BIGGUNDOCTOR

The first thing that came to mind for me was Bruce Campbell in Army of Darkness where he has a prosthetic chainsaw instead of his right hand. With todays technology, we have come a long way from the old prosthetics. I don't see how an interchangeable hand would be that far fetched. Need to hammer something, click. Need to grip something, click, click. Think about the futuristic items Dick Tracy had, that we have today. Prosthetics are getting more, and more advanced every year. The future is now.........................

Welcome Bernhard. I haven't seen a lot of posts from Mexico,Central, or South America, so it will be interesting to see the style of work done in your country. Maybe it is just the news show's perspective, but being near Bogota shouldn't you should be smithing armor? All I hear about that area is the cartels fighting. Someday I hope to be in a position that I will be able to travel. Right now it is the same problem I have always had - money, and time.

I still use the yellow pages, as I find them faster. Flip it open to the section and a quick scan will get me the info I need. I don't have the internet on my cell, and sometimes trying to find something on the internet is just a series of rabbit holes. I also prefer a regular catalog over an website for my machine shop tooling. Again I find it easier to find what I need. With a website, if you don't search correctly you may not find what you want, even though they have it. With that being said a really good website can do wonders for a business.

Glad my info cleared some of the air on Class 3 stuff. Only 1000 miles in 12 days? I did 4000 in 11 days for one vacation. How hot, and dry was it? Its been in the high 100's here - 113.Although the past few days have been 106 and 44% humidity-monsoon season here. Being dry is why I moved to the desert-less mold,mildew, rust, etc. The heat, well I could do with it being a little cooler, but it is only for 3 months that we have to deal with daily 100's. Those freaky Ren, etc. folks may be some of your best customers. I am also on the leatherworker.net forum and one guy made $30,000 last year making Star Wars items, and his sales are still going up. What about the Klamath Falls area? High Desert, but there are properties around. You also have Klamath Lake. You may want to contact various chambers of commerce to see how many visitors they get, average in dollars spent, etc. What is the median income for the area? Are the residents permenent, or snow/sun birds? Being in a touristy place may be better for sales with the increased visitors from out of town. Some places may even help move you out to get you in their city. I knew a businessman back in CA who contacted several cities in S.Dakota, and Colorado, and they were throwing all kinds of deals at him to get him to relocate to their city. Tax incentives, moving expenses paid, property deals, etc. With the economy the way it is they may welcome ANY business that wants to come in. Sounds like you and I are kind of similar in our views on politics, religion, places to live,etc. I wanted to be close to a metro area, but I didn't want to live in one. I enjoy running into Las Vegas,but I don't see myself living there. I live 50 miles out in a small valley with around 7,200 POP. We have a grocery store, 2 hardware stores (the ACE has a better selection of firearms than the Vegas gun stores do ), couple of restaurants, and some small Mom & Pop's. Not being religious I am somewhat out of place in a heavily Mormon community, but we all get along. There is a real sense of community here, and a lot of pride in our little valley. We are having some battles with the county as they try and impose Vegas style regs on us. We are not Vegas, and want to be left alone out here in our rural lifestyle. So, check into local politics in the areas that you are considering, and don't take what you see at face value. We are looking into incorporating to get out from under Clark County. This has all been brought on by a county commissioner who lives out here , and has the idea that this is HIS town. We don't have enough votes out here to boot him out, and he knows that N.LV will keep him in, so he keeps messing with us. Talk with the local business owners to get a feel for the local politics, what is going on, what may be coming down the road, etc. This isn't like you are just moving to live there, you are relocating a business. Even though you operate on the internet, if you can make local sales too, why not? JPH told me that part of having his smithing business he is required to use propane-no coal allowed. So check into local regs on home based business, again what you think should be may not. Even out where I am we are bound by county regs which seems stupid to me and others, but that's the way it is. Good luck in the search.

Is that a crack in the lower left? Was the tic you heard possibly a crack? If the hole was sized say .003"-.005" smaller than the disc when cold it should work. Size the opening cold, then heat, and drop in the cold disc. Let cool, or quench. I used to shrink fit hubs at Jelly Belly for the big pans we used to build up the beans. I would weld and re-machine them with a .003" "press" fit. I would heat the hub to a dull red, and literally drop the shaft into the hub. Once it was cooled we would weld it on the end to the shaft. Done this way they didn't break, or work loose like they did from the factory.

Kinda of a shame to be painting bronze. Brownells sells a low temp (400 degree)silver solder that you may want to consider. I picture of the pieces would help determine if a torch, or iron would be best.

Taper attachments are nice, but you can cut tapers other way in the mean time. Short steep tapers are done by rotating the compound. Long shallow tapers can be done by offsetting the tailstock with the piece between centers. This will also need a lathe dog driven by the chuck, or faceplate if you have one. There are also a couple of machinists forums out there; practical machinist is one that I know of. They have for sale sections.

A lot of tomato processing equipment is 316 to resist the acids they contain. We run a lot of 303,304, and some 316,416,17-4. So, we generate bar ends big enough that could be used to forge these from time to time. If you want I can keep an eye out for some. We are mostly running smaller diameter stuff now. If all you need is stainless regardless of what grade I can check the scrap drum for bigger diameters. I am already keeping an eye out for big copper for a couple of guys.

In regards to the batteries, there is a community college that advertises on my Craigslist for rebuilding them. Either they can do it, or they will send you the new guts. Price was around $30 if they did it.

A mini cleaver. I see it dicing veggies at a high rate.

Same here. I haven't seen one in my smithy yet, but I have had a few scorpions in the house. Ahhh life in the desert. They don't bother me, and I catch, and release them back outside. Nice job on the yard art.

We have to get some of the stainless steel parts that we manufacture passivated. In our case passivation is done to remove all traces of iron that may be on the surface from manufacture, and is done for corrosion resistance. In some cases we can have it done with citric acid, other times nitric acid is called out on the print.

In response to Mainely Bob Getting someone who is paycheck to paycheck to buy something that costs 3x less than something made in the USA will be tough. Just finding items made in the USA is hard enough! Name one tennis shoe, TV, or electronics mfg that is 100% USA. I get sick looking at labels on clothing, tools, and even food items, and not seeing Product of the USA, not packaged in USA, or assembled in USA with imported whatever, but PRODUCT OF THE USA. Can you believe I have had a hard time finding 100% USA made apple juice!?!? Concentrate from Argentina, China, etc. AAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!! Take work boots for an example. Red Wings (even some of these are China now) made in USA $150 a pair. Chinese work boots $40-$50 a pair. A guy can but 3-4 pair for what one pair of Red Wings cost. Agreed you are lucky to get more than 2 years from a pair, but try to explain that to a guy who is 1 paycheck from being homeless. The other problem is that in most cases it costs more to get items repaired than it costs to buy a new one. I cruise the thrift stores to buy USA made items rather than buying new Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, etc items. I fully agree to buy USA, but it getting increasingly more difficult to do so. We as a society have embraced the cheap crap, spend more than you make, throw away lifestyle and it is killing us from within. I have paid CASH for everything other than my house, and I have skills that I hope can keep food on my table, and a roof over my head. Being single it is easier for me to make some changes in my lifestyle. I know how to pinch a penny so tight Lincoln gets a headache. An example: todays forecast is a high of 113. Is the AC on? Nope. May fire the swamp cooler up later. I sleep on a hammock outside during the summer to beat the heat, and cooling bills. I have friends who are paying $200-$500 a month during the summer, not me. I don't know if anyone else will agree with me, but I think we as Americans have grown soft, and cannot handle hardships. Just listen how people complain about not having AC for a day or two. What?! You don't have bottled water! Tap water tastes nasty. Give me a break, what did your parents, or grandparents drink? Oh No I have to wait 2 minutes in traffic. It's 2 minutes, get over it. I want it, and I want it now, get the credit card. I would rather pay CASH than be a slave to a CC company. Rant over, for now.

I see some of this at work. We have lost jobs to machine shops in France, and Switzerland due to our high cost of labor. Great pay, and benefits doesn't do you squat if the company you work for cannot keep the doors open. Hypothetical question here. Say we all made no more than $8 per hr. Would a house cost $200,000, or a car $20,000? When my Dad started at Mare Island Naval Shipyard in 1967 as a journeyman machinist he was making $3.90 per hr. His new 66 GMC truck with almost all the bells and whistles was still under $3,000. The 1,437 sqft house on .26AC he bought in 1967 was $22,500. I paid that much for a used 2001 Dodge 1 ton a few years ago. It is all relative. We make upwards of 10x what we used to, but everything costs 10x more now. The problem now is that we are not making the items we are buying, someone in another country is. The money is not staying HERE where it should. We are even importing FOOD from other countries because it costs more to harvest some crops here than the farmer can sell them for! Before I left CA in 05 a pear orchard back home had let the crops from the last 5 years hit the ground due to this. There is something TERRIBLY wrong when we start depending on food from other countries. I think we are in for a very rude awakening if we do not do something soon. The current administration seems to be doing everything it can to thwart business. The stimulus hasn't worked, and NV where I live has surpassed MI in unemployment with 14.2% Construction trades are double that. With the way Gov't is spending OUR money we could be bankrupt as a country very soon. Then what will we do? How long will we have to learn to speak Chinese? :unsure:

Low melting temp alloys (high in bismuth) also known as fusible alloys, and cerrosafe, have melting temps as low as 117 degrees depending on the alloy ratios.

Pull up MSC on the web. They have charts showing the different mounts for chucks with dimensions. If you were out this way I could set you up with some contacts, but a chuck for that lathe should be an easy one to locate. You can make your own lathe dogs. Cracked 4 jaw chuck- some are steel, and can be welded. Cast can also be repaired, but you would need to determine the cost benefit ratio. I have bought stacks of chucks from 8"-16" at auctions for $25 a piece, and a machinery dealer I know has paid as little as $8 ea. There are a lot of them available, so shop around.

The exhaust valves on the not even near high performance GMC 305/351/etc V-6 series from the 60's are sodium filled. Dad told me that it was common practice to bury the old sodium filled valves out of the radial aircraft engines out back of the Air Force maintenance shops. Look for a spot in a field, dig hole, toss valves in, and bury.

Mainly watch for platings; zinc (galvanized), cadmium (gold,grey), and chrome. If it is bar stock , plating can be turned off with a lathe, if you have one. Would only say to do that for something like a hydraulic shaft that you know is decent material to start with. ALL metals pose some hazards. Some from what is in the alloy, others from how it may be processsed;sanding,polishing,heating,etc. which could lead it to being ingested by breating it in. Lead can be a hazardous metal, but it can also be safely used, and is used by many people. It is also used for alloying a lot of different metals from steel to copper. I have breathed in my share of zinc fumes , never got the chills, but enough that I knew it. It happens from time to time, just don't make a habit of it. A lot of the hazards from metals are accumulative, so it will take some long term exposure to affect you. I would be more concerned with what the metal had been used for rather that what it was made from. Was it used in chemical processing? What is that funky goo on it? Most scrap yards are very careful about what they let into the yard nowadays to protect their workers, as well as keeping the EPA happy, but some stuff still gets through. The yard I took my scrap to in Richmond CA had Geiger counters on the inbound scale to detect any radioactive items. Radioactive materials are that prevelent?!? Most of us have a radioactive device in our homes, and are glad to have it. It is called a smoke detector. It can be dangerous if used incorrectly,as can any number of items. I would say that you are more prone to injury while scrounging around the yard than from the materials that you are collecting. Be safe, and happy scrounging.

Hey Bob, I consider myself to be one of the smart monkeys. When I started planning to move to the desert I started researching alternative construction to beat the $250-$500 a month electric bills others have during the summer months. How does one do that? Thermal mass, and smart architecture. Use Mother Nature to your advantage, do not fight her, if you do she will kick your butt everytime. Earth berm, straw bale, rammed Earth, monolithic concrete domes, and container homes have been looked at so far. Each one has it advantages over the others, as well as disadvantages. In my opinion they all beat a traditional stick built house. Better thermal efficency, less maintenance, better security for some, lower operational costs-heating/cooling, quieter,(rammed Earth) repurposing of tires that would otherwise be difficult to dispose of, and I really like the idea of possibly using the materials found on my property to build my home. I saw a show on HGTV-back whe I watched TV 2+ years ago-of a home in Vegas. 2,500' above ground, 17,000' underground. There are other more modest subterranean homes in the Vegas Valley, so the planning dept. is OK with them. My current smithy is constructed of recycled materials, and when I smith I am recycling metal I have scrounged, so it fits for me. Recycling, repurposing, sustainable living, and just being aware of what my impact on this big rock we live on has been a way of life for me for some time now. In short - I hate waste. It really bugs me how we have become such a throw away society. I see it every trash day. Useable lawn chairs, filing cabinets, building materials, etc. set out for the garbage collection. Then there is the masses of packaging , or more correctly overpackaging of items. In some cases the packaging is far greater then the item it contains. A day on the shelf, a lifetime in a landfill. I have a sort of connection with wood items, and love working with it. I found a 2x6 at work one day that had been tossed. The grain caught my eye,and I sanded the end some. 149 rings across that 2x6. So here is a tree that was a minimum of 149 years old, and was probably MUCH older that was cut down, made into a 2x6, used one day, and tossed into the trash in probably a month's time. Lumber is not like steel where you can make more in a day, it takes years to grow good quality lumber, so I hate to see it thought of as such a disposable item. I now use some swag bags that I got from Harris Engineering(rifle bipod mfg.) at the SHOT show a couple years ago for my grocery bags. Got tired of thos flimsy plastic bags piling up. Being single, and more concious of what I buy, I have cut my waste stream down to a tall kitchen bag every 6 months which consists mainly of non recyclable plastics. Food waste, paper, plastics, cans, bottles, are all recycled/reused somehow. I collect the aluminum cans from work, and have been putting the treadle hammer to use smashing them When I worked at Jelly Belly, one of the security guards was making $300 a month on the aluminum cans he was collecting. I have seen places paying $1.80 a # for cans in CA. When I turned the ones infrom my folks estate I got $200.54 for 6 trash cans full of smashed cans. Yet how many cans do you see thrown away? They are also one of the best items to recycle as it only take 5% of the energy to recycle, as it did to make. Other items cost more to recycle-watre bottles. And when did our water supply get soooooo bad that we now live on bottled water? Arrrrrgh! Well I need to get of my repurposed plastic milk crate now, and go do something else. Rant over.

With any group you would find the "the old way is better " folks. Personally I have felt that if they had the tchnology we have now then they would have used it. They were businessmen time=money as always. As a machinist there are operations that I would not want to do the old school way due to time. The results are the same, or even better in some cases, so why not use new technology?

No X-RAY glasses. When I am done it will only have 3 walls,so I will have one really big window. No roof planned-maybe a tarp, it was made mainly to stop the winds that we get fairly often around here. When it is 100+ I won't be slaving over a hot forge. Eventually I hope to have a subterranean shop that will be comfortable year round.

I will see what I can do for pictures Larry. Since it rarely rains here I was mainly looking for wind protection. Laid the drums on their side, and started stacking (5x4x5x4) and welding. Ended up with walls that are around 10' long, 8' tall, and 3' thick. Self standing, movable, free materials, and funky. Wood doesn't hold up well down here in the desert, and I am a big recycler/repurposer, so it just fit in with how I like to do things. With the tops cut off I have lots of cubby hole type storage for materials, etc. For the floor I used a stack of RR tie plates flipped upside down, and laid them down like pavers. They were also free. I still need to weld up the back wall, but with it being 115 yesterday, and more of the same today, it aint getting done this weekend Yesterday was 115, windy, lightning, and scattered rain bursts - life in the desert Southwest - gotta love it.

Mine doesn't qualify as a shed, as it is just a couple of walls made from 55 gallon drums. It is up to 1,980 gallons so far :P

A Khukrichete :D

Picked up a baby 50# anvil off the Vegas CL Friday for $60. Rings like a bell, and supposedly came from a mine up around Ely NV. Also picked up a ton of leather working gear; stamps, tools, books, leather,granite slabs, etc. Would have liked to get one of the sewing machines, but out of the current budget. Also picked up a Kitchen Aid "classic" mixer for free. They said that it works intermittently, so I will have to open it up. The attachments, and bowl were worth the drive over to pick it up. Also have part of a fork lift tine in the back that I am machining for Tim McCoy. with all of this in the back of my 98 SW2 Saturn wagon it was dragging its Democrat on the way home today. Hey, Glen says I can't type *** :P