Frosty Posted October 26, 2020 Share Posted October 26, 2020 Dad was a metal spinner, we were all used to controlling bleeding till Mother got us to the doctor. I could tell when to change from direct pressure to pressure points to a tourniquet by 8 yrs. Dad corralled me to pull stitches or dig slinters, I had the best eyes. I don't think Dad ever hit me except a cuff for doing something stupid in the shop. Dropping something heavy on, slicing, poking holes etc. in or to yourself wasn't stupid, it happened all the time. Making a bad move on or around a piece of machinery on the other hand was worth a reprimand. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 26, 2020 Share Posted October 26, 2020 We had the luxury of growing up in a less risk adverse society! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benjhind Posted October 27, 2020 Author Share Posted October 27, 2020 Sounds like you guys keep the emergency room busy. My wife is no stranger to finding a blood trail leading to the washroom. Usually just nick myself butchering something. Haven't had any too bad lately, but I did fracture a punch this summer and a chip is now permanently lodged in the hand that was holding the punch. It is a convenient place to hold a magnet. Again, not too much time tonight. I chowdered a few drill bits trying to get my chain hole through the web. Smart. I guess the rail is harder than I thought and it made me wonder how Charles managed to drill a 1" pritchel in his. I burned a few HSS bits (to make sure the first couple weren't just a fluke!) just trying to get through the web, and still failed to make it through. I even used the drill press. Fired up the forge for a bit and practiced making rebar into a consistent square, then octagon. I narrowed the forge by putting another 1.25" hard firebrick on either side, and liked how it performed. Trying to work up the courage to try a pair of tongs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 There are a couple tricks for drilling holes in RR rail. First, don't try to drill down through the rail cap! Going through the web or flanges isn't bad, I use a HSS drill bit. AFTER I wire brush it clean and I mean shiny clean. Even a light coating of rust holds a LOT of dust and dirt which will dull a bit or saw blade almost instantly. If the rail is actually hardened say been cut with a torch or similar it's easy to draw the temper in a small spot. Chuck up a piece of round stock about the diameter of the hole you want to drill. Place the end of the rod on the spot, turn the drill motor on and apply pressure till it's squealing. Do NOT oil it, the idea is to get the rail or other hardened steel hot enough to draw the hardness out of it. Run the temper colors to blue or better, black and let it cool slowly. If you've watched the guys on Forged in Fire burning up drill bits trying to make holes in a hardened tang, you'll notice every once in a while the third or fourth bit will drill a hole. They've applied the above technique without knowing it. Just don't use drill bits to make the friction. I know it IS called a friction drill but it's not a "for making holes drill." Yes? Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benjhind Posted October 28, 2020 Author Share Posted October 28, 2020 I was using new HSS titanium coated bits and I think I burned up 4 or so. The first might have caught some grit but the rest were working on bare metal as they all made a few chips before giving up. I'll get to my buddy's shop and punch it out with the torch sooner or later. I could zip out a section with the angle grinder but thats more than I want to give up. I won't get a pritchel in it but I have that chunk of mild steel that I can use for that. I could weld some square stock to the bottom and stick it in a vice. Tonight I ground out the web into a fuller and started on a pair of "bedframe tongs". A seemingly simple concept! It took me ages to get most of the paint off, it seemed to gum up grinding wheels and sandpaper. My paint stripper had hardened to a thick gel, so I thinned it with some methanol, but it did not perform adequately. The wire wheel on the grinder just seemed to smear it around. The next bonfire I have will be burning paint I promise you! After getting the bulk off I heated it up and had some difficulty folding it over perfectly down the middle. I blame this at least partly on not hammering from both sides. I wasn't flipping it over much because I was using channel locks to hold the material. Reinforced the need for tongs! A smart man would have welded some rebar to the material, but nobody has ever accused me of being a smart man. I'm fine with the dodgy overlap, but it will take some concentration to get them straight, as they are quite wavy from the beating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinkertim Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 Well I finally used some Cobalt Steel drill bits for the first time at the weekend, to drill out and re-tap a bolt on a wheel hub that holds the Anti-Lock Brake sensor in place on a Mazda (Miata?) MX5. All my HSS drill bits stopped cutting after ~20 seconds and I was getting worried that it wouldn't be back on the road for Monday. Found my local Screwfix stocked a few sizes of Dewalt Cobalt Steel drill bits. Expensive, but the reviews suggested they would work when nothing else would. Gave them a try and they were excellent! Stayed sharp all the way through! You do need to regularly stop and re-lube the hole, and don't use excessive speed or pressure, but they really got me out of (or into) a hole. They are my get-out-of-jail drill bits now. I'm keeping them for the special occasions, and will definitely be buying more. Hope this helps. Tink! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benjhind Posted October 30, 2020 Author Share Posted October 30, 2020 Huge thanks to all who contributed to this thread!! I finally completed something useful with my forge. Narrowing the forge evened out the huffing i was describing when it was cold. I'm still working on getting some better refractory. I made some bolt tongs for railroad spikes. You can read about them in the "bolt tongs from bed frames" thread by JHCC if you wish. Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benjhind Posted December 11, 2020 Author Share Posted December 11, 2020 I thought I'd reply to this thread and provide an update. I was able to find the appropriate 1x1x3/4 tee for my burner and it seems to be running well. I also located a seller for proper fire brick and got some K23 for the sides and hard Fedmet Epic 42 for the floor. Any Canadians here should check out Sounding Stone in Winnipeg. Shipping rates were reasonable. I can return the other fire brick to my maple syrup evaporator (insert Canadian joke here). I had to make it a little taller to accommodate the thicker brick. I haven't tried welding yet but it seems to get hotter now. I'm not sure whether I have an oxidizing or reducing flame so any advice there would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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