winter projects

Rudy · Post by **Rudy** » Mon Feb 22, 2010 10:48 am

This will be incorporated into the railing for the bus back porch.

Granny · Post by **Granny** » Mon Feb 22, 2010 12:38 pm

Thank you Rudy, for posting these pictures for me. I appreciate it.
See Dennis, I told you my tractor didn't look as nice as yours.

dburt · Post by **dburt** » Mon Feb 22, 2010 12:51 pm

Ah, Ginger that WD45 it is just a diamond in the rough!

Probably needs a carb rebuild, or the distributor cap might need replaced. I just went thru two of these WD45's recently, had to rebuild the carbs, do plugs, wires, points, etc. And of course new batteries. They are a good little chore tractor!

So you do a little welding too, eh? Good for you!!

Now you have to post a picture of yourself over in the thread "What do you look like?" so our mental image of you will fit with your picture! Most of us have done it, so you need to also!

Here is a picture of one of the Allis Chalmer WD45 tractors I just finished and now have up for sale. (It is a different angle of the same tractor I had posted earlier in this forum)

Granny · Post by **Granny** » Mon Feb 22, 2010 1:15 pm

Yeh well, on my way to Boise next trip, I might just drop that tractor off at your place so that when I get it back, it looks more like the photo of yours. I am not a mechanic. Yes, I can weld. I've done a little wood working. But I still am not a mechanic. And, I would love to have that tractor running, and looking nice.

dburt · Post by **dburt** » Mon Feb 22, 2010 1:22 pm

Granny, I can get your tractor painted by my friend who paints my tractors for me for about $500-600 and the cost of getting it running would depend on of course what it needs. But we could get the little pup up and running, and looking good doing it!

Rudy · Post by **Rudy** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 12:17 pm

The flying saucer. It started out with two six inch discs which were put into the forge and the hammered to a concave shape. Here's a pic of the forge.

So, you take the discs out of the forge with some tongs. Then you place them onto what's called a swage. Swages are big blocks of steel that have different curves in them. You pick the one you want and start beating the red hot metal in the shape you want. You get about one minute of hammering before you have to re-heat the metal. It is an arduous process.

Finally you get the two discs shaped. Then you weld them together with a mig welder. In this pic, you will see them after they have been welded as well as the (control room) on top which was made of plugs that were punched from thick plates of steel

Rudy · Post by **Rudy** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 1:01 pm

After grinding the edges with a hand grinder and polishing the metal with a hand held wire wheel you have the finished flying saucer.

Rudy · Post by **Rudy** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 1:05 pm

The landing lights were made from plugs. The legs were made from rivets that were heated and bent.

Granny · Post by **Granny** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 3:55 pm

Rudy, nice job on the flying saucer. Looks pretty neat.

Granny · Post by **Granny** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 4:04 pm

DB, I just need to find a trailer to haul it there to you on, and if you are serious, I would like to make arrangements to get the little tractor fixed. I'm in no hurry for the fixing of it, but am needing to get it moved asap (I am moving).

dburt · Post by **dburt** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 5:37 pm

Ginger, Let me know if you find a trailer to haul it over on, and when you get it over here, we can try and figure out what is wrong with it. Hopefully it will be a quick and inexpensive fix. And you can decide if you want it painted also.

Rudy, I like your flying saucer!

Rudy · Post by **Rudy** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 2:54 am

THE SPOON:

Here's a spoon I forged from a 1/2 inch steel rod.

The finished spoon. I am sending this to my mom for her birthday. It is functional, but I think she will just hang it on the wall. I have given her a lot of stained glass stuff, but this is the first metal art I have given her. It is my second piece of forged metal artwork. The flying saucer was my first. I am keeping that.

Rudy · Post by **Rudy** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 2:56 am

First, I started with a 1/2 inch round steel rod.

Rudy · Post by **Rudy** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 3:01 am

Then I began flattening out the spoon shape by hammering it (while red hot) into the swage. The bottom right indent is the one I used.

Rudy · Post by **Rudy** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 3:12 am

After getting the initial spoon shape, I heated up most of the handle and hammered the round stock in to square. Then I heated it up after it was square and twisted it with some pliers.

Here are some pics of where I am hand grinding the shape of the spoon. After the initial shaping, it will be reheated and shaped again.

NOMADICISTA

winter projects

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