THE FORGE

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Welding, brazing and soldering make more permanent, heat-proof sheet metal joints but are better left to your intermediate stage.

GRINDERS AND DRILLS

The first lesson I learned in smithing was that grinding down metal does less damage to the workpiece than chiseling. This rule served me well in later years when I took to disassembling cast-iron wood-burning stoves for moving, summer storage or repair. Stove bolts and nuts are intentionally made of soft steel and can usually be twisted apart with a screwdriver and pliers. But taking a chisel to an especially stuck tap bolt could split old cast iron. That won't happen with a grinder unless you apply it so enthusiastically that it overheats a spot in the iron where an old plate might expand and shatter.

I n subsequent years,. I took on two electric disc grinders: the first, a 4"-disc, 90°-angle grinder, and the second, a small hobby-size Dremel set, with a handheld grinder and an assortment of rills,. abrasive cutters and mini-mini-sanding and grinding discs. The Dremel performs small work exquisitely. It was perfect, for instance, for grinding a new slot in a stove bolts screwhead, which had been so bruised during inept assembly that a screwdriver couldn't get a purchase on it.

Variable-speed, 3/8" chuck handheld electric drills will work metal, but are limited in torque and speed and best reserved for making Small holes (1/2" or less) in soft metals, or used with 3" abrasive discs and grinding wheels - used, say, to remove surface rust from an automobile body panel without threatening to go through the underlying steel. I do haze an electric grinder, but use it fitted with a round of chain-saw cutters for rapid wood removal. My most effective metal-remover is a little pneumatic die grinder that makes over 20,000 revolutions per second at 90 pounds of air pressure, using only five cubic feet of air per second.

An adequate homestead compressor delivering the minimum needed for serious work-nine cubic feet of air at 40 to 90 PSI (pounds of pressure per square inch) -can be had for under $40 for an electric, or $100 more for a gas-engine-powered version. You can get air-powered metalworking counterparts (or every woodworking hand tool there is, not to mention an arsenal of impact lug wrenches, power ratchets, metal saws and grinders. Plus, given the right compressor, you can fill your tires, remove wheel lug nuts, grease (and then polish) the truck, chip off old paint, caulk windows, paint the house with a power sprayer and much more. I recommend air-power as one of the first tool investments for any new country person.

We all need a good demolition saw to remove old barn stalls, cut out new door and window openings and such. Nothing works as well as a variable-speed reciprocating saw that pushes a blade in and out of its log-shaped housing. Fitted with a coarse wood-cutting blade, these easily make up to foot-deep cuts in old house or barn walls-severing nails and all (along with electrical lines... watch it!) They are unmatched for cutting metal, even thick steel plate. Electric versions work fine, but cost the better part of $200 and weigh a ton, making it difficult to work overhead for long. My little air-reciprocating model weighs a mere four pounds, goes from the crawl needed to cut thick metal (while cooling it with fluid) to the 9,000 strokes per minute that will rip through 150-year old rock-hard chestnut. A name brand model (Ingersoll Rand ) costs $85.

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