mucduc Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 hey everyone. I just posted my forge build in the forge section. yesterday afternoon when i finished the forge i realized that i needed some tongs. I had an old pair of pliers that i welded some rebar to the handles to extend them. I soon realized that they werent up to par so i went looking on craigslist. Found some tongs. gave the guy a call and drove south to meet him. turns out he is a member on this forum. I was surprised to find that he was 16 years old and was selling some of his hoard. this are the tools i bought from him. came back with 3 tongs, a small section of RR track, the hammer which i will cut the handle down, couple files, 2 scroll wrenches? i believe they are called. and a cutting wedge kinda hard to see in the picture. I also came back with 10 RR spikes, 5 horse shoes, and 2 5gallon buckets of coal. not sure how long that will last, but i do have a small rotor forge. I also got this hand crank grinding wheel that i absolutely love. its geared to 10.25:1. I have never used a hand crank, but its great. doesnt get anything hot and it slow enough that the wheel isnt trying to rip the metal out of my hand and throw it into my gut like a modern bench grinder. I am going to see if maybe i can find some other wheels with different grits and maybe stack 2 beside each other to get more surface area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 Mucduc, if you'll put your general location in the header you might be surprised at how many of the IFI gang live within visiting distance and check the regional organization section for a club near you. Those are monkey wrenches, not scrolling wrenches, handy for twisting and turning nuts/bolts. They differ from a pipe wrench in the hook jaw (the adjustable one) doesn't shift in to tighten on the work. Learn to stay out of the plane of rotation when you use power wheels, grinders for sure but wire wheels and buffers most definitely, those will grab the work ad launch it at HIGH velocity. The plane of rotation is the path it will throw things. You've seen the mud on a bicyclist's back yes? That's the plane of rotation, learn to stand to the side and it can't hit you with grabbed stuff. Learn how to adjust the rest properly and it may jam a piece of steel between the grinding wheel and the rest but it's really unlikely it will throw it. Still, stay OUT OF THE PLANE! Looks like a nice score, all good stuff for a basic kit. The bit of rail is more suited for a hand dolly than an anvil. Dollies are for backing light gauge stock and sheet as you hammer on it. Dollies are by definition anvils but not what a person would normally think of in a blacksmith's shop, auto body shop you betcha, I have a bunch of those and Deb loves the for her chasing and repousse musings. Use them well. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quarry Dog Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 I'm pretty sure that the wrenches' original purpose was for all the square nuts that people had to deal with, as they're perfectly shaped for it, and there were no standard sized nuts. I have a large and a small one of them, and I've also heard them called Mechanic's wrenches. I have a feeling that the name goes back to the old days when a "Mechanic" was a blacksmith who could build and repair machines. They not only knew how to hammer stuff out, but were also quite proficient with mill's, lathes, and various finishing processes. These wrenches work awesome for doing twists, as they fit perfectly on square stock, although they have a tendecy to go off-center. I've seen people weld a sturdy bit of square or round stock at the top so that you're twisting from two sides, which fixes that tendency. I can't bring myself to do that to mine, but I'll still use the ones that already have it done. I guess I'll just use mine as templates for another set with the extra twisting handle on it, although it'll be awhile before I do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mucduc Posted October 28, 2013 Author Share Posted October 28, 2013 thanks for the replies. I even called them adjustable wrenches and that's when the guy said they were for twisting square. Standing in front of the bench grinder comment was a bit of a joke. Not saying that I didn't find out the hard way years ago thou haha. That RR track is a little big for me to want to use as a dolly. I have had pretty good luck with the smaller ones when I was working on my mustang. I'm from Camden county, GA. I guess I need to customize my account with more information Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobody Special Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 Well, hi from the other end of the state. I believe Griley's located in Jacksonville, not too far from ya. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mucduc Posted October 28, 2013 Author Share Posted October 28, 2013 Grileys huh? Haven't ever heard of them. I will have to look then up. I assume for a coal supply? I'm 30 minutes away fron jacksonville so its no problem heading there. I just used some coal today and it is by far better than the charcoal I was using. This stuff was getting for real hot and quick. I was actually able work the metal. I have read that the charcoal can get that hot, but you will burn thru it fast. I couldn't get it figured out thou. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobody Special Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 Nah, Griley (as in G. Riley), another IFI member. :) LUMP charcoal get's plenty hot, burns up, maybe twice as fast, and doesn't really coke. If you have good air control on your fire, it helps a lot. (might want to add an instant offswitch in addition to that dimmer on yer forge for when you're away from the fire banging on metal. A pedal switch works well, like one of those for christmas lights. Don't use briquettes for charcoal. They're full of sand and fines, and don't get nearly as hot. If you stick with coal, bitumous is preferrerable to anthracite, but anthracite'll work in a pinch, it just takes more air, burns hotter, and gives you less control, imho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mucduc Posted October 31, 2013 Author Share Posted October 31, 2013 Oh ok. I was using lump charcoal. I got the dimmer on the ground screwed to a piece of wood so I can just step on it to turn it off but an actual pedal swith would be better thou since when i step on it it turns the knob a little so when the air turns back on its at a different speed a little. I'm not sure which type of coal I got. Is it able to be identified by looks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobody Special Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 Anthracite is very shiny (unless covered in coal dust) and is definitely shiny when it breaks apart, tends to break with sharper edges too, and be a little harder/more brittle than other coals. Bitumous is softer and maybe a little bit more of a umm..tarry feel to it. Usually goes from a dull, flat look, to maybe a very low shine if all the dust is washed off of it. Bitumous also cokes (burns out all the tars and turns...well not light and fluffy exactly, but much more so) when heated, anthracite doesn't really. (anthracite also sometimes makes a crackly noise when it lights. Anthracite is often sold in big lumps a little bigger than your fist as heating coal. (at least around here) What you usually want is bitumous, probably varying from about the size of a dime to a quarter for most pieces, although if you get it in big lumps, its easy (although messy and tedious) to break up. Blacksmith's or metallurgic grade coal is preferred since it has less nasty contaminants like sulfur/phosphorus/gremlins, whatever that are bad for you and the steel. If you join a group they may do mass orders and sell to you at a reduced rate. I usually get mine from a farrier supply, but then it takes me a long time to go through a 55 gallon drum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobody Special Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 Little ones are bitumous, other two are anthracite heating coal. http://www.iforgeiron.com/gallery/image/37792-coal/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mucduc Posted November 2, 2013 Author Share Posted November 2, 2013 thanks yall, Im am certain from the description and that picture i have bitumous. it definitely cokes up and is around dime to nickel size with a hand full of quarter size, but nothing bigger. and it does have a little shine to it like in the picture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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