The Fly Ash Storm

Record heat and drought are well established here this summer.  It was 108º when I closed the shop and came up to the house yesterday.  Rather suddenly some clouds appeared with thunder, lightening and wind with horizontal rain.  One 10” trunk tree to our north snapped off near the ground and another 12” red haw just southeast of the house snapped off  about 2’ above the ground.  It was all over in about 10 minutes except for a two hour power outage.  The .4” of rain will not help much as the forecast if for over 100º days as far as a weather person can see.

When I turned on the lights in the forge room this morning I noticed everything was covered with black dust.  I took a little investigation to conclude that the storm had pushed a blast of air down the forge flue and cleared out a lot of accumulated fly ash.  Maybe that’s actually a good thing.

http://www.persimmonforge.com/

Tumbler Vacuum Installed

At the end of February I wrote that the tumbler shaft had been bored so that I could rig a vacuum to collect dust.  Five months later, my helper, Scott, installed the rest of the system.  That’s pretty typical of how things work here.

He fabricated a trap which surrounds the shaft.  It fits closely but doesn’t interfere with rotation.  The exhaust duct attaches at the top and a slide gate is built into the bottom for clearing the heavier debris.  About six feet downstream is a Dayton 134 CFM/1500 RPM forge blower which pushes the air outdoors through a dryer vent type opening.

Since the tumbler runs on 220v and the blower is 115v I decided to put the blower on it’s own timer, a Woods 59717 60-Minute Mechanical Wall Switch.  It’s not much trouble to turn two dials now instead of one.

The system has been operational for several days.  The interior of the tumbler seems very clean, nearly dust free.  The real proof will be after the whole work space has been cleaned well to see if it stays significantly cleaner.  I’ll probably get around to that in five or six months.

http://www.persimmonforge.com/

I Missed the ABANA Conference

The Reunion on the great plains, The ABANA 2012 Conference, was held at the Central States Fairgrounds in Rapid City, South Dakota July 18-21, 2012.  It’s the first one I missed since Asheville in 1998.

Fortunately some friends sent me images from their iPhones.  I found this link which may interest others who couldn’t attend and also those who did.  Check out Doug Wilson’s 2012 Conference images:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ironalchemy/sets/72157630643045158/

I was pleased that my friend, Rob Fertner, of CSMA won the contest and was chosen as the designer of the conference poster graphics.  I definitely will try to get to the next conference in 2014.  I’m telling myself it wasn’t so bad to miss this one because the heat wave temperatures were brutal.

http://www.persimmonforge.com/

Nichols Shear Postscript

I realized that it might be a good idea to provide more detail about how the holes are oriented in the shear blades.  The center to center distance of the working holes to the pivot hole is about 5/8” and they are aligned at about about 60º angle intervals.

Another thing to consider when cutting stock is the shape of the severance surface.  The shear created a nearly perfect vertical break with a flat end which is ideal in many situations.  Sometimes the work favors a hacked severance or scissored severance which leaves a tapered end.  Pick the right tool for the job.

http://www.persimmonforge.com/

Out of the Hole, Around the Tree...

Today I tied a piece of nylon cord to a keeper pin on a power hammer with a bowline knot and it reminded me that I had tied this knot probably a thousand times, maybe more.  The bowline knot is my favorite.  I once worked where it was the only acceptable knot for securing important things.  I was taught to tie it using the rabbit and rabbit hole story and I have used that as my preferred method of teaching as even children can grasp it’s simplicity.

I was disappointed when I went to Google search and typed “bowline knot rabbit” and found no illustrations showing a rabbit.  I was thinking it could really be a cute illustration.

The only real trick, which is usually well illustrated but not usually explicitly stated in the story is making sure the hole and tree are started properly - that is the tree trunk goes under the rope where it loops to form the hole.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowline

I have forged some simple iron knots but never a bowline.  Maybe I’ll give it a try.  Maybe I could use one of those rope swages and make some stock to fit into a nautical forging.  https://www.blacksmithsdepot.com/page.php?theLocation=/Resources/Product/SWAGE_spring/Rope_Spring_Swage.xml/&PHPSESSID=b75f1413a284ff31dbc4d8ccd6bca022

http://www.persimmonforge.com/

Don Nichols Round Stock Shear

On May 16, 2001 I mentioned my round stock shear made by Don Nichols.

http://persimmonforge.blogspot.com/2011/05/storing-tool-steel.html

Don and Joyce stopped over on their way home from the ABANA conference in Rapid City and we had a nice visit.  I asked if he minded if I wrote a post about this great tool which he makes from time to time and he said I could do it.

He said that his versions have some variations based on what is available as tool steel scrap.  He usually selects 4140 which can be drilled and then oil quenched.  I looked for web references about heat treating and found several.  It sounds like heating to above magnetic and quenching in ATF or a light cooking oil would work.  Heating the oil a little may help too.

The shear design is mechanically a clever four-bar linkage.  The length ratios produce a powerful force multiplication so cutting the round stock requires very little effort but I’ve never taken the time to do the math on it.  I have set up my tool with an anvil tang and a vise tang, added a length stop and padded the handle with sash cord.

I’m on my second shear now only because a piece of 3/8” round 5160 coil spring got mixed up in the mild steel stock and broke a blade.  I’m really careful not to water cool even mild steel which may later be cut.  Water quenched 1020 or A36 may not dependably harden enough to make a decent tool but it can harden enough to ruin an edge tool or bandsaw blade.

http://www.persimmonforge.com/

Ball-end Tong Reins

I have found tong reins with bulbous terminations very appealing to use.  While I’m waiting for the heat and they are just dangling from my hand the balls allow good control with a minimum of grip.  From time to time I have purchased a few of these two types at conferences.

Billy Tongs

http://www.piehtoolco.com/contents/en-us/d1047.html

Tom Tongs

http://www.blacksmithsupply.com/catalog.aspx?StoreName=blacksmith_supply&DeptID=202755&page=2

As a result of liking their feel, I have modified most of my other tongs by adding welded mild steel punch drops from 3/8” plate to the rein ends.  Sometimes I drilled a center hole in the drop.

Punch drops are one of my favorite type of mild steel stock.  I pick them up at a local engineering/fabricating company and dump them in the tumbler where they serve as aggregate until I find a more specific use.  A lot of them are used as filler metal in various constructions. Some are forged into botanical elements such as grapes or berries or buds.  Some are welded to spring dies to constrain the registration of the top die.  Hardly a day goes buy without using a few.

I suppose I don’t have enough big things to think about if I muse on the little details which make work a more comfortable experience.

One Set Hammer

The past two weeks brought the most dreadful stretch of hot and dry weather I have ever endured.  Last night we got a soaking rain and the temperature dropped so maybe that is the end of it.  I haven’t done any forging throughout that time and concentrated on some torch projects and repair and cleanup.

In the process of organizing I came across a set hammer I bought years ago in an antique store.  At the time I bought it mostly because I hadn’t seen one like it.  It occurred to me that, still, I haven’t seen another like it.  I’ve only used it a few times.  What makes it different is the incorporation of both straight and radius edge lines in the face.

It appears to be factory made with the number 34 stamped on the bottom side.  The face seems to be hard and the struck top area softer.  It was mushroomed when I got it and I have dressed away the overhang.

Set tools don’t see frequent use in the studio.  A long handled 3” flatter and a short handled 2” flatter are the most used. I have made a couple of rocking flatters for use with the power hammers and the hydraulic forging press.

So now the hammer is back on the rack where seldom used hammers go, living out the dilemma of the very special tool.  When I need it, it is just the thing.  Trouble is, I hardly ever need it.

http://www.persimmonforge.com/