Okay I guesss it is really a balustrade.

Off with the old siding.

It is finally time to fix up the siding so that the top and bottom match. The horrible yellow colour is coming down and it alrady looks better.

Double layers of insulation.

Since the siding was on the old 1940's part of the house we took the opportunity to upgrade the insulation. We are using 2 layers of alternating rock-wool comfort board. This is a very dense product made from molten basalt, with some benefits over a hydrocarbon based foam board.

The first layer is installed vertical with batten strips between the batts of insulation, then a second layer is installed horizontal.

Finally there is some furring strips done vertical so you can nail on the siding. This results in a very well insulated wall and very solid since there is nothing just floating on the insulation panels.

Converting wood bandsaw to cut metal.

I have this old bandsaw that I picked up for next to nothing, it had a broken mount for the upper wheel.

I was able to buy a replacement mount, but while a wood bandsaw is nice I really needed one that would cut steel. This bandsaw had a multiple belt reduction already but it was not slow enough to cut steel.

I switched it to a 3-phase motor and added a VFD. The VFD not only allows me to run it 3-phase from single phase but also allows speed control from zero to what ever your motor will allow. Mine works from 0 to 120Hz, so I can run it faster than usual or slow enough to cut metal, all without changing the belt.

Bigger picture of vfd

rford Posted at: 2021-03-09T16:35:17Z

I think if you have the space a dedicated metal cutting band saw is better. I don't have the space for both a metal and wood band saw so I had to make one that does both.

Side draw chimney

I am using a little 10 gallon steel drum as my side draw forge chimney. I rescued the drum and the grain bin steel siding from a near-by dump.

The forge I have been using in the local museum is side-draft as are most of the smith's in the area. I like the side draft style as it leaves the fire unobstructed and actually pulls the smoke in much better than most overhead hoods.

I went cheap inspired by shady grove and really like how the round forge and round hood look together.

Large Image forge

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