Looks nice.  Hope it's a forgeable alloy!   Modern power plants use ball mills to powder the coal; so ask your friend about worn out mill balls to make armouring stakes from!

I hope it’s forgeable as well but I’ve got a bad feeling about it. The guy who cut it up said it was really really hard to cut. I’ve got no clue about forging bronze to begin with so there’s going to be a lot of trial and error involved. 

The determining factor is probably how well it cokes. If it tends to melt together as the volatiles cook out, you’re probably good. If not, you’ll end up with a spray of burning dust, unless your blast is turned waaaaaaaaaaaay down. 

Only planning on using the coal dust as a punch line when punching holes.  

That’s going to be a lot of holes.10,000 holes in Blackburn, Lancashire, perhaps.

Punch lube not line, Stupid autocorrect. But you got that right. I asked for a soup can full but what I got ought to last a life time. 

 Before the college where I work converted its coal-fired boiler to natural gas, we used to get the fuel delivered in that kind of fine powder.

(One of my enduring regrets is that I didn’t snag some of the heavy chunks of boiler plate when they disassembled the old one during the conversion.)

Picked up in a used book shop for a tenner. 

3 hours ago, JHCC said:

That’s going to be a lot of holes.10,000 holes in Blackburn, Lancashire, perhaps.

Oh boy!

Went to my usual steel supply for some 1/8” sheet for a project and got more than I bargained for!  They opened up a room with loads of stuff from some sort of industrial liquidation.  There is so much there that I could get.  Loads of abrasives.  Electric motors.  All sorts of stuff.  I found a scroll form in the heap!  Grabbed some others bits for tooling.  The turtle on a stick is a premade hardy tool I already need for the current project.  Shell  for my propane forge to boot!   There is steel and bronze sheet in the background.

That scrolling jig looks like good one!

Abrasives are good to load up on on the cheap. Nice pickings. The two conical pieces look like they are from a tire balancing machine. Used for different size center holes on the rims to chuck them on the balancer.

Nice!

Ranchamanben  you can mix some of that coal dust with water into a paste and pack it around the lump coal you have. I do that with my fines and it helps to bind it all together as it cokes.

That’s a good idea but I only burn coke in my forge because the ranch owners don’t want me to cut a hole in the barn for a chimney. 

WHAT THE FRIJOLES!   Coke puts out CO, invisible, no scent and cumulatively DEADLY! If you are using it in an enclosed structure YOU HAD BETTER BE USING IT WITH A CHIMNEY AND A SOURCE OF MAKE UP AIR!

What he stated! It better be REALLY drafty in there. 

Fear not Thomas. When I’m using the coke forge I have two 16’ Big Xxx Fans running and at least one of the two 14’ tall barn doors open or both of them open a couple feet open in the winter. I’m in the Texas panhandle, there’s never a shortage of wind to carry away the fumes. The barn is 50x100’ so it’s a decent sized space to begin with. I’ve actually burned coal a few times in there and it’s amazing how fast the yellow smoke upon start up will clear out. I’d just rather not deal with it at all. 

 

Mod note: the brand name of the fan Ranchmanben uses has been redacted, as it does not meet IFI's community standard for language. 

Edited August 9, 20187 yr by Mod34
Edited for inappropriate language

from my latest scrap yard trip. did allright. Got a reed pipe vise, griddle, 4-1/2" hydraulic shaft, and some larger steel plate, including a piece of 1-1/2" thick plate that I will make into basically a swage block for making flatters. will have a 1-1/2" square hole that will be plugged at the bottom to uppset the flatters in if that makes any sense.

                                                                                                                                            Littleblacksmith 

 

 

 

 

Take a look at this axe head! no telling how old it could be.

that wheel up and to the left would make a good tong rack...

Probably one of the more unusual uses for sucker rod terminations is that I once used one for a war hammer handle: hammered the sq section down to make flats to mount the handle slabs to, forged out the male threaded section, (after grinding out the threads), for a lanyard loop and used the two swells as bolster/pommel.  Squared off the shaft and twisted it.  My Bader's smallest contact wheel would just fit inside the twists allowing me to clean them up and leave the corners "rough from the forge".  I must dig it out and take a picture of it some time...(Foot Jousting hammer and so much heavier than a horseman's hammer.)

Yeah, the wheel is the perfect size for that.

That's interesting. I'd love to see a picture.

                                                                                                                                  Littleblacksmith

I was at the scrapyard once and was able to get 4 of the old steel wheelbarrow wheels; which are a bit sturdier but smaller.  I use one as a portable tong rack---forged a "trident" to stick in the ground and place the hub on the end sticking up.

I'll try to remember to get a picture of the war hammer, I think I know where it's stored up at my other house; of course I won't be going up there till the end of the month...

Paid a little more than I generally like to but I really liked this one. The maker stamps is deep and crisp. Serial number 14196 puts between 1901 and 1912. The chunks missing on the edge are very shallow and will all but disappear once the edges are properly radiused. I didn’t get a picture but on the side below the shelf are some initials, presumably from a former owner.  

I also snagged a little post vise that’s in need of some love. The screw is in good shape so it’s got that going for it.  

That's a sweet anvil! I found a post vise like that one at the scrap yard a year or so ago that I had to also straighten the leg out cause it was bent. It's perfectly usable now though. 

                                                                                                                                             Littleblacksmith 

I hobbled to the auction house last night.  Sacrificed a Franklin .  New Irwin Hanson npt tap set, new Rigid pipe cutter, 1/2 x 2 flat stock for a gullitin, 1 x 4 rounds one to be a different size rivet set.  Brass rods and vise grip brand clamps.  No ID on the drill press vise

I just fell in love with this one... she's now in my shop !