BIGGUNDOCTOR

Better yet see if the school has a blacksmithing class. That way you can get credits for learning, and they supply the tools. The local JC where I grew up had a great blacksmithing program. It was Solano Community College in Suisun(sue-soon) Ca. The instructor is Dave Nourot (new-row). IIRC he was the VP of the CA blacksmith assoc. Great guy. If not you may find a local on here close by that can help you out some.

Looks like a Vegas pattern anvil. They are typically big on the top, narrow waist, and small feet Look for signs of the top being artificially enhanced after it left the factory. If it was the working surfaces will react differently than ones that are OEM. Personally I prefer the OEM ones, but others prefer the upgraded versions. Just depends on the intended use.

I wish I had been able to take some pictures during the Mare Island Naval Shipyard family days I attended with my Dad. They were forging some large rings on the big steam hammers. The slug needed a starter hole , so they put a plug that was around 6"-8" in diameter,and 4" thick on top of the red hot blank. The operator would tap it once to set it, then drive it flush with one hit. When they were pounding hard like that you could feel the floor shaking. A few years later I was attending the auctions as they were selling off the entire shipyard. Don't know where those big hammers ended up, or if they went for scrap. Some items like the big Betts were hard to sell. The Betts was a vertical boring mill with a 26' diameter table, and had a max 30' swing. I saw it running on the family day, as they were stretching some older subs at the time. It was also used in a Will Smith movie where a woman was tied to the table. I guess it was the modern version of the railroad tracks.

There are sooo many ways I would like to answer this Nice job.

It looks like y'all missed the good natured sarcasm in my post above Has anybody checked to see if Youngdylan owned this at one time? You Know he started that grind it, it's JUST an anvil thread.

After seeing the pic I would have him drop the tree, and buck the limbs off, then have a guy with a portable sawmill come in, and turn it into planks. You should get a ton of great lumber out of that tree. I love working with wood too, and I see a lot of potential projects there with reasonable priced lumber. Take some to quad state and sell it as handle blanks.

Somebody didn't consult IFI before they "restored" their battered anvil. B)

Another option would be to get one of those rare Earth magnets, and inset it into the side of the grip. When the blade is closed it would hold it shut. I picked up a telescopic pickup tool at a gun show for a buck, that one had an 8# capacity magnet, and yes it will pick up an 8# sledge hammer head.

If it was me I would just have him drop the tree, and have him deal with just the brush. One thing that could happen is that the logs you keep may not make the best handles due to grain, splitting, checking, etc. Expect some loss due to this, and goof ups. I generally hear 1 year dry time for every inch of thickness. Lumber companies slab, then dry. They use a kiln to speed the process up. Even so it requires some technique to avoid splitting, twisting, and other undesirable affects. I would think 1.5" slabs would work for drying, while leaving enough to shape later. Good luck with the hurricane.

The slotting shears come in real handy if you do some sheetmetal work. They appear to be in good shape. That 4 wheel tubing cutter looks interesting also.

Well I finally have made it back home after a run to CA to pick some equipment up. A friend in Vegas got these tools from his brother in law's father in law. Say that 3 times fast. Anyway we picked up a super clean Victor 616 chucker turret lathe with a lot of tooling, 30 ton hydraulic press, 150A Lincoln Weldenpower gasoline welder generator, welding rod, old Porter Cable 4" wide belt sander, Burr King 760 1.5" belt sander, BIG 5HP buffer (4' wide or so), small granite plate, hand held spot welder, vise on a metal tripod, engine hoist with leveler, milk crates full of precision tools/gage pins/etc., and some miscellaneous goodies. Cost? FREE! About 5hrs each way, and $140 in fuel costs. My buddy is giving me the BIG buffer, and already have some ideas for attachments to it. Best part of the whole deal was that my buddy had taken my truck, and trailer into Vegas the day before to do some servicing for me. When I got to his house the entire interior had been cleaned, shined up, and it no longer smelled like a wet dog inside-woo hoo. I tend to live in my vehicles at times.

I have used various cast rods in the past with great results. I am not talking about the cheap E-99 nickel rods, but the more expensive rods that give a much better color match, and lay down a lot smoother. It has been awhile since I have done some, so I forget which rod it was, but I have used several brands with similar results. The one thing these rods have in common is price-they run up to $50 a pound. A lot of what I have used was rod that came with various welders I have purchased at auctions. Once they are ground smooth it is difficult to see the weld. Here is my method. Prep part by grinding generous weld preps in order to achieve a 90%-100% weld when finished. Some folks say to make the final prep with a cutting tool as opposed to a grinder due to possible graphite smears made by a grinder. Preheat till it is too hot to touch. Short 1"-1.5" stringer beads. Peen with a large industrial needle scaler as soon as you stop the weld. Wire brush out ALL slag. Then repeat the above steps till it is done. Post heat entire part to a uniform too hot to touch temp. If the item is too big to heat the entire item, heat as much as you can. Dump part into a drum full of stirred up gray wood ashes, or pour them onto larger items. Don't skimp on the amount used. Remove the next day after it has cooled overnight. Grind smooth if needed. If part is old and has some pitting a quick hit with the needle scaler will blend in the welded area, after grinding/sanding. I have done repairs like this, and have had the customer unable to find the weld. With all of that being said, some cast irons are not weldable, and would need to be brazed instead. If I can do it to where a repair cannot be seen I will go that route first.

Sounds like 1/2 of the diameter is removed about 1/8" back forming a step. I never had that problem, then again I was spray arcing .0625" alum. I had to be careful on one job not to blow through the 5/8" thick top plate. Make sure that you have a good teflon liner for the wire to pass through, keep the liner as straight as possible to avoid any extra friction (no loops, or sharp bends, and a good clean tip. If you haven't heard of spray arc, it is where there is enough arc density to carry the molten metal to the puddle without the wire touching the part. You basically crank the heat up, and start cutting the wire speed down till it is literally just humming along. The wire is melted about halfway to the part, and there is very little if any splatter. It is actually a nice way to mig weld aluminum.

Yep, remember these were adapted from percussion rifles, so the lockwork is pretty much the same. Nothing is going to go SPROOOOOOIIIIINNNNG! They are very simple. What I suggest you do is look at how it was made, and try to reverse engineer it. Remember the tooling available at the time-no CNC's. The trigger guard is one item that looks simple, but has a few steps to manufacture.

Picked up several hundred (700# or so) pounds of mostly copper from work. Some of the bar ends are up to 7/8" diameter. With this batch I got a crate full of full 12' length bars that the certifications had been lost on. Just a little stainless, brass, bronze, and a bit of aluminum bar ends to round it all out. If anyone is looking for copper, etc to work with let me know. I got a lot of different sizes.

Don't forget about auctions. Linde UCC-305 350 amp Tig/Arc $250+ $160 for a new foot control (they had only done arc with it), and I believe it was $125 for the Tig torch. Miller MP-65E, 650 amp mig. $900, and there was probably that much in silicon bronze, aluminum, and other wire that came with it. MillerMatic 200 $400 ready to go with extras. Lincoln 250 mig $400 ready to go with tank of 75/25. Get a good welder from the start. Crappy welders only cause you aggravation. Double/triple that $100, and you can get a decent smaller used name brand off CL. Don't get too hung up on duty rating. I have rarely exceeded the duty rating of my little 110V SP-100 Lincoln, and I have done a ton of welding with it. It isn't often that welder is running maxed out for any length of time. Of course I am not spray arcing .0625" aluminum with it like I did with the MP-65E.

I will see what I have available. I currently have some 7/8"listed, but haven't gotten to some of the other stock I recently picked up yet. More than likely what I will have are bar ends that run around 7" long. We run copper in diameters from 1/16" up to 7/8", so I should be able to come up with some 5/16" A couple of ways to make the dies. First is having a machinist make them with a ball endmill. Two blocks with a plunge of the endmill, and a front relief. Second method is carve them out with a Dremel. Third method. Take a ball bearing the correct size, and smash it between two blocks that are red hot. 4th is form a ball on the end of a rod, and do as in the 3rd method. It all depends on how perfect you want them to turn out.

I personally wouldn't touch a HF welder with a 10' welding rod. Save your money, and get a good welder. There are tons of them on Craigslist now with the downturn in the economy.

I will see what I have. It will be in a strip about 1.5"wide, not a sheet. Will that work?

I have lots of copper bars too, and less expensive than retail If you work it hot, or just anneal it, you should be able to get the job done with a set of dies. Rotate the bar in the dies as you hit them, and they should come out pretty round.

Surface rust can be dealt with by rubbing down with 0000, or FINER steel wool, and oil. Do not overdo the lube, as it can create a situation where dirt sticks to it accelerating wear. Chamber needs to be lube free, or you can get excessive pressures on the breech block. This happens because the case is supposed to grip the chamber when fired, and slips back if lubed. A little gun grease on the lockwork, and a drop of oil on the hinge is all that is really needed. When swabbing the bore use a bore guide/muzzle protector. A lot of guns lose accuracy due to over cleaning which can damage the crown on the muzzle. The steel used in these firearms is relatively soft, so be aware of the crown getting worn.

Carpe Diem, more like steelie bangem :P

When i was working at Jelly Belly we had crocus cloth rolls from I believe Norton. Matter of fact I may have some kicking around, how much do you need?

I would look into making a swaging die setup. Put the rod in, and whack it a few times to get the shape. There was a thread awhile back where someone was making balls on the ends of bars, They had pictures of the dies they made, as well as sizing the bar correctly to fill the die up. If you need brass bar stock, let me know. I can buy the bar ends from work, when we run brass from time to time. I may even have some here already.

I have a few trapdoors in my collection, and I find them fun to shoot. I hate cleaning up after blackpowder, so I go with smokeless loads myself. Plenty of info for reloading, just be very careful that you are looking at Trapdoor specs, and not Thompson Center, lever gun, or Ruger No.1 loads. The main section I inspect on these when purchasing one is the trapdoor assembly. I check it over for a worn out hinge pin,sloppy hinge, and general looseness. I wouldn't get too gung-ho on tearing it apart until you get the proper screwdrivers. Look for tips like the Chapman sets have where the side are straight, not tapered like most are. With proper fitting screwdriver tips even old stuck screws should loosen up without buggering the slots. Have fun, and watch the recoil. With 405/500 grain bullets, and a steel buttplate on a relatively light rifle the shoulder can feel it. Pictures?????