Frosty

SWEET Jed! Are you going to bring your daughter to our next meeting? I'm sure everybody would like a look at the ring, I sure would. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard Ben, glad to have ya! The CBA is a very active organization, get joined up if you haven't already, you won't be sorry. Frosty The Lucky.

She looks to be in fine fettle with a goodly amount of experience. I'd be proud to put her to work, she's a beauty. Some ONE? How about maybe 6-7 generations making their livings on it? Frosty The Lucky.

You've answered your own question. Turning it off as hard as you can is just what lots of people do and ruin the valves. Torch valves are precision devices and seal positively with a light fingertip turn, cranking them hard damages the seats and that's all she wrote. If the local welding supply won't repair Harris you may have to send it to the manufacturer. Harris aren't rare or exotic torches though, so the welding supply will "probably" repair it or tell you who will. Think of a torch like it's a fine watch with the one exception being a malfunctioning watch isn't likely to blow you into the next county. Frosty The Lucky.

It's hard to say from the pics, do you have a pic of the pein end on? Knowing the weight might help too. Of course you might try contacting the company they may have an online cateloge. Frosty The Lucky.

Looks like a nice score to me. A hair dryer till you find a better blower will get it to work. I have a metal head friend lives in Ocala and he might be a dandy contact for finding what you're looking for and maybe learning some smithing and other metal or glass work. His name is Bill Roberts, tell him Frostilio sent you. Frosty The Lucky.

I have flippers too, used to be 8.5EEE and now are something like 9.5EEEEs but are odd shaped, short and wide, flippers. I found steel toes tended to wear right through the toes and ground me well when I was fabbing and doing a LOT of welding being grounded through your feet is not so good. What I've been wearing in the shop for some time are White's, Logger Smoke Jumpers. Nothing fits your foot like White's because they're custom made for your feet. I had phenolic toes put in one pair, composites now I guess, they don't wear the toes off and don't ground you but they're tough as all get out. Even if you manage to crush phenolic toes to the ground they don't stay down, they reform as soon as the weight's off so they can't trap you. A word of warning though, breaking White's in can be a painful experience but if you soak them in water till they're soft and wear them dry it's a one shot go to break them in. Sure, it'll stain your socks and feet orange but they'll fit perfectly, no tight spots, binds or rubs, blisters, etc. and you don't lace them tight, just snug, you can't move your foot in them at all. It's like they're painted on. Yeah, I LOVE my White's and my old pair is more than 25 and been rebuilt once. Expensive? Oh yes but worth it, you betcha. Frosty The Lucky.

I'll say a prayer for him and his family. Frosty The Lucky.

It's not the size of the finger that counts Beth, it's the thought. Splendid response, good communications skills are important. <wink> Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard Aden, glad to have ya. Frosty The Lucky.

You're off to a flying start Daniel, good show. My shop has 14' eaves and even taking a full overhead swing with a double jack sledge you don't need that much. 10' minimum and 12' far far better is my opinion. There's nothing wrong with shining up the hammer's face, stock moves easier under it as there's less friction, just don't get obsessed about it. Well done on the rail anvil too but keep an eye open for either a "real" anvil or more rail, the curved rail surface has uses a flat face isn't so good for. Frosty The Lucky.

Probably a remote door lock, fatalities are usually mentioned. A leak in open air is mostly just expensive, in enclosed spaces it can be B-A-D. Frosty The Lucky.

Shoots them out of a cannon, they're circus horses, obviously. <sheesh> Frosty The Lucky.

Can they put it on a bathroom scale? Frosty The Lucky.

Faster, Cheaper, Easier is probably one of the truest blacksmith mottos. Making a one off or maybe pair of items, just do it but doing as Randy has, making near a hundred and you need a jig or you're going to be an out of business blacksmith flipping burgers somewhere. It's what a blacksmith does. Well done Randy. Frosty The Lucky.

Cast iron pans are susceptible to cracking if you wet your coal or fire while it's hot. Cast iron does NOT like rapid uneven cooling. Trapping water under the liner can be a problem but you can paint it with a phosphoric acid primer like Ospho and it'll be good for long long time. There are lots of clay mixes that'll work well, the less portland cement you use the better as portland hydrates as it sets, it doesn't dry. Hydrating means it's absorbing water and setting chemically so heating it much over 210f can cause it to spall. The general mix I like is 1pt fire clay to 3-4 pts. sand to 1/2 pt portland cement or less. In this mix the cement glues it together till the clay fires but there's enough sand it can't damage the liner if it spalls. Only add enough moisture to let it ram solid or it'll shrink check as it dries. (the clay not the cement) Decide what shape duck's nest you want, this is the depression over the air grate referred to in earlier posts, a salad bowl works nicely if not too large. Ram the mix in with a mallet or similar till it bounces and burnish it with a piece of coarse cloth like burlap or canvas. Burnishing the liner makes it smooth, think short polish and helps keep things from sticking to it or catching on it. Let it dry thoroughly if you have to hang a light bulb near it. Fire it gently, small fire first, allow it to cool and light a little larger fire for a longer time and let it cool. Lastly let it rip and get good and hot, A double layer of charcoal briquettes and forced draft is recommended for furnace liners made this way. Why you let it cool between firings I don't know but that's what I read back when and it's worked well for me. It's not a critical thing folk use clay out of the garden, river bank or just dirt and ram it in. you may have to replace it often but that the hey, it'd dirt cheap. Frosty The Lucky.

I was thinking forge welding too and am interested in results if tried. Another use would be for chasing or other top tool striking, say punching or drifting. Fit ups say mortice/tennon, wedges, etc. might be another specialty use where you want to test fit without making it permanent. As general forging goes I think not but let me know. Frosty The Lucky.

Isn't the old saying, Adopt, adapt, undersell? I think Pete Fels is on here somewhere, maybe we can talk him into showing off some of his openers and you can try borrowing those ideas. They're beyond me. Frosty The Lucky.

How heavy are you planning on making the ram? I'm thinking the channel base is too light for even a 25lb. I'm thinking you need to go looking for an anvil, nothing you have is going to work well no matter what you do to it. The 4" sq. would make an okay ram but not adequate as the anvil, even if you cast it full of lead. Of course that's just my opinion I could be wrong, I'm used to it. Frosty The Lucky.

Is that a handling hole in the base or am I misreading the pics? Have you checked the rebound? Frosty The Lucky.

Grand score Hayden! As said, keep the lefthand drill bits for removing broken screws. Even if a bunch of bits, taps and dies turn out to be worn out or broken, they'll make dandy pattern welded blade stock. Frosty The Lucky.

I wouldn't get something as light as 200lb. 250-300lb is going to have more utility to heavier work. This is based on the, "It's better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it," philosophy. Nimba is a top notch modern anvil, an excellent choice. Frosty The Lucky.

You can check out the section of IFI that presents Blacksmith clubs/organizations for the one nearest to you though off the top of me pointy Rocky Mountain Blacksmith (?) might be the guys. Another possibility is to call a farrier or two and ask them if they use coal and where they get it. Even if the person you talk to doesn't s/he will know who does. If you're talking to a coal company or carrier you want "metallurgical" coal, soft bituminous not anthracite which is generally heat coal. Of course I live in Alaska and have no specific info for you so just stand by the info storm is due. <grin> Frosty The Lucky.

I think a lot of the current thinking that blacksmiths shoe horses comes from post WWII America. Blacksmithing was a dieing craft until the mid 70's at least as anything but the farrier's craft. Lots of farriers but few ornamental or restoration smiths till recently. Okay, maybe there were lots but you never heard of them, except the occasional shot of someone in a movie or TV show holding a top tool upside down over a piece of hot iron. I try not to get irritated doing demos, even by the folk who insist I'm doing it wrong or it isn't a "real" fire or . . . Actually I appreciate these folk, they provide such splendid straight lines and I LOVE a good straight line. Frosty The Lucky.

Above Bryan? Anything above zero in your neighborhood is a good day isn't it? Around here, about 275 miles southerly from Bryan's, anything in the 70's is positively searing heat! Frosty The Lucky.