Frosty

Try the propane supplier, most carry basics in the showroom. Suburban Propane is a Seattle outfit I believe, that's where I get mine and heck they deliver here. Failing that, most heating/plumbing suppliers carry propane hose and regulators, plumbers and HVAC guys do a lot of soldering and don't use Bernzomatic type torches. Frosty The Lucky.

The data sheet says you need to run a butter pass with a build up rod if hard facing high carbon steel. It's also an abrasive particle resistant facing rod, doesn't say anything about impact resistance. I'd be looking for rod used for impact resistant facing say in rock crushers. Frosty The Lucky.

Thanks Mark, Your Hay Budden looks good so I think it's a successful rod. I like build up rod myself but I keep hearing from guys who use hard facing rod made for high impact. If Eric decides to go ahead on his anvil I'll have to make some calls and ask guys online. Build up and hard facing rods change almost continuously so there probably are perfect rods for anvils. I'm thinking rock crusher rod but just don't know anymore. Frosty The Lucky.

Don't show idiots how to plug it in. <grin> Frosty The Lucky.

Is that an old Franklin fireplace? Very cool, finally something they're good for. Frosty The Lucky.

Of course opening a can of beer is beneath an opener like this or any other, if it was above the opener you'd spill beer! Frosty The Lucky.

The local Safeway has excellent two wheel carts for taking groceries to your car. Two large bicycle like wheels and two small casters on front. I've been lusting after one or two for my shop. It'd be perfect for my torch tanks. Stil, I picked up an ld defunct wheel chair at a garage sale a while back that's slated to become a torch cart. Moving anvils isn't hard at all, that's what teenagers are for aren't they? Frosty The Lucky.

Is it practical!?! You saw it didn't you? SHEESH! Thanks for the link George, fun show, I'll have to catch more. Frosty The Lucky.

Get the strongest and fasted 2 stage you can afford. It's better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. Frosty The Lucky.

I have radio earmuffs but the shop seems to be an excellent EM shield, I ran a magnetic antenna high on a wall and CAN get FM. Anyway, I listen to oldy moldy rock, No rap, some blues and NPR has me doing shop work so I can hear Prairie Home Companion. Largely, the forge drowns most everything out. I've listened to some: Within Temptation, Heather (something), Dragon Force and other pretty cool stuff but my MP3 is only good for a few songs and finding a place to download online without paying a bunch is a hassle, that and I'm really not into dodging the artist's making an honest living. So. . . Frosty The Lucky.

Does he use one as an anvil? The estate sale ought to be quite the blacksmith's event. I couldn't read the weight on the big Soderfors but . . . <sigh> At least this isn't a look at a load going to Chinese steal mill. Frosty The Lucky.

That was the first Art On Fire iron pour and she was the lead, calling the shots. I just happened to be in the right spot at the "right" time. Pat our main caster here in the valley and the sectary treasurer of the Association of Alaskan Blacksmiths FWD'd the pic to her and she just shrugged saying pics like it happened all the time. I should've put a warning on it to make sure folk weren't drinking milk when they looked, or maybe made sure they WERE. Glad you got a laugh, the audience sure did when I pointed it out to them. Folk started shifting around to get the angle while they were pouring. It's not like it's that interesting to watch a well coordinated team pouring, molten metal is neatO but after a while. . . Frosty The Lucky.

Banter is how friends let each other know they're loved. Ian and I hit it off pretty quickly. The only reason I'm in a loop is I got knocked there by that stupid birch! Frosty The Lucky.

Nicely done but it's going to be really hard on your hand. You might do scrimshaw instead. It can be strikingly visual and it's smooth as a baby's butt. Frosty The Lucky.

Zircopax/kaolin forge wash report. Last Saturday a friend and I demoed at a local event keeping the forge running at high orange low yellow for about 9 hrs. That side is nicely fired and tough as nails hard. It kept good color on lower than average psi so we didn't use more than about 3 gallons of propane. I'm thinking it's a success though I haven't welded in it yet. I'll let you know how that goes when I do. I try not to weld at demos, too much flying hot stuff for audiences and I don't have a screen at the moment. Frosty The Lucky.

Good deal Harris! Fagot welding wide stock is a good place to use a turning(rounding) hammer so initial impact is in the center so any inclusions are driven out of the joint. You also might get better fusion at lower psi and longer soak time. The psi settings is just a thought. I've found you can be melting the outside of a stack before the inside is hot enough to fuse so lower psi and longer soak time is the way to go in that situation. Frosty The Lucky.

Yeah, that's a common thing to see in movies. the producers must think blacksmiths had those weird looking "hammers" so they have to shoot them using one. the one I've seen most is a top swage being used upside down as a hammer. Heck, I used to go to museums in various cities and towns here in Alaska and I don't know how many times I've sought out the curator so I could arrange the "blacksmith shop" to reflect a real shop. Most had a mannequin holding a top swage upside down as a hammer. <sigh> At least the curators of museums were receptive to having someone with a little experience correct things. Frosty The Lucky.

Good PR Frogman! I like the little knob end but think maybe a little hook thingy to open pop tops might be nice. Don't want people thinking you're prejudiced against cans do you? I need to come up with a touch mark I guess. Hmmmm. Frosty The Lucky.

Would you like Sketchup with your fries? That'll be with me forever now. Deb and I both have our computers in front of the TV so we can amuse ourselves while the spousal unit's watching what they want. Frosty The Lucky.

Sweet graduation gift Joe, what a beauty! That might have even gotten ME to study harder. I hadn't read anything from you in a while and was beginning to wonder. Congratulations all round Joe, really good to hear from you again. Frosty The Lucky.

Now THAT'S an intro! Nice shop and some darned nice work. I can see the pro aspects to the projects rather than the one off hand made you often see from smiths. Being able to turn out quality production work is how a person can afford to do the fun stuff. You're going to fit right in with the gang Brian. Frosty The Lucky.

I really like the coat rack idea. Your Mom will love it, no Mom in the history of Moms has ever not loved a gift made by one of the kids. The dinner bell's a little off? We know you well enough to see it as perfectly you. Besides triangle bells shouldn't be even all round or they don't ring well. Nice details on the hanger and leaves, very attractive. Frosty The Lucky.

Daniel: I used to use graph paper for designing and laying out areas like shop space but Sketchup is really much easier if you believe anything could be easier than moving paper cutouts on a piece of paper. Sketchup can do all kinds of really cool things once you set up the "rules" you want to apply, say minimum/maximum spacing. Draw the tools as components and you can move them faster and easier than paper cutouts on a drawing. I've been using the freeware version for years. Still, I used graph paper and cutouts for decades before I finally found a CADD program that was easier and I'm still a HUGE fan of graph paper. Oh yeah, the only connection I have to Sketchup is it's loaded on my computer and I really like it. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard Gunny, glad to have you. I wouldn't do any grinding on a family heirloom, It probably won't ever be a good working anvil, it has it's real value as a family keepsake. You'll find other anvils in good condition to take up the craft with and this one has battle scars laid on by family. Let it tell it's tales in the imaginations of this and the next generation. Use a new acquisition to make memories and tales for family and friends. Dad gave me an anvil he said was off a family farm but I don't know about that. I didn't even know we actually had farms in the family. Then again we have a much larger family than I'll ever know but Dad was famous for a flexible memory.<wink> It's a farm anvil in the 55lb.+/- range and has see much the same kind of use as yours. My "family" anvil has a thicker and harder face that's easy to measure the thickness, seeing as there's a goodly size chunk broken out behind the horn. After all this jawing I've done about family keepsakes I think I ought to go dig it out of the Connex, clean it up and display it in the house by the wood stove. Eh? Heck, I'll even post a pic, maybe more. Frosty The Lucky.

Sounds good, I'm retired so a little coordination and I'm a go. Get together with Tristan if you want to come out with him or however you'd like to work it. Frosty The Lucky.