JHCC Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 Very handsome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 24, 2020 Share Posted February 24, 2020 is 30" the correct height for you? At 5'9 I run around 34" for bladesmithing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlpservicesinc Posted February 24, 2020 Share Posted February 24, 2020 Thomas what is your inseam? I find that anvil height is pretty close within a few inches.. At 5'11" I run my anvil at 31" for all work. 34" inseam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted February 24, 2020 Share Posted February 24, 2020 On 2/19/2020 at 12:40 PM, ThomasPowers said: It's being able to sit on my porch in a rocking chair while watching one...Down where I used to live there was a Maar which is a more unusual volcanic item. I can't outrun any pyroclastic flows nowadays and my arm can't return serve any bombs. A nice basaltic flow will be fine. Hmm casting basaltic anvils as a hobby.... If a pyroclastic flow were to get us the eruption would probably get a good % of everybody. The closest volcano while within sight is about 100 miles. We get ashed occasionally but nothing like Novarupta eruption in 1912. We're a goodly distance from a volcanic redo. During my one visit to Hawaii we were standing in front of the lava flow and I was thinking of bringing a couple steaks and a bottle of Pele's favorite tipple doing a BBQ. While my jeans slowly toasted I ditched the idea, the flow was constantly spalling flakes and I'd decided on a baSalt free diet. Basaltic blacksmithing equipment eh? I'm thinking mandrel cones would be a natural. How much? Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 24, 2020 Share Posted February 24, 2020 Bladesmithing I run appreciably higher than general smithing so 34". For general smithing it would match my inseam pretty well. (That's been one of the issues with the local student bladesmithing club; their anvil is way too low! Hard enough to hammer flat when starting out even with the anvil height way off! (We're getting them another anvil stump for the next meeting...) A solid Basalt cone would be pretty heavy and I'm not messing around with cores when pouring lava! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted February 25, 2020 Share Posted February 25, 2020 No core needed, fill the steel mold let if solidify against the mold and pour out the excess when the cone is the right thickness. A little practice and you'll be cranking them out in mass quantity. An old acquaintance of mine used to talk about casting hollow iron spheres by rolling the mold around the foundry floor and pouring out the excess. The master caster in the shop had everything down to a science, the ladle held the right amount and he could tell when it was ready to drain by how it rolled. Said there HAD to be excess or the shell wouldn't come out even. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 25, 2020 Share Posted February 25, 2020 Slush casting. You do know that the fluidity goes down as the Si goes up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted February 25, 2020 Share Posted February 25, 2020 Yes. You WERE talking about watching basaltic flows and I assumed you were referring to Pahoehoe, not ahah. However if we were talking about pressing a good analysis silicious lava into a closed cone die you could let it cool S L O W L Y under pressure for a really gneiss mandrel cone. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karcher.dc Posted February 25, 2020 Author Share Posted February 25, 2020 My goal was 31-32”, but proper leveling got me to 30” and it works, I may mount a 2x12 platform to the bottom side that makes a sort of lip to increase stability... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlpservicesinc Posted February 25, 2020 Share Posted February 25, 2020 Nice job on the stump and anvil. Thst will work wonderfully. Did you hollow the bottom of the stump some? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnut Posted February 25, 2020 Share Posted February 25, 2020 I went for the compromise of setting my rails face halfway between my wrist and knuckles. It seems to be the best all around height for me. The rail was 29 and 1/2 inches but I put it on a paver with sand on top to fill up the little gap that is around the outside of the bucket and it's actual bottom. It's worked pretty good for me. I haven't used it in a while but I got the okay for a gas forge from the landlord so I need to quit being lazy and file my taxes. Pnut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 25, 2020 Share Posted February 25, 2020 Frosty; you notice than when people fantasize about using a volcano as a source of heat for blacksmithing they never address the problem of all that sulfur damaging the hot steel? (And that was a gneiss one!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karcher.dc Posted February 25, 2020 Author Share Posted February 25, 2020 No I did not hollow out the bottom. I built a framed out box to use as a guide and then used a chainsaw with guide blocks glued onto the saw arm. It worked great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlpservicesinc Posted February 25, 2020 Share Posted February 25, 2020 Yes, that will make it very flat, But if you put a slight hollow in the bottom it will help for it not to rock as much when not on a flat surface. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 25, 2020 Share Posted February 25, 2020 Like the indentations on the base of some types of anvils... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted February 26, 2020 Share Posted February 26, 2020 9 hours ago, ThomasPowers said: Frosty; you notice than when people fantasize about using a volcano as a source of heat for blacksmithing they never address the problem of all that sulfur damaging the hot steel? (And that was a gneiss one!) Lots of things aren't addressed in fantasy or they'd be science or history or something else boring. Things like lava not being hot enough for more than modest work. I'm starting to think about putting stock more than 5/8" sq. back in the fire at medium-high orange. How long would you have to leave steel in the lava for it to absorb enough sulfur to be an issue? Thank you, I thought you'd enjoy a little friendly schist. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 26, 2020 Share Posted February 26, 2020 Actually I'm surrounded by geologists and geology students in my day job I get a lot of it from them! As folks often want to use volcanoes for blademaking it doesn't take that long as you get close to finished cross section. Just using coke to smelt with had a big sulfur problem till they figured out that Manganese would scavenge it---why all the 10XX alloys have Mn as a "given" and not listed in their number. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted February 26, 2020 Share Posted February 26, 2020 There used to be a video on YouTube of some genius attempting to harden a sword after heating it in a lava flow (now happily removed, thank goodness). Trekked out to an active pahoehoe flow, stuck the blade into a bubble of lava, waited a few minutes, pulled it out, discovered that it was now roughly the shape and rigidity of an overcooked egg noodle, attempted to quench it by pouring the contents of his water bottle over it. Overall, quite a spectacular failure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 26, 2020 Share Posted February 26, 2020 The "tube" is full of "Look at me being an idiot" videos. I don't like the 3 stooges and they were masters of their craft; watching idiots blither doesn't do anything for me except wonder when Darwin's Invisible Hand will be cancelling their birth certificates retroactively. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted February 26, 2020 Share Posted February 26, 2020 The geologist engineers I used to work with had virtually no sense of humor, I asked a group what their favorite rock group was and was told by one he only listened to classical music and for the rest of the afternoon they discussed classical music. There was a geologist in Fairbanks who was known for a sense of humor, we got along and even had fun when we worked together. What I liked about Tres Hombres Stupido came to me at a young age. I noticed most of the kids who thought they were funny weren't the sharpest, patties in the pasture. Best of all, I didn't have to watch them at all to reap the benefits. Youtube is too often like a 3 stooges episode, how stupid can we be and survive? Hopefully Darwin will interpose before they pass on the stupid gene. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CtG Posted February 26, 2020 Share Posted February 26, 2020 I find some of the more classic slapstick enjoyable (at times, and in proper small doses) but the garbage on YT just makes me agitated. People destroying nice things being... less than intelligent.... really irks me. Let alone the harming/scaring others for entertainment sake. But anyway.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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