Thread: Alec Steele on Youtube

3 phase is usually only available in industrial areas in the US.

3 phase is common to our house panels and industrial main switches over here and come in the following voltage choices;
120/208 V / 240 V / 480 V / 347/600 V depending on location. Our houses have three phase stoves and clothes dryers, sometimes AC compressors as well.
It gets pricy running three conductor cabling from the panel to the point of use sometimes, depending on wire gauge needed.
The conduit for our hot tub @ 220VAC 3 ph was a few hun just for the spool of cable. Installation and termination cost doubled the project.
Our full load potential amperage over here is a lot less of a concern than in EU as I understand it from my arc flash training.
Dead shorts in North America are isolated from tower potential whereas in EU certain dead shorts can have much greater amp draws and impact much larger grids. Why equipment brought in from EU needs totally different fuse protection and standards. And vice versa for North American devices sold over seas.
Looking forward to the pics and successful report of your new forge sir.

I don't know of any homes that are wired for 3 phase power here in the US. Most all homes have 220 single phase & it is split to 110 volt for all but stoves, clothes dryers, heating & AC & things like that. Around here in Illinois there aren't that many homes heated with electricity as it just gets to cold in the winter. Natural gas & LP gas are the norm. LP in rural areas & natural gas in towns & cities. Many rural areas don't even offer 3 phase power. It SUX as we are moving to a more rural place & I didn't see any 3 phase drops to any of the small business or farms. I will probably make a rotary converter for any 3 phase needs in my shop. It really sux because 3 phase motors can be picked up for cheap in junk yards as they keep tearing down our factories & replacing them with a Mc. Donalds for people to work at. You guy's at 50 or 60 Hz. up there??

Slawman

We are 60 hz up here.
Identical voltages as you guys as well.

I thought you were the same as us. Guess I was mixed up on who I was talking to. Sorry!

I got my very old style Little Giant 50Lb. for $250.00. I had to find a motor & do a lot of work to it but it was worth it. I laso started on coal & later built a gas forge that I used for smaller work I had two burners for it, one with out a blower & one with. I could easily get to welding Temp. with the blower on the forge. Gas is just easier & much cleaner to use than gas. That said I LOVE the smells of a coal forge & in certain things you forge they are easier to use.

Slawman, AKA Dave Huffman

And for the Doo-Daa-Doo-Daaa que the spooky music...

Years ago I attended a Chair making school in Baltimore, MD with Alec's Dad Gervis.
Gervis had come from the UK to attend, I was a last minute add to the rooster.
We where learning how to make post and rung ladder back chairs, by hand, from logs.
My class project:



At the time Alec was just a tot.

Gervis and I where the only attendees who where not in the History/Museum/Currator world (and did not have PhD's)- so we where bench-mate for the week and have stayed in touch every since. I remember Alec doing stints at Blacksmith schools in the US when he was a young Teenager.

Gervis was supporting the efforts to retain the "Bodgers Art" of making chairs by hand - so it was not a surprise when he told me that Alec was in to "Ornamental Blacksmithing" as he called it at the time.

Thanks for sharing.

To see this was a shock, i need to send the link to Gervis.

And our chairs look much better than the PhD's BTW...just sayin'....