September 25, 200718 yr I found this on Craigslist.com with a search on blacksmith. now all I have to do is find a way to raise it so I don't have to work on my knees. Behind it is the almost completed Great Bellows Re-build Project, there is at least one more week to go on it. Bellows was also a craigslist find but it was a basket case. I have almost 100 photos of the rebuild, there should be a blueprint in there some where. The forge has a small champion blower on it, that runs like a clock. Cost: $50 and half a tank of gas. Space alien turning mini forge blower
September 26, 200718 yr Author I scored this 4 shelf stand today. While trying to take a photo, the wife looked out the window and declared that it needed to reside in the laundry room not the smithy. Why don't they make these things in basic black, with grease attached?
September 26, 200718 yr Glenn, Like Dale said: "Move Fast" ...... and also carry a can of flat black spray paint in your vehicle!! Be safe! Old Rusty Ted
October 4, 200718 yr Found these at an auction recently along with some other goodies, but can't seem to locate the pictures of the rest. $15 for the lot Also spent $15 for a box of old files 45-50 of them. Good for a hot file or just stock. had the tool collector/smith that used to work in my location give me 5 or 6 hand grinding machines. spent $15 for 5 coolers of various sizes, using one for holding my vinegar, another for keeping the moisture out of my borax and washing soda. one to keep some drinks at the job, one for my lunch. another $15 for 2 hacksaws, 15 new blades, 4 wood chisels, 2 brace drills and 3 adjustable bits to go with them.
October 7, 200718 yr Author I have been looking for a small air compressor, to use as a spare for the shop. Not looking hard, just asking around. Well TPAAAP works. I got a phone call from a friend saying he found one, used, and just taken out of service. The roll of duct tape is for scale.
October 7, 200718 yr its a quincy, I have one almost the same that I got from the local dump years ago. the thing on the top is a hydraulic unloader valve.
October 7, 200718 yr Speaking of Quincys, I just bought one myself. Found out that even though it has a 15 HP motor on it, it is a 20 HP model. Now I have to figure out some way to power it in a single phase shop. (VFD / replacing the motor are my top options at this point)
October 8, 200718 yr Author It looked like a forge to me. It has a 6 inch inlet, is over 24 inches in diameter and 3/8 or 1/2 inch thick steel. I don't know where I can ever get enough air or coal to make it work, but I got a BIG FORGE one when I need it. That is a 55 gallon drum lid inserted into the opening and it still has some room to spare.
October 8, 200718 yr by the weld on the big end, it was cut off of something, probably an air cushion chamber for something in the past. Usually there is a much smaller one somewhere in your house water plumbing to prevent air hammer in the lines.
October 8, 200718 yr Made 3 scores over the weekend, got myself a nice condition 4" post vise missing the spring and mounting hardware and a huge 3 foot long pair of bench/hardy shears for 50 bucks, and my other aquisition was actually via ebay, a 125lb stake anvil (monstrous for anyone who knows stake anvils / bickerns) for 105 bucks + ~85 in shipping since it would have cost about 85-100$ in gas to pick it up + 12 hours of driving. Will get pictures when I'm able.
October 8, 200718 yr Author Collective gasp, look at the size of that forge !! Wait a minute!! If that is just a tad larger than the drum head on the 55 gallon drum, and we used the 55 gallon drum to make the 55 Forge . . . . then that would make the 55 Forge the same BIG SIZE !! Pardon my excitement, I just realized that I already have a working forge that size, (sigh). Well, now I have a spare forge body if I need one.
October 8, 200718 yr 6 inches is stove pipe size......might make a great top for a 55 gal. drum/pot belly style shop stove.
October 8, 200718 yr Wow ...nice compresor 20 HP i wish for one too How big is the tank ? 200 gallons. Got some more literature on it. If it has a 20 HP motor on it, it would put out 67 CFM at 175 psi. I could almost run 3 kinyon hammers on that....
October 9, 200718 yr 200 gallons. Got some more literature on it. If it has a 20 HP motor on it, it would put out 67 CFM at 175 psi. I could almost run 3 kinyon hammers on that.... when i'll grow bigger i'll get one of that .Sa-l folosesti sanatos ! This means Use it healthy !i don't know if you have this word in english this is what we say in romania when somebody get's a new toy:)
October 9, 200718 yr How do you all find so many spikes and what not on the railroad Just walk down the RR tracks, watch out for trains!
October 9, 200718 yr Just walk down the RR tracks, watch out for trains! m_brothers - DO NOT WEAR A WALKMAN or an MP3 PLAYER when walking the railroad tracks!
October 9, 200718 yr This followed me home from Smiley's Flea Market one day for $25 Keen Kutter; stamped SOLID STEEL PAT.JAN.14.96 MADE IN U.S.A. 4 empty steel Balloon Time helium tanks followed me home from work about a week ago as well.
October 9, 200718 yr Collective gasp, look at the size of that forge !!Wait a minute!! If that is just a tad larger than the drum head on the 55 gallon drum, and we used the 55 gallon drum to make the 55 Forge . . . . then that would make the 55 Forge the same BIG SIZE !! Pardon my excitement, I just realized that I already have a working forge that size, (sigh). Well, now I have a spare forge body if I need one. Not quite Glenn. Yur recent aquisition looks like the fire pot, not the whole forge. I'd say the entire forge would have to be based on the end of a 500 gl fuel tank rather than a 55gl. drum. (size wise. Don't actually use a fuel tank unless you REALLY know what you're doing!) I'd say it looks like a fire pot for forging anvils. Large anvils and other large stuff. Frosty
October 9, 200718 yr It looked like a forge to me. It has a 6 inch inlet, is over 24 inches in diameter and 3/8 or 1/2 inch thick steel. Thats cool. I think it would make a good slack tub. Plug up the hole with a big wooden plug or weld it up and fill it with water...
October 9, 200718 yr first salvage trip along a local rail line. all the spikes are 6.5", a bit short for my ideal spikeknife, but I think I'll flatten the handle part out and wrap it in leather to make up for its diminutive length, rather than doing the twist handle and having a 1" blade. Obviously I cannot forge the baseball or the half-rusted can opener into anything useful, but do you folks have any suggestions for the rest of this stuff? I've got a decent anvil, so I don't need the plate for its hardy holes or anything. As I said, a few of those spikes will become knives (probably xxxx steel, so they will be decorative), a few will become incense holders, and I'd like to save some to forge into ribs (gonna make a xxxxxx skeleton once I've got enough stuff and a torch), but everything else is up in the air. Also, I am a beginner. This is the first stock I've owned that wasn't 1/4" nail-rod pinched from work (with permission). It is a momentous occasion. do you think any of that stuff could be made into useful tools? I should probably throw a spring-fuller together, but I don't know quite how springy any of these parts will be.
October 10, 200718 yr Ok, here are pictures of my aquisitions from the last two weekends. Also to show that you can get started in blacksmithing for quite a low cost overall. I picked up this firepot / standalone forge made from a brake drum and welded up with a clinker breaker and ash dump, and the gorgeous handcrank blower at the new england blacksmith's spring meet. This blower is in imaculate shape. You know you have a really good blower when you crank it and let go and it keeps turning around for a while after you stop. I paid $200 for the forge and blower.http://www.tharkis.com/images/coalforge.jpg I then hit the hardware store near me which i found out actually will get bituminous smithing coal and bought 250lbs for ~50 bucks http://www.tharkis.com/images/coal.jpg Then this last weekend I picked up this huge shear and this small leg vise (with excelent threads) for 50$ togetherhttp://www.tharkis.com/images/shear.jpghttp://www.tharkis.com/images/smallvise.jpg I'm going to build a portable mount for the vise, because my large shop vise is attached to my bench, and weighs over 110 lbs without the bench, so it's not very portable. Lastly I purchased this 125lb stake anvil (yes 125lbs, aka monstrous for a stake anvil, largest I've seen myself) for 105$ http://www.tharkis.com/images/stakeanvil.jpg True, Iv'e spent a lot of money in the last 2 weeks on more smithing equipment for my shop, but when you look at it, for 405$ plus some gas, Iv'e in the last 2 weeks obtained a complete forging setup, including vise, anvil, and fuel for a LOT of forging. Yet relativly that's a very very small amount of money I've spent by being patient and doing a decent bit of driving to get to the right places >_<
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