Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Re: The Lady Propane
ThomD
>I was headed down that path until I discovered the "lady propane", to quote Hank Hill.
The killer for me was that I actually priced coal, which turns out to be only slightly cheaper than diamonds. I have had a mild change of heart since coming across a thread on alternative forging fuels from home made charcoal to the apparently wonderful cow pie... With the price of gas... However, in the hood, I think propane remains the neighbourly choice.
Re: Ease of Sharpening is relative
ThomD
>We are all different, but I worry about drawing O1 as much as I worry about hitting parked cars driving down a road. I remember when I did worry but it but no more. The simplest avoidance strategy I know of is to grind with bare hands and dip the steel in water, when the water pulls back from the edge, dip again. But for sharpening I find it a non issue, there just isn't enough material to remove. Assuming we are talking dry grinding. I do some hand sharpening also, and it isn't an issue thre of course.
And what is the worst that could happen? I would have to HT it again, which is about as big a problem as cooking a hot dog, because I can do it at home.
Adam, if you want to laminate good steel to iron, buy some hitachi blue or white steel and get welding, dicks has it at surprisingly low prices. That is where I am headed, well maybe. I'm still ballancing out the desire to learn to make "best" quality tools, another hobby, vs. fleshing out my using tools for which I find anything in the antique quality "cast" range more than enough. I already have the main tools 5 times over and the sidebar tools won't get used enough to mater all that much.
Thanks Dave
Bob Hackett(Mainely,Bob)
>These are definitely chasing hammers.
What drew me to them was the attention to detail in thier construction.They`re not near as nice as the engraving hammer in your pic but far better than any run of the mill hammer.
Before I found these buried at a yard sale(beep-beep)I had used a pick type body hammer to tap out a Japanese plane iron,so I have one of those too(a Snap-On,also a garage sale find).
Thanks for all the info and when I get around to a project where I can use these I`ll contact you off-line to get more tips on how to do it correctly.The wife is hinting at custom copper garden lamps so it may be as soon as this summer.
Mainely,Bob
natural charcoal-how do you make it?
Gary B in Central NY
>I'm just curious.....
Anytime, Bob... *LINK*
David Barnett - SW Florida
>One very cool thing about repousse in nonferrous metals is that you probably already have everything you need, especially for larger projects like garden lights, sconces, door skins, and so on. Punches made from scrap (wood, plastics, metal), a 1 to 2 lb ball pein hammer, a hacksaw, some carpet squares (pitch is only absolutely essential for small work), something to heat up the metal now and then and something to pickle it and you're good to go. Only a couple other crafts come close to such utter simplicity and cheapness.
Adolph Steines did most of his work with little more than the above. Here's a short bio.
Adolph Steines
For a good description of charcoal-making...
David Barnett - SW Florida
>...in early industrial America (the pit method), read Eric Sloan's "Reverence for Wood".
Here you go, complete with photos. *LINK*
Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX
>
Making Charcoal
Re: Here you go, complete with photos.
ThomD
>I think that was the site that originally convinced me I wouldn't want to have anything to do with charcoal making. The thread on alternative fuels was on Don Foggs execellent forum, which is currently down as they attempt to deal with some hacking problems. The thread in question had similar methods to the one Pam posted, and I guess just seeing some simpler versions made it seem like something one could fairly easily do. That and the fact that one can forge with a variety of solid fuels that don't require preparation made me think there would be life after propane. And as mentioned before, the circumstances for a solid fuel forge would probably be pretty much the same circumstance in which and avid BBQer would give up a gas grill for something a little more natural, either you just prefer working with natural fire, or you are in some rural setting where a wood source fire is easier to use that bringing in the gas.
Other considerations
Bob Hackett(Mainely,Bob)
>Propane forges also have a tendency to quickly burn the steel till you get used to them.
A gas fired forge when compared to a solid fuel forge has the same feel as comparing hand to power tools in WWing.It takes alittle more work and finesse to work a solid fuel forge but the mistakes don`t happen as quickly and you seem more in control of things,at least that`s the case for me.Then again it may just be that sound like having a jet engine in the shop that throws me off.;^)
Mainely,Bob