Well I'm a bit cheap, (why are all the curmudgeons coughing so much?);  so I took a good bowsaw frame and put a piece of metal cutting bandsaw blade in it and I have a 30" hacksaw with a blade that doesn't break like cheap little hacksaw blades. Doesn't take me long to notch and break stock!   (They will cut it for US$1 a cut).

 

6 hours ago, Pr3ssure said:

Do you know if it's a bad idea to put a chop saw blade on a miter saw to cut metal? 

It is a bad idea.  However, if you don't have an angle grinder, but do have a hand-held circular saw, you can put a 7" Abrasive Blade for metals on it for a couple bucks.  If you are just occasionally cutting off small bars (say 3/4" or less) this isn't a bad way to go.   It would be a good idea to find a fair used saw to dedicate to that purpose though. 

I have a circular saw, but my dad has an angle grinder for me when he comes home. He's just a truck driver so he doesn't come home much. I think I'm gonna see him for thanks giving though. So I'm just gonna go with the angle grinder and a cut off wheel.

22 minutes ago, Pr3ssure said:

He's just a truck driver so he doesn't come home much.

Being a truck driver is a very important occupation. Without them we wouldn't have any of the things that make up our society. No food in stores, no fuel for vehicles or heating our homes. Without truck drivers we wouldn't have anything that makes up our modern day life so cherish the fact that he is so vital.

My oldest boy is "just a truck driver" and I'm very proud of him.

Well said, Irondragon. 

I drove a furniture delivery truck in New York City for a couple of years. Certainly gave me a healthy respect for anyone who drives anything bigger than a minivan.

3 hours ago, Irondragon Forge & Clay said:

Being a truck driver is a very important occupation.

By "just a truck driver" I didn't mean it as he's just a truck driver, that's not important. I meant it as He's just a truck driver so he isn't home much. I don't think. Which is what I said I guess. So don't think I'm being rude about it or anything, that JUST the way I said it. Not sure how that got misconstrued.

2 hours ago, JHCC said:

I drove a furniture delivery truck in New York City for a couple of years. 

Yeah, he had me drive his truck with a 52' trailer I think it was. I thought I was the master of reversing with a trailer doing it with a little towing trailer on an suv. I don't even understand how some people can back a 52' trailer up to a dock without wrecking.

Also I have a lot of respect for anyone who has a family and a home but they aren't home but 3 times a year to enjoy everything they pay for.

If you are forging, stock can be cut with a hot cut. Bolt cutters work for smaller diameters - I have some that will do 1/2" easy enough. 

Check to see if you have a rebar supplier. A friend got some of the soft iron "wire" that is used to hold the big bundles together, and it was around 1/4" or 5/16" in diameter. They just cut it off and scrap it, so he got it for free. 

 

I'm not sure I'd be able to take a 10-20 foot piece and heat a section to hot cut it. I don't have a nice torch, just a small propane one. Nor do I have a hot cut hardy tool.

@BIGGUNDOCTOR what does your friend use the wire for? and is it really that thick?

If you have a forge, and an anvil, you can make a hot cut. 

2 hours ago, Pr3ssure said:

By "just a truck driver" I didn't mean it as he's just a truck driver, that's not important.

"Just" is often used as a put-down, as are "only" and "merely". The implication is, "There's something more, and he's not it."

 "He's a truck driver, so he isn't home much" would perhaps have better conveyed what you meant: a simple point about scheduling, without any implied value judgment.

To me it's like saying "It's just that he isn't home much"

1 hour ago, BIGGUNDOCTOR said:

If you have a forge, and an anvil, you can make a hot cut. 

Yeah, I know. I'm just getting into it though so I'm just messing around until I figure it out. Although I hope to make all my own tools when I can.

but yeah, what does he use to wire for?

Just now, Pr3ssure said:

To me it's like saying "It's just that he isn't home much"

Related, but slightly different usage. In that case, "just" = "simply", the same as in your earlier " that JUST the way I said it".

Yeah, maybe some places use it as more of a put down then others or maybe it's just an older thing and I'm too young to have heard it like that a lot. It's not something I've ever said or really heard used as an insult though. I understand, I just don't understand why anyone would have thought I'd be putting down an entire profession, let alone my dad.

Because we don't know you, and we don't know how you feel about your dad. Some people look down on certain professions; some children have no respect for their parents. Glad to see you're not either.

I guess that's something I've never understood either. Trust me, there's some times I've hated both of my parents, well not hated but been mad at them. You know, but I'll always have respect for them. They gave/give me everything I'll ever want if they can. It's crazy how some kinds disrespect their parents.

My dad is the only reason I'm even pursuing blacksmithing. He's been supportive since I said anything about being interested in it, he actually bought me my anvil.

wire wrap handles for tools, baskets, small hooks, spirals, tendrils,  miniatures of larger items--- it's usually very soft under the hammer!

 

Make sure you tell them what you plan on doing with it when you tak to a supplier. I found one near me that sells me "seconds" for next to nothing. Some of the bends are less than ideal but lets face it a little bend is nothing we can't deal with. 

If you are looking for some 1/2" square to practice with and not too picky about carbon content you can usually find someone getting rid of old window bars or security doors. I have collected a good stack of window guards made with 1/2" solid square bars. Keep your eyes open and ask around, maybe Dad can find something when he's on the road. I have yet to pay for any of it. You do have to burn the paint off though.

Most of the newer stuff is hollow so you're looking for something old.

5 minutes ago, bigb said:

If you are looking for some 1/2" square to practice with and not too picky about carbon content you can usually find someone getting rid of old window bars or security doors. I have collected a good stack of window guards made with 1/2" solid square bars. Keep your eyes open and ask around, maybe Dad can find something when he's on the road. I have yet to pay for any of it. You do have to burn the paint off though.

Most of the newer stuff is hollow so you're looking for something old.

Yeah, for practice i don't care about the carbon content. I'd only want to know so I know how soft/hard it would be. My dad right now I know he has a bunch of stuff he has found in dumpsters and just random stuff thrown in the scrap pile at places he delivers, he is the master of dumpster diving and sniffing out a deal. I'd say he would like to read about the TPAAT as well. I don't know what all he got for me but I'm sure it's more since he told me what he had last. He's coming in on Wednesday for thanksgiving. I'm really excited to get the angle grinder he got for me, plus the bench vise he picked up. Plus my grandma is bring me down my grandpas bench grinder since it doesn't get used anymore.

I'm not sure where he found it but he found a JET 5 ton Arbor Press, I saw the same one online selling for $800, I think he paid $50. I'm trying to work out how I can use it. A few people gave me some ideas on here.

Just a truck driver" ???

When the recession hit in 2,008. Trucking companies trashed most of their drivers. (they are just a commodity right?).

Many truckers then hung up their career and found work elsewhere.

In the last three years trucking revenues have rocketed. But these companies have a problem. A big problem. There is already a huge shortage of drivers. Tens of thousands. And the baby boom cohort is retiring. The need for truckers will top 100,000 new drivers per year, in the next few years!

Those companies are desperately trying to add staff. Competition is fierce. They are advertising better working conditions, softening crushing work schedules, and, finally decent pay.

There has been massive exploitation and abuse, in the industry, for decades.

Perhaps driver's will now be treated fairly for the first time in many years.

SLAG.

1 minute ago, SLAG said:

When the recession hit in 2,008. Trucking companies trashed most of their drivers. (they are just a commodity right?).

Yeah, the recession dropped his pay almost an average of $400 a week, it's just now starting to get back to where it used to be. Plus 2 years ago the company he was with for over ten years fired him for getting in a wreck that was proven to not be his fault. So he found a new company in a few weeks. It's a smaller company but they treat him better.

Pr3ssure,

Good to hear that your father got better employment.

People should NOT be treated like spare parts.

SLAG.

10 hours ago, bigb said:

You do have to burn the paint off though.

Older paint can contain lead, and burning any paint releases nasties into the air. Unless you’re positive that it contains nothing toxic, consider chemical stripping (with proper PPE). 

HCl and a wire brush work a treat for stripping paint, especially those thick layers of tough paint found on many tools like crowbars.