Frosty

Welcome aboard, glad to have you and thank you for Serving. There's a pretty active smithing group in your neck of the woods, check the regional organizations section at the bottom of IFI's front page for the one nearest to you. . . all. <grin> If you haven't read it on the forums already, pull up a comfy chair, pack a lunch and something to drink and start reading the site. Almost anything you can ask has already been answered probably several times. It's in no way a complete collection of information but it's more than enough to give you a decent grounding so your questions will be good ones and whatever we may answer will make sense. . . Well, some days I don't make much sense even if I'm right. It's a dented head thing. Frosty The Lucky.

That's a beauty of a Trenton, good score and nice clean up. Sutton, Chickaloon or Independence Mine about covers all the blacksmithing equipment in the Mat Su alright. 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. I see by your post you're encountering the addictive qualities of blacksmithing, you might be surprised at how may blacksmiths got into it because they wanted just that ONE tool, cabinet makers are a really large demographic of blacksmith converts. Me? I just like playing with fire and hitting things with hammers. Frosty The Lucky.

You actually WANT me to talk MORE about my Soderfors Glenn? You be a glutton man. <grin> It's a 125lb Soderfors Sorceress #5, made in 1933. It's cast Swedish steel and will blunt a cold chisel without a mark. The edges are susceptible to chipping though it only has a few. The face is almost shiny smooth. It's the finest anvil I've ever used, bar none. What I know about it's history is hearsay from the guy I bought it from. He said he got it from the fellow who taught him farrier work and that fellow's father brought it from Sweden when they emigrated. One of the guys at work told me about it, his neighbor was selling off his farrier tools, his back was shot and he had to get out. I believe that was somewhere around 1978 or maybe 77 but I don't think it was that early. Would I recommend one? Oh BABY would I recommend buying one! Mine moves metal better at 125lbs. that good anvils more than 4x as heavy will. I'm thinking if I had to lose all but one tool, that's the one I'd keep. Frosty the Lucky.

The guy who demoed one at the local "Craig Tayler" had some birch burls he split for demos and as anybody who splits wood knows, burls don't split. The DR just blew through them like they were straight grained. Not smooth and straight but split, fast and easy on 120v house current. Frosty the Lucky.

I'm so happy you've overcome the hassles in your way. Good for YOU! If you hang a light bulb in it, it'll really help it dry. Fire it gently the first time, bring it to red and shut it down, let it cool and fire it to orange and a little longer. Then let it rip, she'll be good to go. You've put a big happy smile on my face. You've really worked to get this forge and haven't quit. I REALLY admire that in a man and am proud you're one of ours. Now all you need is a snappy web handle. <wink> Frosty the Lucky.

The kids come first Mark, no question. Where is she taking dog training lessons? Deb's the office manager for Betco, not that I'm pitching them but it'd be cool. Frosty The Lucky.

I was going to do some forging this weekend but have been coughing and my nose is running like a fawcet. You didn't E-mail me a bug did you Thomas? Frosty The Lucky.

Very nice, I like it. I'm more than a little fond of pieces with a story behind them and this one has a fine one. Can you tell us about the style of cross? I'm not familiar with it but that's not too surprising there is a world of things I'm not familiar with. Well done. Frosty The Lucky.

He may have misunderstood what Brian said. Where you grip the handle can depend on what you're doing, closer to the head (choked up) makes it easier to swing and control but less powerful where gripping near the end gives you the longest moment of leverage and the most power but is harder to control and more tiring. You might do the rough work gripping near the end to move the most metal fastest and do the clean up and texturing gripping near the head for control. If you have to pick one person to follow word for word, Brian is a good choice. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard Robert, glad to have you. Thanks for serving! About touching the anvil and forge. Be very, VERY careful what part of the forge you touch! At the bottom of the IFI front page is the section of regional organization pages Glenn and the boys host. There are a number of organizations in Texas, pick a close one and meet up. Of course there are a bunch of Texicans in the IFI gang so I suppose Jerry W. and the others will be cluing you in on where to go any old time now. Frosty The Lucky.

Any hardened steel bearing will work whatever the size though larger ,within reason, is easier to gauge the rebound. No, the mouse toy ball won't do you any good, magnets are usually rubber with magnet juice in them. (By "magnet juice" I'm referring to whatever they suspend in the rubber to make it magnetic. Don't take me so literally eh?) I suppose if you had some controls (steel or anvils of known hardness) to practice on you might be able to use bronze bearings or such. Better than going to all that work just take a small ball pein hammer with and give it a tap. You'll still need a little practice to get good at gauging anvils but if you take a bearing too it's easy to compare. I keep both in the pickup just in case. Frosty The Lucky.

Soo true Glenn, I hadn't heard that one. I live far too sheltered a life. I find items that will fit in a pocket or purse under $20.00 sell well. Basically decide what you do well in that size range, price it around $19.95 and see how they move. By size, things like leaf finial coat hooks, bottle openers, horse shoe, hoof picks, barn hooks, etc. If the average person can recognize what it's made from, horse shoe, RR spike, etc. it lets them see the transformation and they'll like it WAY more. This is why RR spike "knives" are so popular even though they make poor knives. Oh yeah, post the pics and tell us how they sell. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard, glad to have you. This is a perfect example of why you just can't take folk's opinions too seriously. If your cousin actually knew anything about rail, a track is two rails resting on cross ties, held at gauge by spikes and tie plates. Anyway, there are three sections to rail, the "flange" which is what rests on the cross ties, the "web" which is the section between the flange and the last piece which is the "rail". Yeah, that part is a little confusing and heck, I could have it wrong. The common wisdom is to place rail on end and use the ends of the web and flange for handy tools like hardy, fuller and such. If on the other hand a person would like a more Londonish rail anvil you can of course cut and grind one to London pattern shape though it'll be a bit on the light size. If However you were to cut two length say 18-20" long and cut a third about 12" long. Now, lay the two long pieces flange down off set say 8" if they're 20" long. Then slip the 12" length flange UP between them. You'll be surprised at how little open space there is in the stack and if you weld them together you'll have a decent anvil with a flat face and a section of rail on one end you can form into a horn and a matching length on the other you can form into a heel or square horn or. . . This is how the railroads stack rail to store or move, it's very stable and takes up the least amount of room. The flanges that make the foot will touch and there will be a gap between the rails almost exactly the same width and shape as the contact face of the rail. The rail face of the upside down length will also be touching the flanges on the bottom AND touching the two webs on either side. What this makes, if you went with 12" lengths, is an anvil that is a tad heavier than the rail weight. Rail weight is lbs./yard or KG/meter. to make the horns/heel you remove some steel but it's mostly the web and some flange so you don't lose a lot. What's really cool though is you can make a really nice working weight anvil of really high quality steel for a little scrounging and work. If you used say 120lb rail, two lengths 18" long and one 12" long you'd have an anvil a little under 180lbs. You'd need 4' of 120lb. rail to start but. . . The upside down flange that makes the face is supported totally by the rail underneath and the welds along the outside edges. Seriously almost complete contact throughout. Before you lay the right side up sections, cut about 1/4" from the matching edges but leave a few places intact so they touch and maintain position. This gives you a good gap to weld the two flanges and the rail of the upside down section together. There is a temptation to cut sections from the outside webs so you can weld directly to the center web but this is so much more likely to warp the piece I've resisted. The three webs welded parallel make a VERY rigid body and it's not too likely to warp if you don't try welding ay of the joints in a single pass. Heat treat is up to you, it's 1085 low alloy steel and you don't really want more than RC 55, rail isn't intended to take impact so temper some give into it. Of course that's just my opinion I could be . . . full of it. <grin> Frosty The Lucky.

This is the world wide notification the Association of Alaskan Blacksmiths next meeting, Saturday April 19th. at Jim Hutto's in Anchorage. I'll be bringing bringing the can of Patterson #1 welding flux for anyone to try. I don't know what else we have planned but I'll see you there. What else could you want? <grin> Frosty The Lucky.

I like it, nice clean utilitarian. I'm a form follows function guy, things designed for their looks before it's use is considered are all too often poor performers, where things designed to perform properly usually look good. That fire grate sir, looks like a winner to me. Well done Frosty The Lucky.

Vaughn: Is that the DR using flywheels instead of hydraulics? I LOVE those, were I to be in the market I'd buy a DR at twice the price. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard Jason, glad to have you. That sounds like a good story but without pictures . . . <wink> Forget about the anvil shaped section of bench vises, they're not suitable for work heavier than straightening nails and I have never thought of something to do with the horn sorta shaped thingy. Pictures! We love pictures and seeing as the abbreviation for Blacksmithing, BS isn't a coincidence we NEED pics or it's just a story. Don't get me wrong, we love a good story but don't really believe what we haven't see or done. Uh. . . Well . . . there ARE some darned good story tellers out there . . . Okay, just joking with the new guy. . . mostly. <wink> Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard Cody, glad to have you. Eleven is a great age to start learning a manual craft, he's going to be worlds ahead of the kids playing online games. He'll not only have a marketable skill, he'll know how to work. Better yet, he'll have good safety skills and the equipment. Good on ya both! Frosty The Lucky.

Clausing is in the same league as Southbend, Lablond, Regal, and such. Jet, Grizzly, etc. aren't in the same league by a long shot. I'd just LOVE that kind of score, even if it needed some work. Quill bearings is the most common wear point of drill presses so if there isn't any latitudinal lash in the quill and turns freely it's a prime find. Just take hold of the chuck and see if you can move it sideways, it shouldn't, then see if you can turn it by hand, it should. If it doesn't turn well, check the belts one may be gummed or broken is such a way as to make it not want to turn easily. If it wasn't too badly worn it'd be in the back of my pickup and I'd explain it to Deb later. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard, glad to have you. PA is pretty good for finding blacksmithing tools and equipment and good coal isn't far off. If you haven't already, pull up a comfy chair, bring a lunch and something to drink and start reading here. most everything you need has been covered from testing and evaluating anvils to making your own . . . everything. We love pics, from mystery tools ad ones to help evaluate to projects, shop, kids, yard, pets, dinner. Oh, just about any darned thing. <wink> Frosty The Lucky.

Looks like a lock pin to me, very similar in looks to the ones that hold excavator buckets on. A hydraulic ram attaches to the threaded pin and presses it into or out of the bucket attachment point, Of course that's just what I think, I could be wrong. Frosty The Lucky.

That's a perfect example of what does the work. It isn't the tools, they're just highly refined dirt. It's the minds and hands of people that do the work. I just wish they had some kind of eye protection. Frosty The Lucky.

That is sooooo cool! I'm thinking these may prove to be good marketing for that sign company. I wonder how much detail a person could get into a cap or sleeve patch. Hmmmmm Frosty The Lucky.

Yes, kaolin is carried by most any ceramics supplier. Zircopax is a brand name of a zirconium silicate used in kiln washes. I'm sure better inventoried ceramics suppliers will carry kiln washes and many have high percentages of zirconium flour. We settled on Zircopax plus and went in on a few lbs. With shipping it came to less than $4.00/lb. Admin may kill me for posting this but just Googling Zircopax plus will put you in touch with suppliers. Here's the link to the outfit we bought from. Zircopax Plus (sold per lb.) - Axner Pottery Supply One of the tricks to getting ITC-100 or the home brew to work properly is getting it hot enough to vitrify the kaolin as it acts as the matrix holding the zirconium in place. We ain't gonna get a gas forge hot enough to vitrify zirconium, it vitrifies somewhere above 3,000+c the kaolin is the glue. Frosty The Lucky.