D.Rotblatt Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 First: Happy Birthday! Have a good one and a good year! 6 hours ago, Frosty said: chin and eye I agree with Frosty, he put it better then me. I have lower back issues as well (only 62 years on mine), so bending over again and again all day is not a good thing. Bad enough that my power hammer is low - I end up sitting on a 5 gal can while working it or my back is in spasm that evening. On 6/22/2019 at 9:38 AM, Irondragon Forge & Clay said: That way you are not tempted to stare into it which is not good for the eyes I wear light welding glasses for any forge welding (the kind for oxy-acetyline), and for regular forging i'm running about 2000F, which is not as bad for the eyes. Even then I often wear the welding glasses. I agree, not good to stare into the heated maw of fire! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris C Posted June 24, 2019 Author Share Posted June 24, 2019 7 hours ago, Frosty said: you were more interested in sponging info than impressing folks. I sponge constantly. Ha-ha.....................I've not enough knowledge in this area to attempt such. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyGoatLady Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 Reading Mr. Rotblatts ' comments above makes me think I may have committed a faux pas. He quoted Irondragon warning about not staring into the fire in this conversation. I had mentioned Frosty instead. That's only because I read that comment from Frosty a few months back and that is what sticks in my head when I'm in the shop. I apologize if it appears I wasn't giving credit where credit is due Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris C Posted June 24, 2019 Author Share Posted June 24, 2019 No need apologize............I'm sure you stepped on no toes. Remember, Goat Lady, these guys are tough blacksmiths...............they don't get their feelings hurt. On another note, I just arrived home with the square tube I'm using for my forge body and two cases of soft bricks to start lining it with. "Inch by inch, step by step"...................................... Headed out to the shop to clean up the plasma cut edges and put a sander to the rust so I can get a coat of paint on it so it won't rust further while I'm working on it. "Inch by inch, step by step"................................... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyGoatLady Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 I just didn't want to seem to offend anyone. Irondragon has given me a lot of helpful advice and I appreciate him as well a many others here. And you are getting there. I know you can't hardly wait. We started with a JABOD that my husband built and it worked to the best of the ability to what he knew to do with guidance from a lot of people here. Charles R. Stevens is an awesome guy too by the way. Then everyone got together and bought me a gas forge. That has become a staple for birthday and Christmas presents is blacksmithing equipment. I'm not a girlie girl I guess. I get guns and tools as presents. Im excited for you to get your forge going also Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris C Posted June 24, 2019 Author Share Posted June 24, 2019 I didn't read anything that would have offended. You are a welcomed member at the campfire gathering. Everyone gives everyone helpful advice..............that's what this bunch is about. And the years of experience...................WHEW, these guys have it. I'm rather stubborn sometimes, but they humor me at let me go my way. Guess they figure I'll learn by making some mistakes on my own.............which I'm inclined to do. Good example: When I told Frosty about my total build, he warned I'd not be able to lift the durned thing. But says I, "I'll only have to lift it once to put it on the cart, besides, I'm in the gym 3 days a week and I'm strong." Well today, I got a taste of what he meant. Don't have a weight on it, but the 12" steel pipe, 17" long isn't what I'd call light. And I was (for some stupid reason) assuming the soft bricks would be light like compacted Vermiculite. Ha! Two cases of bricks and I'm not sure I could pick them both up at once without effort. Add to that the weight of the Kast-O-Lite. Man, is that thing going to be heavy. I might have to get one of you to come and help me put it up on top of the stand...........which is up on top of my cart! (I hear Frosty laughing right now!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 1 hour ago, CrazyGoatLady said: I get guns and tools as presents So do my wife & I. She also gets knives, Samurai swords and other martial arts weaponry. The guys at my department always kidded me that if I made her mad I'd look like a pin cushion. One year she got a Samurai helmet scary to say the least. Last Christmas we sprung for a KMG 2X72 belt grinder joint present. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyGoatLady Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 Chris, we actually don't live a great big distance from you. If you really need help and we can figure out a time (always so much to do) maybe we can help. Irondragon: Y'all are my kinda people! I get knives as well. And some of the guys where my husband works send me their knives to sharpen. We also get tools and equipment for both of us to use. He and my son have been building a new chicken tractor and they've been using my chop saw and my leg vice to bend the conduit they are using. My son was wearing my welding gloves. I told him I bet you never thought about using your mom's stuff to work with Also, that's a great photo! It just now loaded after I posted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 My stepdaughter got a hot pink AR-15 as a present one year; but is not a hunting,camping,forging type girl; just married to a cop on Medical Retirement in NW AR. Folks in the European tradition often work their powerhammers sitting down and I've seen a number of one here in America mounted higher than they were originally with the treadle modified to be able to use it by taller folks standing straight. Modifying our tools and environment is considered part of being Human. When folks keep telling me that something can't be done because the tools don't allow for it I feel sad that they giving up a bit of their humanity! (I had friends that ran a small computer consulting business and whenever folks told me that "the computer won't allow that." I'd hand them their card and tell them that these folks could fix it.I've run into a lot of Dr's offices lately that can't deal with the fact I don't use my first name, when it would be so easy to add a field for what name folks go by. I think most folks know a Chuck or Butch or JB or...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 I'll have you know I'm a SENSITIVE guy, I cry when my feelings are hurt. Hurt feelings are good incentive to remember which end to pick up! How thick is that piece of pipe Chris? Me laugh? This is my first successful gas forge, the pipe is 5/16 thick IIRC 12"-14" dia. and about 14" long. Just the pipe weighed too much. The burner was tuned better than in the pic, it got bumped off moving it. I never ran this forge in the shop so it was a mothball queen at the time of the pic. It was HOT though, a 1" (my very first working) T burner in about 450 cu/in. Why YES it'd weld, hard to keep it from. Keeping your eye on the work was imperative or it'd just melt it. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyGoatLady Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 4 hours ago, ThomasPowers said: When folks keep telling me that something can't be done because the tools don't allow for it I feel sad that they giving up a bit of their humanity! That's very true. I have limited tooling and my anvil lacks a pritchel and hardy hole. So I have to be creative to figure out how to do some things. My leg vice is vital to me. But I don't let that stop me. I just find a way around it. Same with a lot of things around the farm. I have a little .22 single shot Davey Cricket that's pink that belonged to my granddaughter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris C Posted June 24, 2019 Author Share Posted June 24, 2019 Oh, don't worry, Goat Lady, I'll be able to lift it..........it just won't be fun putting it up on a mid-chest high perch! Just for safety sake, I'll probably get a friend to help me so I won't mess up the work I've done on the forge or my back. We "old" guys have to take that into consideration even when our ego's won't hear of it! Frosty, the pipe is 1/4".................far too thick, but it was free, and right now free sounds pretty good to my ears. Honestly, if I ever make another, I'll go to a sheet metal shop and have one bent into a box out of sheet metal. The pipe weighs 51.5#, the refractories weigh 23# and the bricks come in at a whoppin' 71#. So the total weight is 145.5#. Of course, I could lighten that a little by only casting a 1/2" of KOL, but that wouldn't save all that much weight. My only concern is the cart is pretty narrow. I'm tempted to bolt some C-channel onto the bottom like outriggers and mount the wheels further apart...............just wide enough to get through a door. I'd hate like the Devil to have this thing topple over when I'm moving it. I'd really be in trouble then! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyGoatLady Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 No problem Chris. Offer still stands. I'm married to a strappin' young buck(haha) and he said he'd be glad to help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris C Posted June 24, 2019 Author Share Posted June 24, 2019 Thanks, but as I said, I can lift it and if I'm worried about it, I've people nearby who can help. Besides, that would be a 2 1/2 hour drive each way for a 10 minute job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyGoatLady Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 That's what neighbors are for Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 I've found out the older I get the more I enlist mechanical advantage for heavy lifting, ropes & pulleys, chain hoist etc. My only neighbor is so paranoid he hides every time he sees me and he's a quarter mile away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris C Posted June 24, 2019 Author Share Posted June 24, 2019 Yup, I'm with you IFC, I've no neighbors who can help............but I do have a buddy in town who has just finished his forge and he'll help me if I need it, I'd think. Don't have any overhead lifting thingies. A small chain hoist would be nice but then I'd have to build an A-frame. If it's not one thing, it's another. Always building something or repairing something. Guess that's my lot in life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 You do not have to lift. You can crib up from the bottom to reach the height needed. Just tilt a little this way, crib, tilt a little that way and crib again. You do not need an A frame for the hoist. A beam well supported on each ends works. I was researching first, second, and third class levers over the weekend for lifting a project. Always good to have options researched in advance of the need. A gin pole or a gantry crane are other choices. Watch Wally Wallington lift a 20 ton block without the use of hoists, pulleys, levers, etc, he just uses gravity. So I must ask, you do have gravity in Central Oklahoma don't you? Do not build a box and then try to think outside the box. If you do not build a box, everything then is an option. Being a blacksmith, you COULD just forge a sky hook. (grin) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 My wife is into kayaking and we needed a place to store it while she wasn't using it that was out of the way but easy to get to. I came up with a rope & pulley system with an inexpensive boat trailer hand crank winch. Mounted the winch to a post in the carport and the pulleys to the roof on a 2X4. Straps around the bow & stern then crank it up out of the way, takes less than 5min to deploy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris C Posted June 25, 2019 Author Share Posted June 25, 2019 I know how to crib, Glenn. Built a 30x30 barn with a doubled 2x12, 30' long ridgepole, 18' in the air by myself. Been there, done that. Just don't want to crib this forge up to eye level. I'll get a friend to help. Believe me, I "pay it forward" enough to ask a favor now and then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 Just offering suggestions to you and others in over 150 countries of the world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris C Posted June 25, 2019 Author Share Posted June 25, 2019 Oh, I know, Glenn and thanks for the suggestion. It's just that I've been there and done that and this time I really don't want to risk messing up my nice new forge...............if I ever get it finished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyGoatLady Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 Thank you Glenn. I remember having a conversation with you about how to move heavy objects like an anvil easily. Good information to have. Irondragon I think I need to hang out with your wife. She sounds like a pretty cool chic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris C Posted June 25, 2019 Author Share Posted June 25, 2019 I think I've mentioned it before, but the narrow "footprint" of this Harbor Freight cart has me worried, especially after getting an approximate weight of this beast. The width of the footprint from center to center of the wheels is only 11 1/2". I'll have a 12" wide, 145# forge sitting about 5 1/2 feet in the air. This forge setup is going to be way too top heavy. That's just not going to be stable enough for moving around and going over thresholds of doors, etc. I'm headed to the DIY store to pick up a 2x6 to widen the stance of this cart. Think I'll feel a whole lot better. Going to wrap the extensions in hazard tape so no-one will trip over them. If this thing were going to sit in one spot and never be moved, I'd not worry about it, but I don't have the room to do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 I really don't like more trip hazards than I already have, I sure wouldn't make more on purpose. I see decent metal carts at yard sales pretty often, the two I have, one under the NARB forge were parts of all or nothing sales. Still not having a welder I'd just build one out of lumber. A couple garage, yard, etc. sale little bicycle wheels mounted to the inside of the lags and a third on the other end on a pull down handle that levers the wheel down to lift the stand is a pretty easy build isn't it? Cement backer board on a roomy top under the forge, spreaders for shelves and a snazzy paint job. Hmmmm? Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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