Tools for the shop you make yourself

[wroughtn_harv]

I love the sky hooks! That is entirely too kewl.

If I was more like myself and pretty uncouth I'd say that garage had three pounds of stuff in a one pound bag. That's the way it should be.

Here's a <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.flash.net/~dwwilson/forge/forgeplans.html>professional set of photos and directions on a gas forge</A> just cause you asked.

I'm hoping to do some photos tomorrow on the progress of the doors. I'll try to nail a picture of the gas forge while I'm at it. If'n I don't I hope to real soon do a demo on bending big tubing with some heat and there'll be a bunch of pictures of it then.

I haven't sat down and tried to figure just why that cable moved that fence like that. But it sure as fired moved it. In some of the sweeps the bottoms were moved in from a couple of inches to about six in places. That's the bottoms of the posts cause the top was welded in with the top rail. Concrete and all, about the second darnedest thing I ever saw. First is too numerous to go into.

I'm glad you like some of the things I like to talk about. I guess it's cause some years ago I hit a fork in the road. On one side the sign read "fools". The one on the other said "tools". So other folks talk about each other and all the idiots they know or have heard about cause evidently when they hit that fork in the road they chose the one I didn't.

 

[mrcaptainbob]

credit....

Compliments to your parents, Wraughtn Harv. Here's to who taught you and to you learnin'.......

 

[Corm]

Re: credit....

I'd like to second that vote if I may. I look forward every day to your posts. Your willingness to share your knowledge is really appreciated. I wish I knew someone close to me that had your knowledge and experience. I believe you've created quite a following on this site. Please keep these posts coming! Thanks in advance! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Corm

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Re: credit....

Last night as I was working on the leaves for the flowers for the door I was thinking about the fun of work and this forum.

I decided that my work technique was sorta like Muhammed Ali taking on a puncher. It's all about jabs and just pecking away until the big opening appears

A good example of this technique is watching spence and his adventure with his personnel lift. You start off with a concept and some general rules and then as it comes together you adjust and modify and in the end there is this thing. And when it's all done you're as much surprised as anyone how it turned out.

Of course the biggest obstacle to this method of work is self doubt and fear. Probably the second biggest obstacle is not having the skills required to do the job to the level of competence that you want.

In 96 I succumbed to a good friend's good intentions and went to work for him and his company. He'd started out asking me to come to work for him. I offered him a job as a counterpoint. He explained that couldn't happen. The very qualities that made me an attractive employee made me too demanding a boss. He doubted he could work for me a month with seriously considering murder an act of self defense.

Within a couple of weeks I realized that my options at the job was to become semiliterate with a computer or spending a day and a half at a desk every week writing reports. The company bought me a computer.

The first thing to happen of course was I did something to make it crash. I called up the guru. Now I know ya'll have never dealt with a computer guru at work. But this one was the kind that put on his robe, adjusted his crown, made sure the ring was facing just so, before he answered the phone.

High and mighty don't hunt with me. I immediately dirtied the robe, sent the crown a across the room and darn near jerked the ring off his finger. I explained to him that there was only one difference between us. It was the number of times we'd screwed up with the computer. He'd screwed up many more times than I had which didn't make him special by any stretch of the imagination.

Of all the things I'm afraid of the last thing would be that silly plastic box in front of me. So since he wasn't any more special than me and I wasn't afraid of that box we needed to get to work.

We got along great once we got the rules straight.

I think the best thing for anyone wanting to pick up a new skill is to develop that same attitude. There is no magic. The only difference between the accomplished and the rookie is the number of times one's failed. The rookie assumes failing is bad. It isn't. It's part of the process of learning. It has nothing to do with character or one's potential unless it becomes an unsurmountable obstacle.

The other thing I think is important is accepting that one doesn't have the skill level one really wants to have with a function. So one has to manipulate and conspire to accomplish what one wants. If you can't weld a bead that gives you confidence figure out how to use rivets or another fastener. Most folks are going to think it's because you feel the fastener method is actually better than a weld and so you went that way because you're smarter than you look.

Today I'm going to be venturing off into a segment of blacksmithing where I really have no self permission to go. But I'm going to go there anyway.

Now I do have one or two advantages over most folks when I do this. Probably the most important one is that I've failed and fixed more times than just about anyone. So I understand that failing isn't all that bad. It happens, often. But fixing isn't that hard either. And since I've failed so often I'm constantly aware of methods to fix if a failure happens. I prepare for failure and so it isn't devastating.

And probably just as important is I'm not smart enough to know that I shouldn't or probably can't or that a rational person wouldn't.

I also am blessed with the confidence one gets from having had occasional victories. The failures were expected and so they don't count. But there have been enough victories that part of me is expecting another one cause they have happened before.

So today as I work spence and me will be in the same world. We'll be dancing with self doubt as we're moving to the music that making things provides. It's sorta like dancing with the prettiest girl in the room and suspecting that you might have the chance to take her home at evening's end.

 

[bgott]

Re: credit....

"The only difference between the accomplished and the rookie is the number of times one's failed. "

I always figured you had experience when you knew when you screwed up, could figure out how to fix your screw up and do it in such a way that nobody else knew that you'd screwed up in the first place.

 

[Rockyroad]

wroughtn harv-

Thanks for the advice.

We can get all kinds of coal here in Rhode Island. The real good stuff - genuine Pennsylvania low sulphur Anthracite. I burn it in my house in an old Jotul coal stove that I have had for about 20 years. Much better than wood, no chimney fires, and it burns long and clean. But it can be hard on the stove.

The coal yard I buy from has it in the smaller size they call pea coal, so I think I'll take my truck and get a quarter ton to play with. If I don't like it, I can always burn it in the house.

I will be in contact with the two names you gave me of blacksmiths. The name for the guy in Rhode Island probably lives 20 minutes from me, so I will give him a call and see if I can drop by his shop some day.

The last time I did any work with the forge was maybe 25 years ago. An antique dealer was selling the big cast iron pots that he got out of Canada. They are about a yard across the top. One had a hole drilled in the bottom (?) and I was able to buy that for about $25. My wife wanted it for a planter. The handle was missing, so I scrounged a bar of steel and heated it in the Buffalo forge with regular charcoal and got it hot enough to make a nice smooth bend and also was able to heat the ends up red hot so I could forge hooks to put into the eyes cast on the side of the pot. The hole in the bottom is great since it drains excess water. It is in my front yard to this day.

Anyways, I want to get into amateur blacksmithing as time allows, and I appreciate the advice and ideas I find here on the TBN.

I was down the barn last night looking at the rafters trying to figure out how to make a sliding rig for my Lincoln tombstone like the one in your pictures for your MIG. Great idea...

 

[rotr]

RockyRoad
With you already having a perfectly fine forge, use what coal you have. There are various degrees of coal types.

This is between soft and hard. Soft burns quicker and hard is difficult to light. Don't worry about using coke as the coal will work fine in your Buffalo forge.

The secret is to start your forge up and let the coal on the sides of the main fire absorb the heat. This slowly convert it to coke and slowly burns off the imputities. As the center fire burns down, drag the coal/coke from the sides to the center and then move or place more coal to the sides.

There's no magic, just practice. Also, dont worry about the grate burning out, because it eventully will (probably in 20 to 20 years).

I have an old pump rivet forge (guessing the teens to 20s era) I restored and have used for many years and demonstrations. The only difficult part is the pumping. At least you only have to crank.

Give it a try, I think you will surprise yourself with the forge you have.

 

[rotr]

Re: credit....

WroughtnHav youre sneeeeekin over the line and are bout to get up to your neck. Although its ok. Youre doing good by sendin the boys to the right sights. Keep up the good work!

ron

 

[jhburke]

Re: credit....

My dad always said the difference between a green and an a experienced employee was that the experienced one had made mistakes and learned how to do it correct. The green one hadn't made any mistakes. Experience is only gained by trial and error.

 

[Von]

Harv, I wouldn't say lazy, I'd say smart. Attached are some photos of a rotisserie for cars that I made so I wouldn't have to weld laying down. sure is nice when whatever you are welding is at waist level and flat, but I sure don't need to tell you that! Here is Porsche 911 targa that need alittle TLC to make it whole again!