January 18, 20233 yr On 1/16/2023 at 6:23 PM, Frosty said: I recommend not throwing any chain you didn't make yourself in the forge, galvanized chain can rust under the right conditions but the zinc is still there. The galvy can be stripped by soaking in diluted muriatic or acetic acid acid or for longer in vinegar. Frosty The Lucky. seawater also does wonders to galvy chain, it works better if you put in a rusty steel chainlocker and shake it daily. don't forget to check on it; because in 5 years you can clean out the locker with a broom and shovel. this story is not based on realtime events
January 20, 20233 yr Haul from the scrap yard today, 20 feet of 3/8”x 1” flat bar jack hammer bit big truck coil spring 5 feet of 5/8 hex 1-3/4” tapered down to 1” solid bale spear 4 feet long a solid square spike 1-1/2” tapered down to a point 34” long oxygen bottle, Big horse shoe, old funky wrench, misc angle iron, 12” x 5/8” round bar .30 cents a pound today, I was a little over but they rounded down to 100 pounds even and loaned me a portable angle grinder to cut the 20 foot flat bar in half oh and a free truck tire to make Max a swing with!
January 20, 20233 yr Might try that out if I have some leftovers, or run back down an buy some more, they got piles an piles of bar stock down there in all kinda sizes, I got this bar stock for use on a few stand projects, im messing around with some tripod stands for a couple anvils, I’ve never tried the tripods before so it will be something new in the smithy
January 20, 20233 yr Good haul Billy, I have 2 anvils on tripods and that’s all I’ll use for anymore that I mount. Very stable, quietens the anvil and is easy to move around on a concrete floor. I used 2” pipe on the first and 2” square on the second, because that’s the scrap I had laying around, and both work great.
January 20, 20233 yr Thanks Les! I really like my steel sand stands because I can swap out different anvils and swage blocks I have on them but I wanted a light weight permanent stand for the 60 pound Trenton to take portable and I wanted to get the 172 pound Trenton off its oak block an it won’t fit in my sand stands cause it has a big footprint I’m doin 2”x2” square legs for the portable and made it to put the face wrist high since it’s for light projects the bigger Trenton has 4”x4” x 1/4” walled legs with 1/2” plate top an 1/2” plate squares for the feet so it’s heavier built gonna do angle iron an expanded metal underneath both for tooling storage I ain’t figured out what I’ll do for hammer holders on either yet though, there’s so many different ways I’ve seen folks make theirs it’s hard to pick an idea! Lol the flat bar I got today is for making the half moons and the sides to box in both anvils
January 21, 20233 yr John whatcha need that drawin book for? You got all those fancy gizmos an gadgets to help you make perfect lines an measurements!
January 21, 20233 yr Nah, there’s a difference between drawing and drafting. Coming up with designs and getting them down on paper helps me think through what I want a piece to look like, even before I light the forge. It’s another way to train the brain and the eye.
January 21, 20233 yr Swung by the welding supply this morning to get a cylinder of ArCO2 (shown tied to my stock rack until I have a chance to modify my welding cart to accommodate it) and some .023” wire. I now have everything I need to try MIG welding! I do still have quite a lot of the 50 lb spool of the .035” flux-core wire left, which I’ll be using for structural and utility work around the shop until it’s used up. My guy was kind enough to give me an empty 11 lb spool, which I won’t have to rewind as freely as the 2 lb one I’ve been using. (Funny story: The only empty spool he hangs onto originally held Lincoln Innershield flux-core wire. He keeps it to show to customers who insist that they only buy Lincoln wire, “because it’s made in the USA!” That spool is clearly marked “Made in Mexico”.)
January 21, 20233 yr Got this at the antique store today. $4.75 out the door. I’m wondering if I should try to reshape the front to make it more of a hot cut, a thinner profile? I am for sure going to trim the end!!
January 21, 20233 yr Author Looks like the chisel used to score a rail road track rail so it can be broken. Definitely remove the mushrooming before you use it.
January 21, 20233 yr Interesting!! What do you think about reprofiling it? I don’t have enough experience with a handled hot cut.
January 21, 20233 yr Dress the mushrooming, put a handle on it and get some experience using a hot cut? Frosty The Lucky.
January 21, 20233 yr Yeah, that's the common wisdom. Unfortunately the Blacksmith way is to fix it until it IS broken. Frosty The Lucky.
January 21, 20233 yr Author Blacksmithing hot cut. Cold chisels Dressing the end of a chisel. Take note of the struck end. Rail Road cold cut chisel
January 22, 20233 yr Your comment made me laugh out loud Frosty! That picture and this handled hot cut from a blacksmith's store look very similar to my untrained eye Glenn
January 22, 20233 yr These tongs were given to me. There long an heavy, I reworked the jaws so they'll handle 1 inch stock. Don't know if I'll find a use for them.
January 23, 20233 yr mail call got this in the mail this morning will do some tests in my members thread against a lower temp, higher quality thermometer. according to some reviews the quality control is not 100% but customer service is supposed to be reasonable M.J.Lampert
January 24, 20233 yr On 1/20/2023 at 4:36 PM, TWISTEDWILLOW said: Haul from the scrap yard today,....oxygen bottle. Billy, make a bell from that O2 bottle. I made one to hang out by my forge and really enjoy listening to it when the wind blows. I used an old pizza pan for the wind vane and a wooden disk inside for the clapper.
January 24, 20233 yr On 1/21/2023 at 5:18 PM, Glenn said: Blacksmithing hot cut. Oh, please, don't copy that one! I made the taper too small, and it kept getting stuck in the hardy hole!
January 25, 20233 yr Mail call! Another business trip, another Home Depot rental counter, another trio of jackhammer bits. (No note from the TSA, though. I’m disappointed.)
January 26, 20233 yr We have a good friend who works for the TSA, I'll see about getting a number to call and get notes for your luggage from now on John. How's that for helping a friend? Frosty The Lucky. Edited January 26, 20233 yr by Frosty Help one of my friends get over the confusion.
January 26, 20233 yr A. They’d just be adding to the pile already in my suitcase. Edited January 26, 20233 yr by JHCC Confusion removed.
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.