What did you do in the shop today?

[Red Shed Forge]

Ha! Very true!

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

22 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

And a good excuse to buy a *larger* (taller) anvil!

Yep, only in my case it was a bigger taller tractor with a front end loader. Gotta love hydraulic assist and a supportive wife, who always has some very heavy stuff to move around outside.

I used it the other day to move a large steel mounting bracket for the old ten foot satellite dish that was so heavy both of us couldn't begin to pick up one side. Moved it from one side of the house over to the shop about 200 yards, so I can cut it apart with the plasma cutter.

[ThomasPowers]

What and not use it for your Ozark Death Ray?

[Goods]

I’ve pulled stubborn “weed” trees by looping a strap around the base of the tree, tied a rope to the strap, and ran the rope to a tow hook on the car over a 4”x4” piece of scrap lumber braced against a temporary heavy stake at a 45degree angle. If it only pulled part way, I’d reset the lumber to 45degrees and go again. Worked pretty good. (Hope that description is clear...) 

[MacLeod]

There’s always someone who doesn’t like rams head poker sets. They want something horsier 

Horse head tools, horse tail hanger and attempt at horseshoe style feet.

In my experience horse owners either have too much money or none at all. I’m of the latter

[Jonnytait]

You make very nice fire place tools Macleod, I like them a lot. Made another hammer head 2lb

[MacLeod]

Thanks Jonnytait. It keeps me out of the rain

Very neat hammer again. What a finish! You went through all the grades to get that- and then a polish?

[Jonnytait]

A few different grits then a polish yes. Only thing is when its that shiny it makes it difficult to take a photo!

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

Irondragon, I always wanted to take one of those old satellite dishes and cover it with mirror pieces for a solar heater.

[George N. M.]

I have a 10' diameter dish in my back yard which I thought about covering with reflective material and making a solar forge but some horror stories from Thomas and others about how much heat that it would put out and the potential danger persuaded me that the fun + utility vs. danger + work equation was weighted to far to the negative side.  The amount of heat at the focal point on a sunny day would be more for melting the steel rather than heating it to softness not to mention the possibility of accidentally passing something flammable or a body part through the focal point area.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand." 

[ThomasPowers]

My main reason for not going solar was the regular sustained high winds we get out here.  I would either need an array on wheels and a dedicated enclosure, or a dedicated enclosure on wheels---the game is not worth the candle!  Of course I have an acre of land and no children nearby so the "invisible beam of death" was not as much as an issue.

73 degF and winds up to 20 mph+ right now. (May hit 80 degF Thursday).  So glad Fall is here!

[JHCC]

Object lesson:

https://www.nbcnews.com/sciencemain/london-skyscraper-can-melt-cars-set-buildings-fire-8C11069092

[SLAG]

John,

That building is a prime candidate for implosion.

SLAG.

[ThomasPowers]

I have trouble believing that nobody thought of that before construction.  Looks like London needs a return of the killer fogs!

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

On 11/16/2020 at 2:40 PM, ThomasPowers said:

What and not use it for your Ozark Death Ray?

I volunteered to turn it into a SETI Project dish, but they weren't interested, so it sits in the side yard upside down as a home for the critters like chipmunks. 

[Frosty]

A little slow commenting on your heart Das but better late than never. Well done, beautiful.

I have my candle thoughts too of course. I'd be hard pressed to decide on a specific number of candle holders to put on it. So taking the easy way out my thought was to make a number of candle cups, some small and glue a neodimium magnet out of sight on the bottom. That way the lucky owner could light as many candles as the occasion warranted and stick them, safe and secure, where they liked on the polished steel base. It'd make a nice box set and the box could even be the stand. 

Hmmmm?

1 hour ago, ThomasPowers said:

Looks like London needs a return of the killer fogs!

You left the "r" out of frogs Thomas. 

I'm with you Slag but I think any building covered in reflective windows is a candidate for implosion. On the other hand I don't really see melting plastic cars as such a bad thing. I mean heck, it's London, how often is the sun out?

Oh oh I KNOW! A little butter and garlic and that building could roast killer frogs to a taste sensation! The worlds hottest outdoor DIY BBQ kitchen!  I wonder how fast my solar calculator would recharge. Hmmmm.

Frosty The Lucky.

[JHCC]

Βρεκεκεκὲξ κοὰξ κοάξ.

[SLAG]

JHCC,

Translation please?

SLAG.

[Dewnmoutain]

Made an axe eye drift. Just some practice using mild steel to learn how it it works out. Pain in the butt. Needs cleanup, and truing of lines.

[JHCC]

16 hours ago, SLAG said:

Translation please?

Untranslatable onomatopoeia: “Brekekekax koax koax”, the “croaking chorus” from Aristophanes’s “The Frogs”.

[Frosty]

I could've toad you that was coming Slag.

Frosty The Lucky.

[JHCC]

That’s why I had to hop to it. 

[SLAG]

JHCC,

Gotschaa!

Thanks.

Frosty,

Yah I should have seen it coming.

SLAG.

 

[pnut]

The LA opera house had to be sandblasted because it was melting paper boxes and peeling paint on cars. It was also a traffic hazard because of the glare 

Pnut

[Paul TIKI]

I got a chance to play with the forge last night and made a couple of things and more importantly learned a bunch of things.  First was a slight adjustment to the Grill Forge to get the tuyere angled slightly down.  It had a remarkable impact on air delivery, but it wan't getting as hot as I would like.  Pic of that was taken as I was letting things wind down.  The next thing I did was drag out and resurrect an old stereo called Ampenstein.  It's cobbled together of parts from dead things, like a Cerwin Vega car amp from my wifes wrecked car from years ago, a computer power supply, etc.  I reassembled that while waiting for the kindling to catch and for the charcoal to get hot.

Then I took a hunk of rebar, heated it up and flattened one end and bent it 90 degrees to make a rake for keeping the coals heaped up.  It was too wide for the firepot so I put a little curl on the end to make it look neat and also fit inside the trench.

Next I tried to make a part to hold a bar as a crude door latch for a fence gate.  flattened a nail and put 2 90 degree bends.  It was too long so I got an Idea to hold one end of an old lawnmower blade in the vise and let the other end sit on top of the post that is next to the main part of the anvil.  I then heated the peice and whacked it on top of the cutting edge of the lawnmower blade to cut it off to a size that would work.  I didn't finish the matching part, but I have a much better idea how to do it now.  I also used an old center punch to knock a hole through another flattened nail just to see if I could.  I swung the vise around and used it to hold the punch and then put the hot metal on top of it and hit it.  It worked, sort of.  All in all, I learned a lot.  It's gonna take me a while to get to your guys level though.