Frosty

These things aren't too particular about lube so long as there is some. As said they are from the old days when you used what you had and that might be bacon grease. I just put a small squirt of 10-40 in mine and listen closely, if it's running smoothly with good glide it's good. If I'm working it for a long day, say more than 4 hours I'll give it another squirt or two. ATF is good because it's formulated to eat gunk and . . . well, you cleaned yours so you know how gunky they can get. It's also good if you live in cold country, it stays fluid and maintains it's lubricity well below zero f. Don't use heavy oil, it isn't necessary, won't hurt but not necessary and in cold country it can act like cement. Marvel Mystery oil is one of my absolute favorites but that's because I love the smell. I'm blanking on the mint strain now though. (stupid TREE!) Oh yeah, probably the most common comment you hear about crank blowers and oil goes something like this, "I filled it to the plug level and it all leaked out on my floor!. Does it need a gasket, seal, etc. what do I do to fix it?" No problem, I asked that very question when I filled my Champion 400 to the plug level. Took about 4-5 hours to all leak out. Well except for an oily film and that's exactly what it needed and wanted to perform properly. Frosty The Lucky.

Thanks for the intro Matt. I was drawn to the pic in your header the first time I saw it and now I know why. Newly weds! Congratulations! My life began properly when I married Deb, I'm a rich guy now even if we don't have as much money as I did before. Many many good years to you and your beautiful bride. As far as efficient use of your valuable time, you will be ahead months of self teaching for every day you spend with experienced smiths and a proper club meeting is a better multiplier yet. I don't know but is IN. GOM territory? The Guild Of Metalsmiths isn't just smithing related they are all metalheads of almost every type imaginable. It's a great group with more talent than a mortal can grasp, good folk. Frosty The Lucky.

Jaman, I carried 3 certifications when I was looking at being a professional fabricator. I did lots of fabrication but none requiring a cert so I relenquished them as I wasn't going to be keeping them current. Anyway as a 40 year pro here's a little critique. First you didn't prepare the joins at all. Second your welder was improperly set for the rod. Third it looks like you didn't use the right size rod. Any of those can be handled by an experienced welder but . . So here's the rub, those are what we called chicken XXXX beads. That means globby, and yours show no wetting at all. This is an indicator there is virtually NO penetration. Then they're virtually ALL undercut which introduces a built in initiation sites for failure. By looks your welds are what we used to call "Cold stuck," and not actually "welded". In short the guys who are saying your press scares crap out of them are only saying so because they know what they're talking about. The ONLY saving grace in your press is having a hand pump jack. Or did I miss an air over hydraulic jack? If it is air over hydraulic powered it is a mechanical BOMB, hopefully it'll only put a hole in a wall, ceiling or floor, not YOU or a friend. Yeah, YOUR family is going to pay a heavy price if you cripple or kill yourself, I KNOW. I darned near killed myself cutting firewood three years ago and my wife is still suffering PTSD of a significant nature but we're working on it and we're both getting over it. Seriously I would do ANYTHING to avoid putting my family and friends through it. If you think we're being harsh, we're just talking to you like you are an adult. Would you hold it against someone for SHOUTING to alert you of an oncoming bus or similar hazard? Smithing is inherently dangerous and NOTHING is more hazardous than investing yourself emotionally in anything but safety and quality. If straight talk is too much for you maybe you should choose a safer hobby, something that can't make your family and friends pay the piper. Frosty The Lucky. (The LUCKY part of my handle is because of me and the tree. You can read the story as it happened here if you wish)

My coal forge uses 4" exhaust pipe below the fire grate. I cut and welded a length of 2" exhaust pipe at 90* abut 2/3 up from the ash gate for the supply from my blower. The ash gate is a 4" flapper cap like you see on trucks, upside down on the bottom. I welded a longish arm to it and welded a little weight on the end to balance it so it closes itself. When I want to dump the ashes I just reach under with the tongs or coal rake or whatever's handy and lift the counter weight arm. OR if I get a little flammable gas build up and it POPS(YIKES!!!) the flapper opens itself, the ash gets fired into the ash bucket and there's no harm done. . . Well it IS fun to see the look on a beginner's face the first time it pops. <grin> Anyway, Unless there's something really wrong the air supply isn't going to get very hot so you could use a soup can if that's all you can get. Of course there's nothing wrong with asking directions, a good answer is so much better than reinventing the wheel. Frosty The Lucky.

I won't go over the safety talk already written but please take it seriously, like your life and limbs depend on it. One thing about your proposed design I really don't like is the size of the roll, it's smaller than the pillow blocks. Oh, NO pillow blocks to carry the shaft? Why the heck not. they're FAR better (IMHO) far less friction, more durable and WAY less work than bushings. Maybe if you were talking babbit bushings, MAYBE. What I've considered is an eccentric roll, having watched them in action I frankly LOVE eccentric rolls over press rolls. how an eccentric works is the top (or bottom) roll is mounted eccentricly(SP?) on the shaft so at one point in a turn it's AWAY from the bottom (anvil) roll and 180* later it's at the minimum thickness of the piece you are making. It turns feeding material towards you but very slowly, maybe say 60-100 rpm. and there's all kinds of room on either side of the roll so you pass the hot material beside the roll and feed it in sideways. The top roll closes on it and feeds it to you and releases it as the eccentricity takes the roll AWAY from the anvil roll. You can either hold the work in place for the next smoosh or move it sideways out of the rolls. The rolls don't need to be flat all the way across either, radiusing the edges is a good idea or the corners will damage the work. You can put a taper on part of the roll to form a bevel like a blade or it can have a raised ridge to form a fuller groove. There is literally no limit to how you can shape your rolls if you follow the rules. Use an auto centering foot control, believe me if something goes wrong you're going to retreat from the machine and being an auto centering switch it's a deadman switch and will shut it down immediately. If you were to use a two way foot switch it'd make it really easy to back a stuck piece out of the rolls but I'd really rather just lift the top roll instead of taking any chance of me or anyone being caught. Okay, your shaft is WAY too light, the larger the dia. the more durable it'll be regardless of what you use, bushings or bearings, they'll last lots longer. Better still it won't deflect nearly as much and believe me a 3/4" shaft is going to deflect at effective working pressures. The way I prefer to make this kind of roller is pretty simple, just drill a hole in the roll stock the same diameter or a couple thousandths SMALLER than the shaft. Sure you'll want to broach a keyway but that's no biggy, it's harder to cut a keyway in the shaft. Sweat fitting the roll to the shaft is easy if it's only a couple thousandths interference fit, heat the roll just a couple hundred degrees and the shaft will drop in. Yeah, boiling water hot on a decent diameter roll like say 6-8" dia. A 1" roll is going to have such a sharp bite it'll really take power or lots and lots of thin passes. A large diameter roll will move metal in a smoother press and you'll get more movement per pass for the same HP input. Larger dia. will want more down pressure but that's no biggy, if you use a house screw jack or similar. From what I've read guys aren't having such good luck using hydraulic cylinders for pressure. I don't know why I LIKE hydraulics, maybe they're not using large enough cylinders but I do NOT know. Well, that's probably more than enough rambling for now. Making press rolls is a very duable thing but you can find yourself over your head very quickly, just HOPE it won't be while you're running it. Frosty The Lucky.

Rather than a longer handle on the shear using a compound lever will multiply your leverage withought being in the way. Check out a bolt cutter for an example to copy. Those look like darned nice firepots and a large table would be fine for up to four people with a little cooperation. Being crowded at a forge isn't a bad way to learn cooperation so I'd be tempted to set it up that way just because. The biggest problem I've had sharing a fire is having the other guy just start cranking the blower for "his" largeish stock when I was doing a finish heat on a fine finial scroll. In just a couple seconds MY project was a little fireworks display. That resolved itself quickly enough and it's NOT like I didn't do exactly that before so . . . <shrug> Live and learn. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard Richie, glad to have you. Putting your general location in your header will pleasantly surprise you with how many smiths live within visiting distance. Thomas has already made a couple excellent examples of how and where to search for info about your general location. We aren't trying to discourage you from bladesmithing, we're just trying to prevent you from setting yourself up for failure for a first try. You'll be amazed later in the journey at just how similar making nails and leaves is to bladesmithing. The most important thing to learn is control, hammer, fire and temperature to name but three. And yes, temperature control is a different thing than fire control though they're related. Lastly, don't be a stranger here, we are all about answering questions. There are few things that'll teach you about the craft than teaching it, few things beat a good question even if we have to make up an answer. <grin> Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard Max, glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in your header you might be pleasantly surprised to find out how many metalheads live within easy visiting distance. Better yet, if any of us old farts are traveling in your neighborhood we won't have to rely on our memories of who's close if we want a tasty snack or comfy spot to nap. I married a UPer some 15 years ago, great luck there you know. Frosty The Lucky.

Really nice Randy but I'm sure glad you told us what the affiliation is or it'd taken me a millisecond or two to figure it out. <grin> Have you finished with liver of sulfur? You can develop finishes on copper alloys from dark straw to black depending on temperature and time exposure and it's a durable patina. Frosty The Lucky.

Thanks for posting the pics. I'll have to take a much closer look at mine now. You can easily read date, 1933 stamped in the side but I'll be taking a piece of chalk to it and see what I see. That sign would sure look nice in my shop but I can think of something better to do with $2,500 . . . and I'm pretty sure Deb would help out if I had trouble. <grin> Frosty The Lucky.

I can't say for sure but it looks like a cast body, if so you can certainly build it up with build up rod and it'll be much more resistant to hammering than mild wire, heck, if it's wrought build up rod is still better than mild wire. In general build up rod is intended to lay over cast, be it iron, steel or high alloy say a crusher drum and it'll lay well without cleaning. I'm not saying you shouldn't take a wire brush to the horn before using it but in the field you just can't always clean the steel before laying beads so build up rod is pretty unconcerned with things like dirt, sand, rust and such. Build up rod is high impact resistant without being very abrasion resistant, it'll take a beating without deforming but you can grind it without buying high dollar abrasives, plain old grinding disks or cup grinders. In short, build up rod is my recommendation for most anvil repairs not involving sticking pieces back on. Oh by the way, good score even if you don't restore the horn. Heck it has an interesting shape as it stands and may make a dandy die face for hollow forming, bending and such. Maybe give it a try before rebuilding it? Frosty The Lucky.

VERY nice work! What I see as the cork screw's problem is the point is sticking straight out rather than initiating the turn so the rest of the screw will follow. Bend it so it matches the same pitch and diameter as the rest of the screw and have the tip extend SLIGHTLY more forward on the same radius, it'll work dandy. Frosty the Lucky.

That is a sight to touch a man's soul. Good on ya John! One thing strikes me with pic #2 though. If you show him how to make that first bend on the near side of the anvil he won't have to hold the tongs in his armpit and he'll be better able to deliver stronger more precise blows. The close side is exactly like the far side you only have to hold the material below the face and strike down rather than above and strike horizontally towards yourself. Frosty the Lucky.

Oh there's all kinds of "things" at scrap yards, alleys, ditches, etc. etc. that can be used. Okay, this is just MY little thing and has no real meaning in the "real" world,"repurposed" just grates on me for some dumb reason. Anyway, in my years as a field guy we spent lots of time in the bush villages and 5gl. Blazo cans were everywhere as that's the only way they got fuel for stoves, lamps, etc. I've seen Blazo cans opened up and turned into fine and dandy shingles on homes, shops and just building's sides and rooves everywhere. One of my favorite uses was as lamp shades, carefully placed nail holes cast planetarium shows on ceiling, walls and whatever was in the room. Some folk added little turbine blades that would turn the entire shade to make the stars turn around the room or some tubines turned shades inside the pierced shade to make the stars blink or turn on and off. Oh yeah, the turbines are powered by heat rising from the light bulb. I have all kinds of "stuff" I've salvaged, largely with better structural applications than artistic, for instance I salvaged a good 50 ATV crate frames when it was more expensive to ship them back than pay for new ones so the local Honda shop just left them stacked outside the fence. I also have a couple old SS vac hoods from the materials lab trash bin. These I have plans for, the small hood is going to serve it's original purpose in my shop. The bigger one is badly bent and folded, if they'd just asked me I would've repaired it but on the trash pile it went so now it's in MY resource pile. I'm thinking this one will make some cool lamp shade/reflectors. I'm thinking a dragon fly with LED lamps aimed at the underside of the wings. Auto parts have lots of potential, I use old hood springs for some of my smaller pattern welded stuff. Tie rod ends make good skeletal joint shapes. Headlight inner shrouds make good lamp shades. AND don't forget hubcaps! Those are good for all kinds of nifty thingies. Anywho, keeping an open mind and letting your imagination flow at material opportunity sites really helps. After a while a person has serious trouble keeping a wildly ranging imagination from making you forget just what the heck you came to the closet for. <grin> Oh yeah, you can always ask here, we're full of off the wall ideas. . . Well, full of IT anyway. <grin> Frosty the Lucky.

Welcome aboard, glad to have ya. If you'll put your general location in your header you'll discover just how many IFI folk are within easy visiting distance. Seems like you've scored on that track though, JPH is bladesmith extraordinare. Frosty the Lucky.

Congratulations Rusty! It's never too late to recall our origins, good on ya. Hey Berryman, welcome aboard, glad to have ya. If you'll put your general location in your header you might be pleasantly (pleasantly is a might, believe me. <grin>) surprised to find out how many folk here in IFI land are within easy visiting distance. It'll also save us old farts from having to rely on our memories when traveling in your neighborhood if we want a tasty snack or comfy place to nap. Frosty the Lucky.

Good one Judson! Our tools have affected our ability to manipulate out environment and so our lives, products and most importantly how much and what we eat. For instance, when was the last time you used a knapped stone knife? How about a sharp stick to kill food? Or maybe thrown a rock to get dinner? Of course we evolve as our tools evolve. If it weren't true why bother? Frosty the Lucky.

Nice score on the post drill! I'm reasonably pleased with my scores last weekend I hit the library book sale. Hard backs were $1.00 and paperbacks $0.50 so I came home with a box full of Clive Cussler easy reading adventure books and the real score Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 for $0.50. I can send a pic of the box if you'd like but. . . ? Nothing smithing related but a nice addition still. Frosty the Lucky.

Randy: there are lots of ways to texture steel, most of those already suggested work well. What you've done to a hammer is another good way but I avoid buying a hammer to turn into other tools, I hit garage/yard/etc. sales and pick up hammers if they're cheap enough. don't pay more than $1.00 for ball peins unless they're really large or new, I got a nice cross pein for free by mentioning I blacksmith, the seller didn't want to sell a hammer with a cracked handle and maybe get someone hurt. But a blacksmith? No problem we change hammer handles frequently. We do? No matter it is a really nice, fairly new free hammer with a new handle. Another way to texture your hammer is with a chisel or just beat a rock. Of course you need to heat the hammer up but what the hey. Oh yeah, welcome aboard, glad to have you. Frosty the Lucky.

Welcome aboard Nick, glad to have ya. If you'll put your general location in your header you'll be pleasantly surprised (I hope) to find out how any list folk live within visiting distance. It'll also mean us old farts won't have to rely on our memories when traveling as to who's neighborhood we're in if we want a snack or a spot for a nap. As said making a pattern welded billet for something this tricky is NOT a beginner's project, not even close. Heck you've picked a couple steels that aren't going to like the shock for long, maybe 5160 but maybe not. Modern manufacturers use 4140 for a good reason. At any rate you aren't going to get knowledgeable folk here that are willing to incur the liability even if it's just moral liability of giving an unknown quantity (your skill level) info that can maybe probably will get him/er killed. We just ain't gonna do it. Heck, every so often someone will realize thermite is used to weld and comes up with the idea of using it in a forge to forge weld. Even though it's a really easy thing to make most adults don't post the recipe, it's just too dangerous. Still, stick around and talk to the gang, we'll fall all over ourselves helping you learn the craft. Frosty the Lucky.

I'm going to stay away from the, "what does the last two digits really mean," discussion. What I do feel I can comment on is the fire grate and what lasts well. I find using 3/4"x1"+ on edge works really well for sag resistance. Having the extra steel in the air stream compared to the smaller cross section in contact with the coals keeps the whole cooler and being deeper with the coolest section at the bottom is more structurally sound. Basically it lasts a lot longer without sagging or oxidizing. Frosty the Lucky.

Welcome aboard, glad to have you IcGuy. Not that there's any connection but the lic. plate on our pickup is Icydog. We have an Icelandic Sheepdog name of Falki. And yeah, I've taken a shot at forging a hook bracket with an Icy finial, though it's not pic worthy. Frosty the Lucky.

Your description sounds like the ones we had in jr. high and high school but those were NC gas forges. The hole in the top is the exhaust port allowing you to close the doors almost completely. Sticking a crucible over it sounds like a home grown modification of questionable use. WE used to brew class coffee over the one in ours. We called the coffee, "stud pucky," for it's strength and questionable palatability. You might try searching out NC gas appliances, forges, etc. and see if you can find a match or one close enough to help you out. Frosty the Lucky.

Daniel: The rule of thumb for band saw blades/stock is "3 teeth on the work." It's not likely you're going to find a 1 1/2 TPI bandsaw blade unless you have an industrial saw. If you're doing a lot in this size stock buy the coarsest blade available and be patient. From some of your advise in other threads I get the feeling you're pretty new to the craft. IDing an anvil as a PW or Trenton then saying it had a cast body being a fundamental error and a case in point. Nothing wrong with being new to a craft but it's better to keep your own council and sponge all the info you can. Frosty the Lucky.

They all have their upside and downside. I find not missing does a LOT for not splintering a handle regardless of the material. Okay, steel doesn't splinter very easily at all and Eastwing makes some darned nice hammers. It's your shop, your tools, your rules. Just make safety number one and you're good with me. Frosty the Lucky.