January 16, 201511 yr Now TP, nothing like breaking the new guy in right ;:-) and besides if you upset lust a bit "up" from the tip you can cheat and not have to upset as much. Very good long heat (you want it welding hot all the way threw) and a long enugh bar to be able to use the weight of the bar to your advantage. Dont be afraide to reheat the bar, it will only take a few minutes and you will want the breather.
January 17, 201511 yr Both my old Brown Boggs stake plate and my new ones have a few sizes What do you mean by a good stake taper? On the bars I do in one heat the end of the 1 1/8" bar is 1 3/8" -1 1/2" for about 3/4" and then tapers to the stock size over about 3". I can then flatten the bar to 1/2" by 1 3/4" 3" long for a 3/4" bolt to go through To help keep the bar straight while upsetting this way rotate the bar 1/4 turn every blow. Working the end back down to a taper will be way more work than the upset.
January 17, 201511 yr Thats why you quench the end to isolate the heat, lol, already have the 1" on the bottom ;-) despite being crazy enugh to play with 1and 2 " stock solo, I am basicaly lazy.
January 17, 201511 yr Thats why you quench the end to isolate the heat, lol, already have the 1" on the bottom ;-) despite being crazy enugh to play with 1and 2 " stock solo, I am basicaly lazy. That does make sense when you are working the stock down by hand after upsetting. It will take an extra heat or 2 for upsetting. Crazy was the time Bob Cook and I upset the middle of a 2 1/2" bar to 4" by hand. I had a power hammer to work the 2 1/2" but it would not have worked 4" down so we had to upset. It was pretty much a day of lifting and throwing down a 100lb block of steel.
January 17, 201511 yr Author Success! I picked up some anthracite today to give it a shot. That stuff definitely puts out some heat! I had a 4' section of 1" bar, so I put my anvil on the ground and followed the advice here. After a few heats, got it fattened to about 1-1/4". I think I that'll work! Was definitely a workout. But more fun than sit-ups or running. :)
January 22, 201511 yr Author Started scrounging from my local mechanic today. Walked in with a box of donuts, walked out with a couple brake rotors and two MASSIVE sets of leaf springs. :) Any creative ideas for the brake rotors? I thought they'd make nice tool bases at least...
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