Ok, I bought a 20$ ring-making starter kit on Amazon last month after taking a copper jewelry class...and I want to start making some rings...but I can't hold it in my little vise and dont want to shell out for a specialty vise i figure I can eather make the design in the photo here along with the drifts I would need (which would be fun to do but take a lot longer)...or weld a tab of mild steel to the end of it so I can lock it in the vise... I am not sure which route I should go because I am not sure what the mandrel is made of it could be mild steel, or it could be Stainless...and I dont have stainless welder wire (I use Lincoln electric hobby grade flux core welder). if I go with the holder, should i take the thickness of the material into account in my measurements? (sorry if you can't read my chicken scratch writing)
If it's mild steel (it probably is), and your welding chops are good, I would just weld a piece of square bar to the base. Make sure the square stock is narrower than the base of the mandrel so when you put it in the vise the bottom of the mandrel sits on the vice jaws.
I bought a couple of 1-3/16" bull pins and welded a piece of 1" square to the base of one of them to fit in the hardy hole on my anvil.
The other one I left plain. All of my bench vices have a pipe clamp feature and the head swivels. So I can put the bull pin in the pipe clamp and turn the head 90 degress to get the bull pin pointed up.
“So I'm lightin' out for the territory, ahead of the scared and the weak and the mean spirited, because Aunt Sally is fixin’ to adopt me and civilize me, and I can't stand it. I've been there before.”
Thanks. I will give welding it a try. I actually have some square stock on hand that I took home from the blacksmithing class. If it fails, I will be switching to some Pepetools mandrils or just making the more complicated design if it breaks off due to my welder.
PS: any advice for storing bench basics Smart Pickle for non-ferrous metals when it is mixed up in the water?(see photo) It forms a weak Sulfuric acid when mixed. i would like something a bit more secure than the little heating pot can provide.
Wait are you quoting Huck Finn in your quote thinggy?
Pickles are all acids. All my acids are stored in opaque plastic containers with tight-fitting lids. Direct exposure to sunlight will weaken the acid. Some folks use glass jars for acids, but the lids for those are typically metal and the acid fumes will deteriorate the lid and contamintae the acid.
Yes. That is a quote from Huckleberry Finn.
“So I'm lightin' out for the territory, ahead of the scared and the weak and the mean spirited, because Aunt Sally is fixin’ to adopt me and civilize me, and I can't stand it. I've been there before.”
Thanks I will hunt for a container of such that can hold the liquid after its been mixed. (and put it on a high shelf.)
