By the way, a happy discovery yesterday was that when a cutoff disc in my 7" angle grinder wears down even with the guard, it's just the right size to move over to the 4½" angle grinder.

I have an adapter that fits chop saw wheels to my 7”. The trick is to use up as much of the chop saw disk as you can so it fits in the guard in the 7”. It is always a bad idea to take off the guards, as grinders will eat flesh and bone with relish with a guard with out a guard just gives them more opertunity. If the guard is in the way, loosen the screw and move it or replace the disk. Yes I verified the chop saw disk is rated for the rpm of my 7”.

 

Well, I don't have a chop saw, so that's kind of moot. I'll keep it in mind if I ever do, though. Thanks.

One can modify a bench grinder to spin them as well (the compleatly blacksmith also used a table saw) make a new table with a thin slot and a new spacer for the guard to keep stuff  from getting sucked in. Works for either used up chopsaw blades or 7” grinder wheels. Again check the rpm of the motor and the blade. Some times it’s safer to hold the stock than the grinder. 

 

Hmm...I have a spare carpenter's circular saw...maybe mounted upside-down....

Sold my Habermann hammer and a bickern to a local guy, as well as had a two-hour chat with a fellow smithing enthusiast.

Also got to try out my new H13 punch for making divots in the spike hooks I make.  Rather fortuitous timing since I had five to make for a fellow down in Australia!

The punch gizmo worked pretty dang well, but I think I'm still going to need to drill pilot holes.  No matter what I tried, the divots came out more to one side than the other, curving the end of the spike.  Not a huge problem for me, but I can see the aesthetics being a bit off-putting to others when there's a few of them in a row and they all look somewhat wonky.

Still, the H13 won't erode nearly as fast as my coil spring punch, so that's a win!

Vaughn;  Sharpen your punch with a slight point on it... like a center punch with a pretty steep angle.  The slight point helps to prevent sliding or skating off center.  It won’t affect the punches function otherwise.  I do like to finish up with a drill bit... just for efficiency sake, it’s faster.  I do like to use a bob punch to create the countersink, which I sharpen as above and then it’s easier to just drill the through holes cold.

On 7/11/2018 at 9:36 AM, BIGGUNDOCTOR said:

As to your chiseling block. You may want to trim the real leg to make it less of an angle then the 45 you have now. It makes it easier to see the project.

The existing angle isn’t actually 45:

And I realized I could weld on another stem to make it go the other way as well:

Here’s the view from below:

And from above:

Still looking forward to trying it out. 

That angle looks a lot more user friendly.             And I meant rear leg, not real .... fumble fingers.

The one I have my Dad made out of a solid chunk that was a thick plate remnant.

I actually did something that wasn't a knife!!! I got reminded of a few things in the process.

First thing, black steel can still be hot enough to burn..... Second thing, pay attention to where your arm is when operating the vise handle while trying to clamp hot steel..... And the third thing, I definitely still need much work on my basic blacksmithing techniques.

But overall, decent day besides the pain in my arm. I got a dutch oven lid lifter made. Strong enough that it lifts my 5 gallon bucket of quench oil, so it should handle a lid ok.

 

Yeah, hot metal hurts lol. My latest burn was from the exhaust of a pressure washer i recently aquired and tested out. Works great, just dont touch the exhaust. 

I have been cleaning out my lower shop the past few days to make room for finished sculptures and other things and tools. I cant believe the amount of actual junk ive been storing while leaving good stuff outside. It's been pretty much packed for years. Some of it is not even my doing. Time for the clensing of the actual junk. 

Little puzzle-piece keychain doohickey, commissioned by a friend. 

JHCC, that could easily be a bottle opener or screwdriver too

 

Steel’s a bit thin and soft, but that’s an idea for next time. 

Took a moment tonight to dress a (very) rough-forged round punch, to be hardened the next time I fire up the forge. 

Finally got some time in the forge today and decided to make a start on a larger project.

The idea is to keep going until I have a load of sizeable pieces and then join and install them against the fence as a trellis for growing peas etc against.

Fun and boring at the same time. Quite repetitive but fun playing with organic shapes and making the branches grow the more pieces I forge

No forging, but spent a pleasant hour with my neighbor’s grandson who’s interested in getting into smithing. Lots of questions, good attitude, hope to see him here. 

Worked on the handlebars and brakes on one of my boneshakers today.

Nice bit of engineering there, Woody. And that forged snake on the front is a ripper.

Can't wait for the test run of these things. Mulga Bill would be proud of you.

'Twas Mulga Bill, from Eaglehawk, that caught the cycling craze;
He turned away the good old horse that served him many days;
He dressed himself in cycling clothes, resplendent to be seen;
He hurried off to town and bought a shining new machine;
And as he wheeled it through the door, with air of lordly pride,
The grinning shop assistant said, "Excuse me, can you ride?"
"See here, young man," said Mulga Bill, "from Walgett to the sea,
From Conroy's Gap to Castlereagh, there's none can ride like me.

I hope your first ride ends better than it did for Mulga Bill.

Made my niece and nephew hot dog/ Marshmallow roasters. 

Looking good CWest.

My sister is coming to visit for the first time in a while so I made her a present. Inaspired from Brian Brazeals video.

My anvil was starting to resemble the audi symbol with rust rings from all the cleaning up of my disaster I've been doing. So when my love asked about a horseshoe heart i jumped on it. Not my best but darn was my forge and anvil feeling neglected. Had to argue TO make it. Happy wedding to one of her friends lol.

Not much compared to you guys, but I picked up a free anvil and made a stand for it. It's only 70 lbs, and kind of beat up, but good enough for a beginner like me.

Hey it'll get you started till you upgrade. Looks like a lower end vulcan but no worries. Use it till you grow out of it. Keep forging and reasearching and learning!

My Vulcan is a little bigger (110lbs) but they actually are a pretty decent anvil. I've made quite a bit of stuff off of mine.

So have I. My 110 lb. Vulcan has served me for 30+ years, quietly doing the job.