What did you do in the shop today?

[bubba682]

No problem jhcc

[JHCC]

Just now, bubba682 said:

No problem jhcc

Thanks.

(Also, "JHCC" is all-caps.)

[Michael Cochran]

8 hours ago, Frosty said:

It was pretty confusing where a good dimensioned drawing would be a snap.

This has been my biggest problem building my grinder. I kept looking for dimensioned drawings but all I found was doodles, sketches, and 3D renderings from some cad program. In the end I just started cutting and welding based on 'educated' guesses. I'll be a little disappointed when belts arrive and I don't have as much adjustment as I need if that happens. Otoh it's all scrap material I had laying around (only thing bought was the welding wire) so if it happens it's not a total loss if I can't salvage it. 

[EJRailRoadTrack]

8 hours ago, Frosty said:

This is my new grinder. Look familiar? I can't post a link to the "plans" they're part of a commercial site and not terribly good plans, more of a built on a blog thing. It was pretty confusing where a good dimensioned drawing would be a snap.

I cannibalized my old Rockwell 2" x 48" belt grinder for the motor but I'm afraid 1/2 hp is just too little. I have all it's parts, it's stand is still vacant and I think I have a minimum 1hp motor lined up. Hard to have too many belt grinders eh? 

Frosty The Lucky

That's a nice looking grinder! I wanted the tracking wheel a bit closer to myself, So there will be another arm that comes of the back piece of tubing that will have the tracking wheel on it.

 

I think I had seen the blog/plans to that grinder. I ended up backing away from it since I wanted to have 30 pound shock instead of a spring. Little less vibration was my thinking.

I'll make a thread of the finished grinder in case anyone wants to build one similar. 

[Gergely]

It's done, at last! And tomorrow we go to a craft fair. 

Bests:

Gergely

[Daswulf]

Nice work Gergely. Love the design and texturing. 

[Mark Ling]

what was it coated with? I'm just wondering about how it will do with heat.

                                                                                                              Littleblacksmith

[Frosty]

Michael: Seems only pros use blue prints anymore, flashy renderings are the norm as is half donky overthought crud on the shelf. There's a LOT more adjustment for belt length than I think a person needs, even if you use a big honking contact wheel. The arm the platten and rollers are on will move out another good 8" and the vertical with the tracking wheel has another 6" of elevation in it. 

EJ: This is surprisingly steady even with the play in the telescoping tubing. The tracking screw is easy to reach, I can eyeball the front roller without getting too close and adjust tracking without straightening my left arm. A 30lb. shock eh? Can you link me to pics of the set up without violating site rules?

Frosty The Lucky.

[EJRailRoadTrack]

54 minutes ago, Frosty said:

EJ: This is surprisingly steady even with the play in the telescoping tubing. The tracking screw is easy to reach, I can eyeball the front roller without getting too close and adjust tracking without straightening my left arm. A 30lb. shock eh? Can you link me to pics of the set up without violating site rules?

 

Suppose i should have asked more people before dismissing it.  Maybe if i ever build another grinder I'll look into those plans a bit more.

Don't think I could. The closest picture to what I'm going for I would have to rip from someone's social media. plus the picture I would link doesn't use the shock. I will have to say I'm taking a much of different aspects from different grinders, different info and specs and putting them together into my own Frankingrinder. Hopefully, HOPEFULLY it will all work out in the end.

Gergely: I LIKE those brushes! Where do you get them??

 

 

[Michael Cochran]

1 hour ago, Frosty said:

Michael: Seems only pros use blue prints anymore, flashy renderings are the norm. . .

I'm a PROcrastinator, does that count for anything? 

Those renderings are great if you are just using it for visualization but not for trying to work off of. 

[Gergely]

8 hours ago, Daswulf said:

Nice work Gergely. Love the design and texturing. 

Thanks, Das. The design was inspired by a Czech blacksmith.

8 hours ago, littleblacksmith said:

what was it coated with? I'm just wondering about how it will do with heat.

                                                                                                              Littleblacksmith

Me too  The tools got carnauba-beewax mix finish. The business ends will loose their coating in use, but I didn't want to paint them with heat resistant paint. I think if someone owns hand made ironware they have to accept the fact that it needs to be taken care of.

4 hours ago, EJRailRoadTrack said:

Gergely: I LIKE those brushes! Where do you get them??

I found a brush manufacture here in Hungary, ordered 4 of these from them. They do all kinds of brushes from tiny to giant sizes. Actually they are the only maker that sells brushes for fire place tools on-line. 

Bests:

Gergely

 

[ausfire]

Great work, Gergely. I like the balance of the piece. The matching texture on the handles and hanging arc is a nice touch. And you're lucky to have access to fireplace brushes. That's always a sticking point with fire tools for me.

[Mark Ling]

ok Gergely, i was hoping that it was just a wax finish, and not like a clear coat.

Yesterday I decided not to forge, as my shoulder was still a little sore from shooting the 12 gauge. took a trip to the scrap yard and picked up some wrought iron, and good thing is that there is a lot more. also got a lot of new steel. probably about 250 feet in steel. then I cut up 10 Fredericks crosses, and today I will open them up and texture them.

                                                                                                                           Littleblacksmith

 

This picture isn't mine, but beammeupscotty's texturing tools. I would show ya'll a picture of mine if I had a picture.

[Gergely]

Thank you, Aus. 

I'm very tired now as the last two weeks was a bit overwhelming. Today was craft fair day, and it was as bad as it's possible. 

Tomorrow I only take the mobil shop off the trailer and chop some firewood, 'cause you know, it's fun

Bests:

Gergely

[Frosty]

No sweat EJ, post a close up pic of yours when you get it finished, it's not like I'm going to redesign mine at this point.

That is a beautiful fire set Gergley, a prime example of what's so valuable about seeing what and how folk in different parts of the world do things. I've never seen a tool stand like yours over here but it's elegantly simple and more attractive for it. 

Good to hear you relax by killing and maiming trees. . . Trees, I see Trees EVERYWHERE!  

Frosty The Lucky.

[Mark Ling]

Here is the business end Frosty. The shorter one I did first, and then realized that they should be longer.

Today seemed to go really slow. It was a warmer day in the 80s, and so that may have been why. made a cooking tripod and the s hooks for it, made some Fredericks crosses, a nose punch, a slot punch, 2 horse head bottle openers, and 2 leaf key chains made of wrought iron that are in an acid bath currently. first time with that, so it will be interesting.

[JHCC]

Made a bracelet for (and with) my daughter. 

[Michael Cochran]

I decided to bite the bullet and make some tools that I've been putting off for a while now.  I took a drift pin/crescent wrench combination and remover the wrench end flattened the taper and welded on a handle. I think I'm going to weld on a little more around the joint to help bolster it some. I then forged a hammer eye punch (it's all sorts of wrong) from a piece of axle. I will probably have to do some tweaking on both to get them just right but I'm happy for a first go.

Btw the foot in the picture isn't mine, my wife said to tell you guys you can reference the size of the tools by her size 8 1/2 foot.

 

[Iron Poet]

Made a bronze bowl with a copper stand. For whatever reason people like the dimpled look far more than the planished ones, I personally love the feel of bronze especially textured so it doesn't matter.

[Gergely]

7 hours ago, Frosty said:

That is a beautiful fire set Gergley, a prime example of what's so valuable about seeing what and how folk in different parts of the world do things. I've never seen a tool stand like yours over here but it's elegantly simple and more attractive for it. 

Good to hear you relax by killing and maiming trees. . . Trees, I see Trees EVERYWHERE!  

Frosty The Lucky.

Thank you, Frosty!

I hope wood chopping brings me more relaxation as pain - my lower back feels a bit lousy. And I wish I could see trees everywhere around here: 1. I like trees, you know those that don't want to kill you  2. this was an exceptional winter and all our firewood is gone by now.

Take care!

3 hours ago, Iron Poet said:

Made a bronze bowl with a copper stand. For whatever reason people like the dimpled look far more than the planished ones, I personally love the feel of bronze especially textured so it doesn't matter.

Beautiful bowl! Can you please tell what grade of bronze you use for this work? I've tried to forge some bronze before but it was ugly disappointment. 

Bests:

Gergely

[Iron Poet]

2 minutes ago, Gergely said:

Beautiful bowl! Can you please tell what grade of bronze you use for this work? I've tried to forge some bronze before but it was ugly disappointment. 

Bests:

Gergely

You want to use silicon bronze, I go here and buy what I need. They usually have scuffed or scratched sheets for a big discount

[Gergely]

Thank you, they have the grade nr so I could identify the alloy in the Hungarian system. It's Bz8 - I give it a try sometimes when I go to the big metal plaza next time.

It's a real disaster to ask people about bronze around here, I got even from professional turners the answer: hmm, yes, there are some bronzes that are harder than the others. 

The only actual info I could find was, that in the beginning of the 1900's a famous Hungarian blacksmith used Aluminium Bronze for his delicately forged chandeliers. 

Bests:

Gergely

[JHCC]

One other thing from yesterday: accidentally set the forge on fire, and not in a good way. I had used a rag to seal the joint between the gate valve and the tuyere in place, and an ember got into it and started cranking out smoke and sparks. 

So, broke down the gate valve, fished out the rag, and reclayed the transition from the valve to the tuyere. 

[Iron Poet]

2 hours ago, Gergely said:

Thank you, they have the grade nr so I could identify the alloy in the Hungarian system. It's Bz8 - I give it a try sometimes when I go to the big metal plaza next time.

It's a real disaster to ask people about bronze around here, I got even from professional turners the answer: hmm, yes, there are some bronzes that are harder than the others. 

The only actual info I could find was, that in the beginning of the 1900's a famous Hungarian blacksmith used Aluminium Bronze for his delicately forged chandeliers.

Silicon, aluminum, tin, and I believe phosphorus bronze can be forged. Arsinic is one of the classical metals that everyone used but it's fallen out of favor for 'some reason'

[Frosty]

20 hours ago, littleblacksmith said:

Here is the business end Frosty. The shorter one I did first, and then realized that they should be longer.

Today seemed to go really slow. It was a warmer day in the 80s, and so that may have been why. made a cooking tripod and the s hooks for it, made some Fredericks crosses, a nose punch, a slot punch, 2 horse head bottle openers, and 2 leaf key chains made of wrought iron that are in an acid bath currently. first time with that, so it will be interesting.

 

 

 

MY Grandmother called them "weeding forks" so that's what we called them. She used to spend hours on her knees weeding ordinary grass from our dichondra lawn. One year my little Sister Shannon made her weeding pads as a Brownie project. Basically a decorated paper grocery bag with several layers of crumpled and folded paper as padding.

I just recalled another name! Funny how brains work here I was writing about the things but no thinking about them and another name pops into it! I've heard them called "Rooting forks," because you have to get the roots or weeds just grow back and quickly.

Frosty The Lucky.