It followed me home

[wirerabbit]

Trip to the junkyard one county over. Not a jaw-dropping haul, but now I have some steel for tooling. I also grab stuff that looks cool to me. Might just hang it from a tree and get out the bb gun.

Oh, almost forgot the good part. This is just a fist full of the hundreds of pounds of this stuff. Good friend who was out scrounging with me says it's sucker rod. I've never seen sucker rod. Now I have.

I'm going to be anxious to heat some of this stuff up and do some testing.

T, near Jeddo TX

 

[Red Shed Forge]

1 hour ago, Irondragon ForgeClay Works said:

The best way to dampen the ring of an anvil is to set it in cheap latex calking compound between the anvil and stand.

Yeah, for the sake of my ears and consideration to the neighbors, I think it's passed time to do just that.  

1 hour ago, ThomasPowers said:

Totally immersing it in water will "dampen" the ring

Lol! I just imagine myself swinging a hammer underwater... could be a good muscle exercise! 

[ThomasPowers]

I've made ball stakes for SCA armour makers from the domed tank bottoms and dishing forms out of the concave ones. 

I made a hold down for a hardy hole with a pipe wrench jaw: Welded a T to the top to grab it and drilled a hole crosswise in the base to connect to a spring connected to the anvil stump.  Threads were close to my hardy size, I forged them down, but grinding would work too.

Just be sure that the rod without the joints is sucker rod too!  (Generally if found together it is; but Murphy has a mean sense of humour!)

[Donal Harris]

Leaf springs from a truck. Unknown vintage. Needed a nice chunk of spring steel for a hammer I am making. I figure this will do better than the other leaf springs I have which come from smallish utility trailers. They are no more than 1/4 “ thick. 
 

Paid the mechanic $10 and he helped me carry it to my truck. Much more than scrap price, but he is a good guy. 
 

Donal

[Frazer]

8 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

immersing it in water will "dampen" the ring

Forging in space and/or your local vacuum chamber will also dampen the ring of the anvil. Forge welds might improve too. Provided you have an induction furnace.. Hmmm... I propose an underwater vacuum chamber. No further concerns about noise sensitive neighbors like mine... I like this plan. 

[Glenn]

Bed the anvil down in a couple or three inches of sand.  Anything that kills the vibration will kill the ring.  That is why a couple of loose wraps of light weight 1000 pound test chain works.  Found some snow chains in a fellows shop and use that at one point.  No more ring from his anvil.

[JA8025]

Good to know how to dampen the ring but I think I will wait a few weeks after the shop is running before I allow the neighbors some silence.  The little bit we've been there I have seen enough drama across the street.  I think it'll be good for them to all hear some 'noise' from me 

Not to mention, I am sure I will still have not a clue about what I am doing there yet.  But hey, one is never too old to learn something new - especially not something new AND useful! (Oh, and that will tone these arms...haha)

[Glenn]

My 100 pound Peter Wright has been heard at 4 city blocks during the heat of the summer.  The same anvil has been used at 3 am in the morning, with sound deadening applied, and no one noticed.  

[ThomasPowers]

Having had a student shut down due to a complaint about them forging at their place in the city; I would advise taking the high road and staying inconspicuous---better for sniping too!

(The City came out and told him he needed an EPA permit to burn coal. So he called the EPA and when they asked him how much coal he was burning in a year and he said "500-600", "Tons?", "No Pounds!" When they got done laughing the told him not to bother them till he got up to 100 tons a year.  He asked if they would put it in writing and they did and he took that to the City.  So they told him he needed a burning permit. $25 for *every* time and it had to be paid and filed 10 business days beforehand.  He shut down forging till he could move.  Now he's a professional smith teaching blacksmithing in Columbus Ohio!)

[Red Shed Forge]

10 hours ago, Frazer said:

I propose an underwater vacuum chamber.

Seconded! haha

Nah, but I am very fortunate to live in an eclectic, blue collar subdivision with great neighbors. My smithy is near the corner of where all 4 of our backyards meet and I am almost completely covered by a border of trees and fence. My closest neighbor, whom I share a larger portion of fence with, is very supportive of me and even hired me to restore an axe for him. Never had a complaint or concerned looks from the others. I also live on a busy thoroughfare, so the frequent trucks and cars deter from my noise.  Nevertheless, I am grabbing some latex caulking on the way home today. 

However, when I first started outside my apartment complex a few years ago... I did get shut down the first day I used bituminous coal! Even if the smell of a construction zone is common around here, people still don't like it! haha. I have only used coal a few times where I am now, but no complaints so far. I hope I don't eventually get a similar reprimand, Thomas, but until then... I wait to ask for forgiveness, not permission!

[ThomasPowers]

I was lucky when I lived in the city as one of my neighbors was retired and had grown up with a coal furnace back in Pittsburgh PA  and used to tell me that the smell of coal smoke reminded her of her childhood!

My other neighbor was in a rental and trying to stay out of the view of the police and so would not report *anything*.

[Frazer]

I am also living in a residential neighborhood. Luckily my neighbor is a good guy, but we did have to lay out some ground rules since even with my anvil quieted down to more a thud, the constant hammering is enough to get under anyone's skin. I have been looking for a house with more space for a while now, but most places are priced high lately.

When the annoying one is you, in my experience, it's nice to be on good terms with the neighbors. They should enjoy their living space too. The occasional forged item for them helps as well.

[Glenn]

You can put a sheet of plywood against the ground and raised on the other end as a sound deflector.  This works for gas engines such as generators and channels the noise up toward the sky.  Reasonable close to the source of the noise and as wide as needed to protect the neighbor is all that is needed.  It blocks any visual looking over the fence as a bonus.

[JHCC]

And even more mail! 

[BsnNFrnt]

Wirerabbit. I can confirm that those are sucker rods. The short one with two coupling collars is called a sub. The collars which are called “rod boxes” are spray metal coated - I would take those things off before heating.
The rest of it is decent Tomahawk/hammer/chisel stock in my experience.

[wirerabbit]

That's great to know, Bsn. I was planning on using an end of that sub for a hardy hot cut. My little anvil has a 3/4 inch hardy and I think that rod is a bit larger than the the majority of the rod I picked up.

[Red Shed Forge]

On 9/10/2020 at 1:56 PM, Irondragon ForgeClay Works said:

The best way to dampen the ring of an anvil is to set it in cheap latex calking compound between the anvil and stand.

That combined with my angle iron anchors and a couple chains worked perfectly! From loud ring to damp "thwap." Thanks!

[BsnNFrnt]

Wire. They usually run in 5/8”, 3/4”, 7/8” and sinker bars which are 1-1/4”. If is bigger than 3/4” you can most likely rig a set up to hot fit those ends to your hardie hole. I know there have been myriad posts about that method on this site. 

[Chad J.]

This 4 inch leg vice, paid 100 for it.   In. Planning on making a better stand for it later.  I didn't see a maker's mark. 

[JHCC]

Nice. How’s the screw?

[Chad J.]

Smooth, not too tight, and well greased, I'm rather happy with this find. 

[ThomasPowers]

"Are the threads still nice and square?" is what I believe John was asking.

So Saturday I go to the scrapyard as my want and a couple of my forging buddies show up too.  Lucky for me as I had found a gas forge shell and a Reil burner.  Looks to be a typical newbie's attempt with the forge twice as big as it should be.  I was happy to let my friend buy it and advised him to cut it in half and make two forges from it---which will work well.

The 100# round of steel will be an improvised anvil for the other friend that showed up.  Just started college at New Mexico Tech; but we knew each other from the SCA and he and taken my "Intro to Blacksmithing---Set the Hook class at an SCA event.

I haven't gotten a lot of smithing stuff from that scrapyard: post vise body, two small anvils, a pair of tongs, a hack for a powerhammer and now the burner and gas forge shell.  Other goodies included a bracelet mandrel and a stake plate + lots of wrought iron and high carbon steel.  There is a pile of RR track pieces in the back but I have a gracious plenty of those already...

[Chad J.]

Yes, they are nice and square.

[TastefullyPeenedIronWorks]

This followed me home after a long night shift.  The neighbor was reducing some of his fathers things and wanted it to go to somewhere where it would be loved and taken care of.  With a handshake, some cash($265), and a forged bottle opener from the shop the deal was struck - the cart, both tanks (nearly full), 20ft long hoses, two torches with tips, cleaning tools, striker with spare flints, goggles, the whole lot of it.  Can not wait to test it all out, and help it find its permanent home somewhere here in the shop.  
My wife is slowly watching her two car garage be consumed by the trappings of a blacksmith shop, she is too good to me.  

[TheWanderingLlama]

Pics below on my $50 bonanza, but a little prelude first. 

Haven’t posted in a bit but have been steadily working on stuff. Got a post vise (JHCC’s) refurbished and a propane forge which as been great for suburban blacksmithing.  Made a hot chisel and a two pairs of tongs.  Some drive hooks and letter openers.  Processed some salvage steel into manageable pieces. Modified an engineers hammer to have a more appropriate (wider radius) peen.  Etc.  Also practiced (and succeeded) in forge welding mild steel.

My It Followed Me Home update is I just picked up all this from a local guy plus a 24” piece of rail for $50.  I felt a little guilty to be honest, but I gave him his asking price and he seemed happy enough to pass it along and see it used.

The general blacksmith tongs are all in various degrees of disrepair (and some beyond repair) - but most of them just need a bit of dressing up and the rivet tightened.

There are several pairs of hoof nippers  and they are all in generally good shape.  I don’t plan on nipping any hooves any time soon, so those might become something else as needed.

Several of the items are wrought iron which is pretty cool.

My tong supply just swelled from 3 to many fold more.  Plus all kinds of other goodies.  I was planning on being in “tool making” mode for a while longer - this is a great time saver.