Author Topic: new member from LA/So-Cal  (Read 7332 times)

Offline drdata

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new member from LA/So-Cal
« on: February 06, 2015, 12:56:23 PM »
Hey all, my name is Harry, aka drdata, (as I am an Internet tech geek), and I just joined this rather interesting site.

I have always enjoyed tinkering on mechanical things and had the obligatory wood and metal shops in high school. I am decent with hand tools and have been making some Japanese style blades using stock removal, as well as the fittings.

I recently got the steam bug, and this landed me here. I would like to someday machine my own engines, but after looking at some of the projects here I know the bar has been set very high.

I came across that PM boiler and in searing around the net happened across a rather useful thread on the subject, and voila, I decided to join to say thanks and to see what I can learn.

Thanks to Vtsteam for the great write up, and I agree about the valve design:

http://madmodder.net/index.php/topic,9920.0.html

I had just begun when I read the advice in above thread, so figured I would give it a try. I too found the plug wanted to seize, and before I wasted much more time I opted for a pop off valve similar to the one made in the above thread, but constructed from off the shell fixtures. Its too tall as a result, but seems it will work.

Thanks for letting me join that interesting site and am very impressed with the work examples I have seen so far.

Best regards






Offline steampunkpete

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Re: new member from LA/So-Cal
« Reply #1 on: February 06, 2015, 02:06:37 PM »
Hello, Harry and welcome.

What part of the world do you inhabit? Are you making traditional Japanese blades, or blades in  the style of... ?

Offline mklotz

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Re: new member from LA/So-Cal
« Reply #2 on: February 06, 2015, 02:09:37 PM »
What part of the world do you inhabit?

Given the title of the thread, I would take a wild guess at southern California.
Regards, Marv

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Offline vtsteam

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Re: new member from LA/So-Cal
« Reply #3 on: February 06, 2015, 02:21:00 PM »
Welcome drdata!!  :wave:

Glad the thread was of use. I'll be trying out my new pipe engine on the pipe boiler......seems appropriate!  :beer:


SP -- we live in different parts of the world and it isn't provincial not to  know another area's nicknames -- just provincial to assume everyone knows yours!  :lol:
I love it when a Plan B comes together!
Steve
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Offline drdata

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Re: new member from LA/So-Cal
« Reply #4 on: February 06, 2015, 02:22:50 PM »
Thanks for the welcome!

@ Pete, I'm now in Los Angeles. I can think of many better places to be, trust me. ;)

Japanese style. I have only a small farriers forge and no way to smelt iron ore to make Tamahagane. Happy for now to do stock removal on both 01 tool steel as well as 1080, the latter giving me some kind of hamon, but nothing to write home about, and now, I was not going for all that mune-yaki. ;0
Here is a pic of a recent tanto like object (TLO). The high were done in haste with angle grinder. Now trying to use a scraper approach using a lathe bit in a guide.

Regards

@VT steam: Glad you stopped by! Would like to see the engine. PS> Used to work for a company out of Colchester, but was remote in both Denver and LA. Still, love me some VT.




Offline drdata

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Re: new member from LA/So-Cal
« Reply #5 on: February 06, 2015, 02:37:59 PM »
Added some more pics so you can see the "bear skin and stone knife" (added geek points if you get the reference) tech I work with. Only recently got a cheap belt sander. This all done with files and angle grinder. Hoping to get a Sherline lathe soon and try to step this up.

Hack saw to rough out the 1/4" blank, clay, and forge. Hope admins don't mind the pics. I know this is not a blade forum, of which there are plenty; its just showing some of my more recent work and stronger passions.

 
Regards


Offline vtsteam

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Re: new member from LA/So-Cal
« Reply #6 on: February 06, 2015, 02:46:18 PM »
Hope admins don't mind the pics. I know this is not a blade forum, of which there are plenty; its just showing some of my more recent work and stronger passions.

We only ban if people persist in hiding their pics!  :)
I love it when a Plan B comes together!
Steve
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sDubB0-REg

Offline steampunkpete

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Re: new member from LA/So-Cal
« Reply #7 on: February 07, 2015, 02:42:30 AM »
Quote
I would take a wild guess at southern California.

Sorry, Marv, I'm not versed in foreign parts; I thought LA/So-Cal was something to do with singing!

Never mind the Watford Gap, us Ammersmiffians know little beyond the Goldhawk Road!  :D

Offline krv3000

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Re: new member from LA/So-Cal
« Reply #8 on: February 07, 2015, 04:20:10 PM »
hi and welcume

Offline howsitwork?

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Re: new member from LA/So-Cal
« Reply #9 on: February 17, 2015, 06:14:53 PM »
Hi and welcome.

After the heating and forging are you water quenching or oil?

Offline drdata

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Re: new member from LA/So-Cal
« Reply #10 on: February 19, 2015, 02:12:31 PM »
Hi and welcome.

After the heating and forging are you water quenching or oil?

Thanks again all for the warm welcome.

To be clear, I do stock removal, but have a small forge to play with. The brick forge was needed for heat treat and could handle up to 30" blade, but so far the longest I have attempted was a wak at ~ 26"

I quench into both water and/or oil depending on the steel and if I want a temper line/hamon. For 01 tool steel I use tranny fluid (canola oil would be better, as would parks 50 or such, but I try to work cheap and got used atf at a local shop as I needed about 10 gallons). For 1080/w2 I have used just water but had cracks, so now do an interrupted/hybrid approach that has the blade first go into warm/hot water (with some salt added) for 3 seconds and then into oil until cool that seems to help.

The hybrid quench gives the initial fast cooling needed to beat the "nose" in the phase diagram and thus get martensite on the thinner sections/unclayed areas, while then giving it a gentler finish to help ease stresses. Oddly, seems that the cracking tends to occur 5-7 seconds into pure water quench long after the hamon has formed. I tend to unclay the spine as well to help avoid added sabering/sori/curve. Thus I shape in the curve during stock removal which has its own limitations.

I then use a hybrid polish of files, sand paper, acid etch, polish. I did try using Japanese water stones but too expensive and gave me arthritis in the hands. ;)

HTHs.

Cheers




Offline awemawson

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Re: new member from LA/So-Cal
« Reply #11 on: February 19, 2015, 02:26:33 PM »
Quenching in the blood of a virgin is traditional, though they are quite scarce these days I find  :lol:
Andrew Mawson
East Sussex

Offline howsitwork?

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Re: new member from LA/So-Cal
« Reply #12 on: February 20, 2015, 05:01:27 PM »
Try the EZE lap diamond stones- the fine gives a truly excellent finish to cutting blades.

Also works for wife's knivews so can be a "present for me to help you"


Devious- who me, surely not ????

Offline drdata

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Re: new member from LA/So-Cal
« Reply #13 on: February 22, 2015, 12:19:19 PM »
Try the EZE lap diamond stones- the fine gives a truly excellent finish to cutting blades.

Also works for wife's knivews so can be a "present for me to help you"


Devious- who me, surely not ????

I will check them out. I wore though natural stones fast, so clearly I should have spent more time with the file (or better yet, make a sen/scraper).  I started using DMT stones, which are diamond, and they worked ok, but in the end the whole stone thing is hard on my hands.

Regards