bet being 30 years old it comes from the time Johnsons contained Carnuba. I LOVE carnuba for finishing iron work, it's really hard but fluid when warm enough to fill all the nooks and crannies. Frosty The Lucky.

Very nice Jim, well done. I love making Fredric's crosses opening them up is like magic and the audience loves it. Melting a colored marble in the center adds a nice touch. Molten glass's stick to every darned thingness is a real PITA though, so modify a SS spoon as a clip on backer and it's a LOT easier. Frosty The Lucky.

You gotta have an air grate in a bottom blast forge. Nothing fancy needed but something sure is. The real path to mastering any craft is failure analysis. Having folk willing to answer questions is a plus. Really enjoying answering honest questions is a really good thing on our end. <wink> Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard Pete, glad to have you. My Father built a couple planes, I got to ride in one once. Neat bird. About manufacturing sophisticated specialty steel parts. Have you researched what liability insurance is going to cost? Remember what put de Havilland (I think) out of the Beaver, Otter business? A pilot landed on a closed airstrip and tried a really short take off in a heavily loaded tail dragger with a dozer sitting in the middle of the white X marking the strip as closed. Well, he realized he wasn't going to lift in time so he hopped it almost clearing the dozer, stalled BIG SURPRISE THAT and ground looped the wreckage. He successfully sued the manufacturer because he couldn't see directly in front, line of sight being blocked by the cowling when on the ground. The plane was manufactured in the 1930's but this idiot won anyway. Even though he was violating State/Federal law and FAA regulations. Just something to think about. Frosty The Lucky.

I like bronze too but haven't forged but a tiny bit. I have a friend who used to be subbed here but don't know about now. Anyway he forges bronze as a mainstay and gets some really impressive results. Like any copper alloy it'll move as far as you can drive it the first couple blows but work hardens abruptly, 3rd. blow might probably be okay but do NOT count on another without annealing. Copper is more forgiving, down right fun it just tends to melt in the forge if you take your eye off it annealing. I'd have to ask what alloys my bronze forging buds use, I didn't make notes and they're going to razz me but what the hey, I'm used to it. Hopefully someone in the gang here will speak up and save me from my friends mirth. <grin> Frosty The Lucky.

I LIKE alder, I used it as in field expedient forges by preference, back when I was a field guy. About damaging wood stoves, a person has to have some sense about any fire appliance and know when to turn it down or just build a smaller fire. I use alder in both our wood burners as a good way to take the chill off fast, larger birch for longer heat. One small correction Charles, lb/lb is equal for coke, not mineral coal. I know it's a minor point but I'm not doing anything at the moment and it's TOUGH catching you in a mistake, Brother. <wink> You'll find softwood charcoal tends to have a higher absolute temperature than hardwood or coke, all things being equal. Same size fire, same blast, etc. Softwood charcoal is less dense so there's more surface area to oxidize in the fire, it burns faster and gets hotter. Same BTUs you just get them faster is all. If you really want a scary hot fire burn charcoal the way the coal fired power plant in Fairbanks burns coal. Crush it to -200 and burn it like gas. Really efficient and HOT if you want HOT. Not something a garage smithy would want, too much hassle and a PITA to control on a small scale. Besides -200 charcoal can be pretty explosive if it gets blown around a volume of air and ignited. Frosty The Lucky.

The holes are useful, I used a heavy axle for a field improvised anvil some years ago, the bolt holes in the flange were very handy. Drop pins in and they can make fine bending jigs of all kinds. A handy piece of equipment for a smithy. Frosty The Lucky.

The manufacturer will have all the data you want. I don't even know what it is. Alloys are coming and going so fast it's more than a full time job just to keep track let alone develop a working knowledge of them. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard Gordon, glad to have you. There are some good advantages to using charcoal, it doesn't add flavor to lunch. We LOVE pictures, all kinds of pics, shop, tools, equipment, projects, Pets, family, scenery, whatever. Frosty The Lucky.

No Harold, By deeper we mean more charcoal UNDER the work with fuel on top. Charcoal doesn't use near as much air as coal. John presents an excellent example of TOO MUCH BLAST! <grin> Frosty The Lucky.

I've used borax to prevent scaling with good results. I agree though, listening to your students can be very educational. Thanks Frank. Frosty The Lucky.

Good grief Dan, stop doing that! Are we going to have to take up a collection for bubble wrap or what? Heal well and fast Bro. We're pullin for you. Frosty The Lucky.

Way to go Mick! That's not only beautiful it's a darned impressive piece of work. May we see more please? Frosty The Lucky.