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I Forge Iron

iDuggitz

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Thunder Bay, Ontario (Canada)
  • Interests
    Computers, painting, swords, knives, writing, paintball, electronics repair, smithing

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  1. Ah that explains why #6 was no longer available! I can't wait to see it as well!
  2. xxxx xxxxx that's beautiful!
  3. Amazing job on both! Glad to see someone from Ontario too ;-)
  4. Hahahaha. There seems to be a few kicking around. On here though, I am not sure :-)
  5. DSW - I do agree with you in all aspects. I think I might do a dirt floor just to be comfortable while working and simply deal with any other issues that may come of it. Ideally, I will have a garage at my new house on top of having my own shop so that I can do any other work in there :-) I walk around on a concrete floor for 11 hours a day already....so the dirt might be a nice change. Thomas - That is actually an AWESOME idea for the I-Beams! A layout table or maybe a stand for the anvil? Frosty - Thank you for the warm welcome :-) I updated my profile like you suggested. I thought that I did that already, but I was mistaken. With the size and construction of my forge, it would actually be very easy to make it portable. I will just pop it outside one of the overhead doors when forging. Ventallation successful! As for the anvil, I have decided to wait to forge anything until I do actually own one. The very last thing I want to do is xxxx of my neighbors. That and having an anvil would just be bloody awesome! I just found out about a place in Hinkley, MN that has several anvils for sale, along with antique smithing tools. My birthday is coming up in October, so I cam going to see if I can convince the fiancee to buy me a new toy :-D It's a 5 hour drive from my location, but I think it would be well worth the travel time. I actually really, REALLY like the idea of making the portable screen! I can definitely do that in the current garage without making any expensive modifications. As for the Borax, it definitly wouldn't hurt! Thanks guys. I can't wait until I get up and running!
  6. Excellent! Never thought of a dirt floor. Thought it might be better with concrete haha. As for my "small" forge, it will be 2 bricks high by 2 bricks deep. So not even 8" by 8". As for the i-beams, I actually just got a line on a few different anvils! I am going to check them out and buy one one way or another haha.
  7. Hello everyone! I am just starting out doing some smithing...well I have't actually STARTED...but...y'know. It has been a dream of mine since I was a little boy. I was in a place in British Columbia called "Barkerville" and I saw a smithy hammering out a gold-mining pan. It's a memory that will always stick with me. Now that I am older and own my own house and a large garage, I have the means to finally start following that dream... I have began collecting tools and a few pairs of tongs (that I will be resurfacing). I have aquired a few large (3 foot) sections of 1" thick I-Beam that I am going to substitute as an anvil until I manage to acquire one (I have a friend that might be bringing one back for me today from a road trip). I also have safety gear (leather gloves, glasses, leather smock, etc.). Of course I also have a large vise, a bench grinder, etc. Basic stuff. The only thing I need now is a forge. I am going to be building a propane forge utilizing 2" fire bricks and refractory mortar. It's just going to be a tiny forge as all I want to do for now is get used to the whole process. I am a very fast learner, but I don't expect to just be able to pull of a masterpiece by throwing some random piece of metal into the forge and hitting it with my cross-pein. I want to see how the metal works, moves, bends and folds. I want to see how hot I need to make it and when to quench, etc. To be honest, I expect it to be a year before I forge anything even half decent. Now to the whole purpose of this post. I want to make sure that I don't kill myself or anyone else in the process. My fiancee fully supports what I want to do, but she is concerned about me burning down the garage. I have been relentlessly reading the forums here and haven't really found any solid answers to my questions. 1.) If I am running a tiny propane forge in a large, 2 car garage, do I require any ventilation? -I have read a few posts that say yes, and some that say no. I can obviously leave a window or the overhead doors open, but is that enough? The last thing I need is to leave my fiancee a widow shortly after I marry her. 2.) The garage is made out of wood and has a gravel floor. Is there any precautions I need to take as far as fireproofing is concerned? If a hot piece of metal hits one of the walls, is it going to instantly combust? I have been working in the paint industry (industrial, architectural and marine coatings) for over 11 years now. I easily have access to fire-resistant coatings, but they are extremely expensive...even for me. So if I can help it, I would prefer to not have to use them. The other thing you guys need to know is that I will be selling this house next year and we will be purchasing one together. Yes, a shop with a concrete floor is mandatory...or the property for me to build one. So I don't want to sink vast amounts of money into the building itself. I am already renovating the entire house myself, I don't want to add the garage to it if I can help it. Any advice from you awesome people would be greatly appreciated - and more importantly - listened to. Cheers! P.S. I look forward to being a part of this wonderful online community.
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