BIGGUNDOCTOR

I like the handle, but does it flex at the transition when the knife is being used?

If ya go to the very top of the page, and look at the green bar, there is a User CP button. You can use that to update your location. IFI is a world wide forum with folks posting from all over the world daily. There may be someone close to you that could help you out.

Be careful that you do not run afoul of building / fire codes by having the door (possible fire escape) locked. I would post a large sign saying Do not enter, employees only, hearing, and eye protection required beyond this point. And if possible have the doorway out of the main area of operation; IE behind a counter, etc.. Why are they entering the shop? Do they think it is a bathroom, can't find someone to help them? If it is because they do not see anyone, and hear things on the other side, have a buzzer that they can ring to get your attention.

Any thoughts as to how well this would work? Machine the top of the anvil flat. Then attach a tool steel plate by drilling, and tapping a series of holes into the anvil-say 1/2-20 flatheads every couple of inches in a staggered pattern across the entire face. Warm the anvil up, and torque the screws down as tight as you can while it is warm. As it cools it should hold them even tighter. Lastly weld the heads to the tool steel plate, and a weld around the perimeter. My Dad worked on submarines, and he mentioned one job where they torqued down the hollowed studs which were then heated before final torque. The studs had to be stretched a certain amount before cooling. After cooling they were not coming apart. Another question involves either sheet brazing, or silver soldering a new face on in an oven. How well would that hold?

I made a knife when I was teaching handicrafts at a BSA summer camp, back around 1984. We didn't have a suitable drill, so I just heated the tang, and burned it into the antler. Stinks, but worked really well making a really tight fit. Used some Devcon 2 part epoxy in the dual tube, and glued it up. In all of those years it has yet to get loose, and it has been used quite a bit, and has been wet often.

Another option is to make a pattern for an anvil, and take it with enough rail to a foundry to cast one for you. Make two and sell one to pay for the exercise.

How do they sound? Do they have a nice ring? I understand the bottom cupping operation, but what about the top? Do you curve them first horizontally, then bend them up?

Fe Wood, I just had a similar situation at my folks estate. A toilet was leaking for who knows how many days, but it ran up a $496 water bill. I contacted the city and explained what happened. They deferred it until the next reading, and did a leak adjustment. All I had to pay was the same as the month before around $94. It is in the low 40's to high 30's at night, and in the 50's during the day. Possibly some rain headed out way. We have had snow where I work in Utah with highs in the 30's.

When I said cast steel was OK I meant OK, as in good for smithing, not OK as in ho hum. I have a 306# Sodefors, 125# JHM, 260# Fisher, a 150# Vulcan, and a 170# H-B. So you can see that I don't mind a cast anvil.:p

Consider all fumes while casting as hazardous. Some more so than others. There are numerous books, and items on the web for home casters. Read up before undertaking this endeavor, as some information may be outdated, or contradictory. I have one book where the guy mentions breathing a cupolas worth of zinc fumes over the years with no ill effects. Personal safety equipment is cheap compared to hospital stays, and treatment, or a funeral. The foundry that I worked in had a fume hood right next to the crucible, and you could see the fumes getting pulled off. Be safe, and have fun.

The company I work for makes high end electrical connectors , along with other high precision parts. When the company was in Vegas we were the largest Tornos Deco screwmachine shop in N. America with 60+ machines. It is now located in La Verkin UT. The company has made parts that are on the international space station, as well as the space shuttle. We also do fiber optic terminations, and recently did some that go on the F22 Raptor. We never know the final use of the vast majority of the parts we make. We just make parts for other people. We can turn up to 1" in diameter, but some stock we use is as small as .062". We make some parts with hole tolerances of .0002" that have to be held over tens of thousands of parts. The materials that we use mainly are copper, BeCU, brass, stainless, and some aluminum. Our bar ends would make nice material for rivets etc, they usually run around 7" long, and come in a variety of diameters of the various materials we use. I am the tool maker for the company.

We machine 1,000's of pounds of BeCU a year. The Be is an inhalation hazard, so grinding, or other processes that produce dust need proper respiratory protection. Same would go for casting. What we do in the way of machining produces chips which are not considered a health hazard. If worked properly, any number of items can be made from it. To just say leave it alone is not really the right answer in my opinion. I would say before using it make sure that you have educated yourself fully on all hazards, and safety equipment needed. We use items every day that are hazardous, and some choose to willingly subject themselves to hazardous items like cigarettes in spite of the warnings. We fill our cars with gasoline, use propane grills, coal forges, natural gas appliances, all manner of chemicals, and other potentially very hazardous, or deadly items everyday. With proper PSE, and education we can, and do all of these things safely. We let children fill up a car, and don't give it a second thought. It would scare the crap out of a lot of folks if they ever read the MSDS on many common items. Some people are still killed because they mixed ammonia, and bleach. Brake fluid, and bleach will ignite when mixed. All of these are common household items, yet when used improperly can result in injuries, or death. Education keeps us alive, and healthy.

Brass and bronze are pretty muddled now. If it is actually a bronze, yes, as there were bronze knives, and swords made during the bronze age. Won't hold an edge like a steel knife. Now, I have access to some beryllium copper, and that will get pretty hard when heat treated. BeCU is used for all manner of tools where non sparking is required IE; around explosive atmospheres. Depending on the size, and shape, a lot of knife parts like guards could be made from it.

When did they stop brazing them? All of the vises I own have machined threads on the screw, and box. I have never seen a brazed one before.

The grooves may have been for sealing it to the firebox. Kind of hard to tell what diameter it is. All of the steam locomotives that I have seen had some pretty big boilers on them. I don't recall how the valving was done on the steamers, but I do not recall that they ported the pistons for steam transfer. Unless all of those holes were added later. Then it could be one of the drive pistons.

I believe that the "piston" may actually be the end cap for a boiler . The holes would be where the boiler tubes would have been swaged into.

You may try annealing the ends of the rivet, if you are really having to whack them to get them to upset. Upset one end before putting it together. Then use the ball end of a ball peen hammer , and start upsetting the rivet. Tap in a circular motion starting on the outer edge. This should spread the rivet until it fills the hole tightly.

looks like a sea urchin now. How many tons did that take?

Flea markets, garage sales, auctions, automotive swap meets, estate sales, and Craigslist are some places to find affordable tongs. I have found numerous blacksmithing items at automotive swap meets-more than old cars in them thar barns. I also bought out an estate sale of all of its blacksmithing gear that I found on Craigslist. I have paid around $5 , or less, for the ones I have picked up.

#1 go to the user control panel and add your location. #2 location will effect price #3 hard to tell how big it is by the photos. Weight? #4 stand looks a little iffy to me the way it is currently set up. #5 who made it? #6 do a forum search for anvil prices-there was a whole thread on this recently. #7 Welcome to IFI #8 I have paid around $1 per pound for all of my anvils. #9 Cast steel anvils are OK, again do a search for a recent thread on this.

I like those hooks. With winter here a cubicle coat hook like that would be useful, and nice to look at. That is if she works in a cubicle type office. although the idea could possibly be adapted to her office area, if she doesn't.

I have an older 350 amp Linde UCC-305 that I have less than $600 invested in. Welds everything that I have needed to do stainless, aluminum, magnesium, titanium, and steel. Very smooth, and very easy to use.

To take out the warp try shrinking the opposite side. Take a torch and heat the center area of the convex side of the warp, when you get it hot, still black to dull red, slap a wet rag on the heated side. You should see the panel bend back some. Keep repeating until you get it straight. I have used this method to straighten a conveyor section that got dropped off of a trailer on loading. Only cool the one side, not both. This is the same method used to straighten body panels on cars, and to put a curve into 6" thick plates.

My Dad went on a week long deep sea fishing trip, and the cook had all of the guys come down to the kitchen with their pliers. He took them and dipped them into the hot bacon grease. My Dad tried an experiment, and didn't do one pair. The undipped ones were tight with rust within a couple of days, the dipped ones showed no signs of rust after a week on the ocean. He added that they smelled good too :p

Hey Dave, my friend calls me Cliff Claven (from the TV show Cheers) because I know a bunch of trivial trivia, and other information. I wear it as a badge of honor. Personally I gave up on Christmas, and the other holidays years ago. I am not a religious person, and I also suffer from perpetual bachelorhood. The holiday season can be a particularly depressing time of year for me. What I do now is if I see something I would like to give as a gift, I get, or make it, and give it. I found out the hard way that sometimes we do not get to do things later, because the person the gift was intended for is gone forever by the holiday/birthday/etc.. I would rather let that person know what they mean to me now than possibly risk them never knowing because I waited for the "appropriate day". My Dad was my smithing partner, as well as my partner in a lot of other endeavors. I am sure he knew how much he meant to me, but I feel remorse for not telling him more than I did. I lost a lot of family history because of I'll do it later. Mom passed away on Christmas morning 03, again I have a lot of shoulda, coulda, wholudas with her as well. I think that we need to live more in the present, because the past is gone, and we do not know what the future will bring us. This is the only time period that we have some control over. I apologize for the lengthy vent.