Then I would have to sell him a forge and blower, those are my toys now. He is already pulled in so many directions he doesn't know if he's coming or going.

That's when you say to them: "I'll buy it from you for a couple of hundred and if you get ready to need it I'll sell it to you at the same price!"

You get to use it and for some strange mysterious reason; having an anvil seems to make the second anvil show up a lot easier than the first----perhaps a "decoy" effect?

Old Files: I always look for the OLD black diamond files, (the ones before they are stamped Nicholson), as they were 120 points C and so help juice up a billet that trends low. At some point Nicholson went back to around 100 points and I don't have a field method of telling one from another save for the earlier marking style.

First fire in the forge that followed me home the other day. The depression for the tuyere lent it's self nicely for a side blast bowl I had welded up awhile back. 

Nice job Laynne, it's very blacksmitherly to adapt whatever's at hand to a job and you've put a nice bit of polish on it.  How is the hood and stack at drawing the smoke?

Frosty The Lucky.

It does a pretty decent job. One puff made my eyes water during six hours today. I will eventually replace the eight inch pipe with ten. I will almost always make do with what I have for as long as I can. I have been called tight, I say frugal.

Lower the hood by 1/2 the distance it is above the fire now. Leave it high enough to sight past the edge of the hood and still see things.

Make a shield or wall to run around the hood so you have a working area and the shield or wall blocks any unneeded air from entering the hood opening. This makes the hood pull the smoke and exhaust from the fire, not the room.

Little things sometimes make a large difference.

Didn't really follow me home, but I did go to the freight company to pick this up.  Can't wait to get it plugged in and running.

Happy for you, Billy.  That's gonna make your knifemaking a whole lot of accurate.  I'm envious for sure.

2 minutes ago, Chris The Curious said:

That's gonna make your knifemaking a whole lot of accurate.

Thanks, Chris.  That's the hope anyway.  A little intimidated by the TAP controller (having been weaned before computers), but excited to get it programmed for all HT processes.  

I fully understand.  I'm computer illiterate and find those and PID controllers rather intimidating myself.

Don’t fret; it’s just like setting the clock on your VCR. 

What's a VCR?????

In that case, like I do is ask my wife. Our Skutt kiln said it's so simple even a ten year old can do it, trouble was I don't know any ten year olds.

Boy, can I relate to that statement!!!!!

1 hour ago, Glenn said:

Make a shield or wall to run around the hood so you have a working area and the shield or wall blocks any unneeded air from entering the hood opening. This makes the hood pull the smoke and exhaust from the fire, not the room.

I will give the enclosure a try. The hood is set at a height that I can just see the far side of the fire when I am at the blower. Thanks

Arrived in the mail today, a new motor for The Pressciousss. We now have the same power as before, but a little more than twice the speed. 

(Note: the advertising copy said it was reversible, but the enclosed documentation said it wasn’t. Fortunately, it was already set up to rotate in the proper direction.)

Anxious to watch your progress with this project.   I'd really like to have a press someday.

Did you see its thread?

This didn’t exactly follow me home — at least not recently. I was working on The Pressciouss yesterday and noticed a loud rattle coming from inside the hydraulic fluid reservoir. Some careful shaking and gentle manipulation, and this emerged:

Yes, I've been watching this thread, JHCC.  I should have been more specific.  What I meant was I'm anxious to see the press when you get it finished and its working.  I appreciate projects like this one.

2 hours ago, JHCC said:

Some careful shaking and gentle manipulation, and this emerged:

How long did you look for it before buying another one?  That's probably what the mech. working on it did when s/he lost that screw back when. Heck it might have come with it from the factory, though I doubt it, that one has wear on it so it's been screwed into something long enough to wear the original patina / plating. 

How's it coming John?

Frosty The Lucky.

 

 

When I worked for a Cadillac dealer in the '70s, an Eldorado came into the shop with a complaint of a rattle & clunking sound. The service department finally found out the source of the noise. It was a 1 inch steel ball bearing rolling back & forth in the passenger side frame rail. The only way that could have gotten in there was when the car was on the assembly line at the factory. Someones idea of a practical joke on a Friday.

3 hours ago, Frosty said:

How long did you look for it before buying another one? 

 Now that I think of it, you had recommended that I check the hydraulic system for debris….

19 hours ago, JHCC said:

Don’t fret; it’s just like setting the clock on your VCR. 

Thanks, but not much help.  Haven't had a TV (or VCR) for the past 14 years.....No 10 year-olds nearby either.  I'll figure it out.

You get the word out and use the TPAAAT, sometimes stuff doesn't just follow you home but starts showing up at your doorstep. Big box of "stainless" silverware wound up in my shop. Many metal sculptural uses for this stuff. Time to get serious with some other projects I've had in mind for silverware. Birds, dragons, reptiles, insects, etc.