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I Forge Iron

newbieforge

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Sudbury region, Ontario
  • Interests
    metal working, music, programming, Honda Shadow motorcycles

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  1. Watch out, Wayne. I posted links to that page in the past, and the entire posts were summarily deleted without explanation. ;) They did not pay to advertising on IForgeIron.
  2. I like the bottle opener! Copper looks great, but I don't think it's very suitable for handling. It can leave marks on your hands, and it makes your hands smell "coppery" or "metallic". Both are caused by the natural acidity of your skin. If you've ever handled pennies (the old ones, before we had copper plated zinc alloy) you'll know what I mean. Some people's body chemistry is more neutral and doesn't have such a reaction with metals.
  3. I would love to know what causes these marks. Two of my anvils also have them. My first impression was that someone unloaded a few rounds of buckshot into the anvil sidewalls. Could it be from some big tongs used to handle the anvil during manufacture? Regards, Markus
  4. Seriously. People post all kinds of links that get left up. Why does this get X'ed out? And without any comment from the person responsible?
  5. Looks like it was made in Guelph, Ontario. I didn't realize anvils were made this close to home.
  6. BobL, That was very informative. Thank you. My thinking was that it would be enough to create positive pressure inside the forging area (garage), in order for the general air flow to move toward the outside. How do you make your air flow measurements? (I would imagine it might involve lighting a match in different parts of the room, and watching where the smoke trail moves?) Would you figure that a couple of well placed ceiling fans, one blowing down, one blowing up, might help mix the air better? I realize that proper commercial solutions are one thing, but I can't justify nor afford that kind of investment. I'm looking for something that will move enough air, while controlling my costs. That said, I'm willing to drop a bit of cash (maybe up to several hundred bucks -- the cost of an anvil, say) since I both value my health and enjoy forging. Regards, Markus
  7. oclement, I have also been thinking a lot about ventilation for my gas forge. Here is my current plan for ventilating my 2 car garage, where I use my forge: - Install an Air King 9155 or 9166 window fan in the garage window - While using the forge, set the fan to suck in outside air, and leave one of the garage doors open about 12-24" - Place the forge somewhere between the fan and gap in the garage door - I may leave an oscillating fan on in the garage, to mix the air even more This way, any CO emitted from the forge should be quickly carried away in the air draft from the fan. The rated capacity of the Air King fans is 2500 cfm for the 9155, and 3500 cfm for the 9166. My garage is 30ft by 30ft, 10ft ceiling, or 9000 cubic feet. Even the small fan (9155) should exchange all of the air in the garage every 3.6 minutes. The oscillating fan will ensure that all the air moves around, with reduced stagnation in corners of the room for example. The fans are very cheap (around $100-130) for their rated cfm capacity, and I won't even have to cut any holes in my garage roof for exhaust ducts or air intakes! More info on the fans: http://www.airkinglimited.com/pages/industrial/window1.html Regards, Markus
  8. You need to show some pictures of your burner, and share some details of your design. Also post some links to any articles or guides you followed to build your burner. If a burner doesn't perform properly, it is usually due to simple reasons, such as not following a design exactly. A common place where people skimp is the burner flare. The rest of the burner can usually be made using a drill press and other simple shop tools, but the flare can be a bit of a catch-22: it's easy to make a flare if you have a forge with a working burner, but you need a flare to make a working burner. :-) Show us some photos of your burner showing the details of your construction, and we'll go from there.
  9. If you're stuck between nothing and this anvil, you're better off saving your money for a couple more months and getting a brand new one. I've bought bigger anvils, in better shape, for less money, in the anvil-sparse region where I live.
  10. I wouldn't be so quick to trash the quality of Chinese goods, i.e. the cast steel anvils you passed over. I've used a lot of hand tools and machinery from China. For good or for bad, many of them outperform American or Canadian made goods, both in terms of quality and price. Of course, some are complete junk. In general, however, the trend of quality over time is sloping upward. Chinese steel working in particular is highly developed; I'd bet money those were some decent anvils. That said, if a $45 hunk of random steel of unknown origin suits your needs better than a purpose made anvil, then great, you saved $155 which you can spend on other things. Having done business in China for about a year now, I can say from experience that the level of enthusiasm, engagement, customer focus and detail-orientedness of Chinese business and manufacturing puts the majority (not all) of American and Canadian business to shame. My company gets lukewarm reception at best in the US and Canada, and it's incredibly difficult to find anyone to commit even small amounts of resources to undertake pilot projects, or even just to trial our technology. This could be a reflection of the so-called economic conditions in the US & Canada. But contrast this with China, a developing country, where people literally throw money at us just to get a product to market faster. Everyone talks about how important "buying local" and "supporting American business" are, but when it comes down to signing the cheque, almost everybody hums and haws and backs away from the table. Like it or not, the reality is that Chinese goods will continue to increase in quality & performance. Regards, Markus
  11. Hello Andy, I have built a couple of metal stands, and they are great. I cut some thin rubber mat, and put it between the stand and the anvil. It is thin enough that it doesn't absorb too much of the energy, but is thick enough that it absorbs acoustic frequencies well enough to null the anvil's ring. You will most likely get responses from people who say that only metal stands are good, or that only wood stands are good, and that any debate to the contrary is foolish. I would say, just use whatever material you think you will like the best. If you don't like it, it's not that hard to try another. Regards, Markus
  12. It is definitely an attractive piece of metal. Has anybody had a chance to touch one, and get impressions what it's like in person?
  13. Funny how the rules work around here... In the past, I have posted threads where I asked for opinions on new anvils advertised for sale from manufacturers. Each time, they've been deleted by moderators because they contained links to commercial products.
  14. Earlier in the evening, this ended up in my web browser: http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2013/02/diy-weapons-of-the-syrian-rebels/100461/ I thought it was worth sharing, because for me, this puts into perspective how the work that you or I would do as a fun hobby can be a means of survival for others. It is good to remember that the lathes, milling machines, welders, forges, anvils, and hammers we keep in our homes and garages, and our skills in working with them, were once cutting edge weapons technology. In some parts of the world, unfortunately, they still have to be used for weapons. I am thankful to have the opportunity to work metal as a form of recreation, and not as a line of defense of my homeland and my life and the lives of those close to me. Regards, Markus
  15. Your 4 1/2" spike is probably from a 2' gauge industrial or mine railway. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrow_gauge_railway As to how it got to DC, it is anybody's guess. I'm sure that state has its share of heavy industry and/or mining, just like any other. Maybe it fell out of some other blacksmith's pocket! Regards, Markus
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