Glenn

The welding supplier locally has several types of "welding" gloves. There were two pair that caught my eye, one pair had the leather so thin and so soft that you could tell if a dime was heads or tails and then pick it up. The second pair was more of the normal welding glove, but with an aluminumized foil backing to relfect heat. There was a 5x7 inch aluminumized foil backed pad with elastic straps beside them to use over your existing glove to reflect heat. Carolina Glove Company is one source for gloves. McMaster Carr is another source for gloves. Search for gloves or see page 1622 in their catalog for Welding & Heat-Resistant Gloves. Gloves are designed in many different configurations for many different purposes. You just need to find the style glove that will work for you in your situation, and keep your hands safe from being injured or damaged. Then tell us. :wink:

Archie, next time you build a fire, try adding fuel to a depth of 4-6 inches. Then add enough air to get a fireball. I would expect it to be maybe less than the length of your airtube and maybe 2-3 inches in diameter or more. When you put the metal into the top section of the fireball, give it just enough air to keep the fireball up to temp, not loosing or gaining temp. When the metal goes back into the fire for the next heat, just add enough air to bring the fireball back up to temp, and then transfer that heat to the metal. I think you have the right idea, just not enough fuel in the forge.

Careful about getting those gloves wet. Next time they get hot the water can turn to steam and you may get a steam burn.

Welcome Don, When you finish catching up with reading the BlacksmithForum.com, you may want to visit www.iforgeiron.com. The material there is also divided by sugjects to make things easier. Like everyone else that visits the site(s), you are encouraged to post or to contribute to any section, of any site, at any time.

Bruce, just post the text and send me the photos. I will place them into the text for you. or you can put the photos on the IForgeIron.com/gallery, and I can pull them from there and put them into the text. or place the photos on http://www.yourimg.com and then post the URL inside the text. I will pull the image and place it into the text for you. The important thing is to get the photo into the post, not the process. The best size for the gallery and the forum is 400 pixels wide or tall which ever is greater. If you have problems, contact me directly.

You folks write it, I will post it on IForgeIron.com :wink:

I usually forge barehanded. When the metal gets too hot to hold, I turn it loose! Gloves can be dangerous but can also be very useful. If the glove gets hot, turning loose of the hot metal will do no good as the heat is still coming through the leather toward your hand. You must remove the glove to remove the heat. Gloves can trap and contain hot slag, welding sputter balls, etc. Wet gloves can give you steam burns when they contact hot metal. On the other hand (pun intended), gloves are very helpful when protecting the hands from abrasion, cuts, UV from welding etc. . I usually remove the cuffs from "work gloves". The glove still protects from abrasion, cuts, etc. but if the glove gets snagged, it can quickly be removed from the hand and with little effort. Bruce, Please post photos of leather palms made out if old welding coats or aprons, and the peices of leather just held on to warm bars to handle them.

Portable Forge, what a concept! :wink:

Archie posted the photos on a new thread on the Blacksmithforum. http://www.blacksmithforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=201

Reference BP0127 Bellows Construction I also added the link to the above post.

There are enough sources of air available at little or no cost that you should have no problems in the air department. Bwilloughby came up with a novel approach for his air problem by converting a HVAC whole house furnace fan to a blower for his forge. Jim Carothers solved his air problem in another direction, by using what the neighbor threw into the trash. You will have to look up BP0128 Forge Blower to find out what he started with to get the fan :wink: I am sure there is at least one available very close to your location LOL. Both of these will move a LOT more air than you need for a solid fuel forge. Plan on venting, diverting, or using a valve of some sort to keep the excess air away from the forge. Hint: A fellow could put a "Y" or "T" in the air line and use the excess air to cool the blacksmith. But do not overlook the little blowers that still a LOT of air for their size. This one was recycled from a junk yard and has been in service over two years. It puts out too much air for my forge and I vent the excess. . If you had a big kitchen table you, some scrap wood, and a little canvas, you could just build your own bellows. See BP0127 Bellows An old hair dryer, vacumn cleaner on the blow side, and lots of other things have been used. You need to find out what is available in your area and put it into service making air.

These are the 3 hammers Whitesmith uses, a 2 pound store bought hammer, maybe 1-3/4 pound hand made Irnsrgn hammer, and a Swedish 800 g. hammer. He will usually goes for the middle one of the 3 shown. The Swedish is new to him and he is still trying to find a use for it. :wink:

Archie To aid in your finding the right combination of air volumn and grate hole size, I took photos of the air holes in 3 forges. I have included a AA battery for size comparison, and a ruler measurement. . This is a brake drum 13 inches diameter. It gets enough air through the holes and works well. . This is a piece of cast iron 4 inches diameter. The holes are larger and it works better as it gets more air through the larger holes. . This is to give you a size comparison between the two fire pots. One easily fits inside the other. The other grate is 2-1/2 inch exhaust pipe from a automobile with 2 pieces of 1/4 inch round for the grate. It is the grate from the 55 Forge. All air supply tubes are either 2-1/4 or 2-1/2 inches in diameter, and all use the same small electric squirrel cage blower for air. The fan and air pipe are not connected to each other and air flow is regulated by how much air blast is aimed at the pipe leading from the fan to the forge. Each fireball is a bit different and the forge is chosen for the job at hand. Big forge for big projects, small forge for small projects, big forge for long heats 6 to 8 inches, small forge for 3 to 4 inches. Play with things till you find a combination that works for you.

you got it

Archie, I missed the part about this being a school project, and being at the request of the teacher. The folks on the forum will try to assist with anything blacksmithing related, and assist with subjects that are unrelated to metal. They are a good group of people and very knowledgable. Non-blacksmithing is for anything not directly related to blacksmithing or metal working. It is just a way to separate the subjects. It was the place for the post, just that the post did not fit the forum. Thank you for withdrawing the request. Glenn

Archie May I respectfully request that you terminate the subject of your quest as it concerns this forum. This forum's purpose is to gather and exchange information on blacksmithing, metal working, and related topics. Cautionary children's tales where a nasty horrible child is wholly consumed and dies, is just NOT related to the format. To use "scare tatics" on a child whether in a story, as a parent, or as an adult, is a poor decision, in my opinion. I see no reason, or benifit, to scare a child with bodily harm or death. They are at a very impressionable age, developing their personality, and their mental health, that will take them through life. Positive reinforcment, working closely with the child so they achieve success, working to insure they achieve success, and congradulating and bragging on their success, will always go a lot further to building the childs character, personality, and mental health. But that is my opinion, and the method I have tried to use when raising my children. Those things (children) unfortunately do not come with owners manuals, and we as parents each have to do what we think is best in raising our child. They give us 21 or so years to accomplish the task and then declare the child an adult and allow them to then make their own decisions, continuing the process of life. Different parents do things differently when dealing with children, and that is their choice. We do have at least one childrens tale on the IForgeIron site. The "Y" Rule is a true story, as I was there. IForgeIron.com > Stories > The "Y" Rule. ------------------------------ Archie has the privledge of asking the question, but I ask others that if they wish to continue the discussion, please realign the topic to whether the subject is approprate for this forum. As the topic is one I consider sensetative, please use extreme caution in your posts to keep them on the subject at hand - the subject now being "is it approprate for this forum". Thank you.

The first leaf arrived today June 3, 2005 Please have all leaves in the mail by October 1, 2005

Take the time you need to heal properly. Rich you are on our list also.

Wishwon, I have edited your post to remove the quote referring to the post imediatley above your reply. The quote is unnecessary as we just read what you are quoting and there is usually no need to read it again. If your reply refers to a comment made 3 or 4 posts back, please use the quotes to refresh our memory on what is being addressed. Not the entire post, but just the specific subject. Please do not take this personally in any way, it is just trying to make the forum flow a little better as it is being read. Thank you for your cooperation and please continue to post as often as you wish. Glenn

Rick, I have edited your posts to remove the quotes referring to the post imediatley above your reply. The quote is unnecessary as we just read what you are quoting and there is usually no need to read it again. If your reply refers to a comment made 3 or 4 posts back, please use the quotes to refresh our memory on what is being addressed. Not the entire post, but just the specific subject. Please do not take this personally in any way, it is just trying to make the forum flow a little better as it is being read. Thank you for your cooperation and please continue to post as often as you wish. Glenn

Archie, There is a complete blacksmith shop for sale on the BlacksmithForum.com Tailgating section. Complete with coal, and steel stock. All you need is a match to start the fire. And a couple of trucks to take it all home. http://www.blacksmithforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=184

If your bean can fills with ash to such a level that it obstructs the air flow to the forge, it will cut off your wind to the fire. Just one more thing to consider when problem solving.

When KeenJumk closed, Sparkie set up Forgemagic with the same look and feel of the old KeenJunk site. Many of the regulars to KeenJunk moved to Forgemagic. I have contacted Sparkie many times on many different subjects. IForgeIron has a link to Forgemagic on it's links page. Since Forgemagic opened, I have referred folks to Forgemagic when they are looking for the old KeenJumk site. I have posted to Forgemagic and continue to support the site with referrals. Forgemagic is an running list of comments forum, where information and personal comments are intertwined. The BlacksmithingForum is organized by threads and subjects and is information based. Both styles are good, just different. Sparkie and Forgemagic has it's own guide lines for posting, and I can not post them here as they may change, as that is Sparkie's choice and Forgemagic is his site. You will need to visit Forgemagic.com for that information. The Blacksmith forum is a family site and the guide lines are posted on the site. The guide lines are posted on the subject "keeping you informed" or http://www.blacksmithforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=166 As far as cool blacksmithing sites goes, it is NOT a contest. You DO NOT have to decide which is better. I suggest you visit both. BlacksmithForum is part of IForgeIron.com

type in your text to the point you need to put in an image click "img" box, enter the URL for the photo on the web, and click "img" box again. it chould look like this in your posting box. but without the --- at the beginning and end. also no spaces. When you do it right, the program goes to the URL you gave and retrives and inserts the photo, like this. This image is 200 pixels wide. You can use the www.iforgeiron.com/gallery to post the photo. This places your photo in the IForgeIron Gallery and I will go there my self, get the photo, fix it if need, resize it to the maximum 400 pizels wide needed for this forum and edit it into your post. Or you can use www.yourimg.com as a posting service as a place to park your photo on the web. IF you do not resize the photo before posting to a maximum of 400 pizels wide or tall, which ever is greater, it may be too large for for the forum and cause problems. This information is also on the Forum under a thread of how to post images or sothing like that. Try it and see if you can make it work with the URL http://www.blacksmithforum.com/photo/blacksmithing/fire04.jpg You can preview your post to see if it works before you submit. Once submitted, you can still edit the post, you just have to click "edit" top right of your posted topic. That will take you back to the "post a reply" screen so you can fix things. As the administrator, I can usually correct any mistakes you will make. I have made enough of my own learning this software, so I am almost good at fixing things at this point. :? You will make mistakes and that is expected. It is not a problem, but part of the learning process.

Bryan, The loss of a child is never easy. The family has have been added to the list here also.