Marc

I've started playing with repousse, using someone else's shop. He uses red German pitch, but I don't want to spend $50 for a minimum order until I know I'll stick with this. I did find various recipes for pitch on the 'net, the simplest uses beeswax and plaster-of-paris. How does this compare with the red german? And could I substitute paraffin for the beeswax? Other recipes use all sorts of other ingredients that aren't all that easy to find. Roofers pitch can't be gotten in small quantities, and would smell pretty bad anyway. Anyone know of other home-brew pitch recipes? For now I'm using copper sheet, some thick gauge flashing, as the medium. I'll probably try steel some day. Anybody ever use aluminum flashing?

So what's the reason for a *sharp* sword? Personally, I like the looks of a well-crafted sword, but I just can't see any reason, ever, to sharpen it. I dunno ... maybe it's just me.

I believe Rhode Island School of Design (RISD, or "Risdee") has blacksmithing courses. I know a couple New England smiths that teach there.

Another source of lead is firing ranges. For me it was the only local source. All the tire shops around here sell to their "guy" who recycles it. The firing range sold me a 90-lb bucket for $5, but if I were a member, I'd have probably gotten it for free.

How about putting this in with the Blueprints to make it easier to find?

I'm guessing it's not the nozzle. Adjusting that is usually for very low or very high operation. A #58 at 15-lbs, and inside a forge, is usually not that sensitive to the nozzle. A couple things that make a big difference with naturally aspirated burners is aiming the propane down the mixing tube, a badly drilled orifice, and any obstructions in the tube itself. Chances are, if you're using a standard black pipe nipple for the mixing tube, you're all set. Make sure you have no burrs in the orifice. I used a MIG tip for my orifices when I had a Reil burner. And you could use a MIG tip cleaner to clean out the orifice and remove burrs. Ron's site has a real neat trick to aim the propane jet. You hook up a water source to the gas tube and adjust until the water goes straight down the mixing tube. It's interesting that this very subject was just brought up on the forgemagic forum. So anyway, those are a couple more things to try.

Thanks for the kind words. I'm going to the wake tonight and expect to see more than a few smiths there. He did pass down to the next generation. I only wish I was one of them (the next generation, I mean ). :? But he did have quite a few younger students. I also find that I'm using his teaching techniques when I help others. They worked for me. I don't have his skills, yet, but I've got the basics. Pracice will hopefully get the rest. Take care, all. --Marc

My teacher, mentor, and friend, Ken DeRoche, passed away yesterday. He got me started in blacksmithing five years ago and we continued to hammer together. He was also a farrier for over 20 years, earning numerous awards. Most recently he was awarded a lifetime achievement award from the Southern New England Farriers Assoc. Ken had numerous health problems, but he never let them get him down. Every setback always seemed to turn into an opportunity. When his health prevented him from shoeing, he took that as an opportunity to pass his knowledge on and started teaching both shoeing and blacksmithing. He was at dialysis when he got chest pains and died later at the hospital of a massive coronary. And he was just scheduled for heart surgery in a couple weeks. I guess when it's your time, it's your time. He will be missed.

If any of you are looking for smiths in MA, head on down to http://newenglandblacksmiths.org to see some info, and maybe join up. Our website is a bit stale, and we're trying to get some help with that. But the basic (non-calendar) info is good. And MA is chock-full of smiths. --Marc

And then when you're done with the spike, maybe you can make a bicycle chain out of it.

I also continue to use the elbow band. I have the same type, with the air-filled pad. I'm pretty sure the pad itself is a marketing device, at least the way it's sold. But I found that it gives the right amount of "give", compared with the other types of bands I could find around here. One type, made out of neoprene, was way too stretchy and would move all over the place, unless it was tourniquette-tight. The other was a totally non-stretch material and really constricted things while hammering. I put the pad right over the sore spot. An exercise that seems to help is to place common rubber bands around the outside of your fingers, at the nails. Then open and close your hand. Keep adding rubber bands as the pain goes away and as you get stronger. Lastly, is the hammering style. If you can get a copy of Uri Hofi's video, eBay is a good source, that helped me a lot. Basically it's a loose grip, as already mentioned, where you guide the hammer down to the work and let it bounce on the piece. Don't force the hammer into the piece once it's hit. The handle should kind of pivot between the thumb and first two fingers, with the last two fingers used only to return the handle into the palm. A picture's worth a thousand words, and a video is probably worth 743 pictures (give or take ):-) Again, as already mentioned, keep the elbow in, use a shorter handle, and ibuprofen. My tendonitis flares up for the most stupid things, like carrying my dog's scooper on walks, but the hammering no longer aggravates it. And if it gets really bad, take a long break (like a month or so), and see a real doc. I don't think my engineering degree certifies me for online medical consultation.

I second the cotton shirt. From years of hiking, I found that the button-up, thin-weave, cotton shirts work the best. T-shirts seemed to get too heavy and were uncomfortable. That reminds me, got to head to Goodwill and get me a few more. I also use a fan aimed roughly chest-high at the anvil and that lets me work in the summer fairly comfortably. My apron is cotton duck and is full length, split-leg. That lets me wear shorts. I don't think my legs sweat enough for the cotton-shirt concept to work.

I just re-read your initial post. You said the chamber was not isolated. Do you mean insulated? If not insulated, then you're no better off than forging in a gas grill. All your heat is just escaping. You really, really, need to insulate. Propane doesn't have the heat content as coal and the flame needs to be contained. Finn's previous post covered that very nicely.

The orifice might be a problem. At 11"wc, I think you need to go to 1/8". But the BBQ regulator, if it's from a standard grill, probably won't allow a lot of gas to pass through it. They'll handle what the grill is spec'ed for, 35,000BTU, 50,000BTU? That might be enough to get steel hot, though, but maybe not to welding heat. At this point, a lot depends on the forge contruction itself. You can get to welding heat in one of those coffee-can forges with a little propane torch. So it's all relative. Ron Reil's site does have some guidelines on forge sizes and BTU requirements, so you can start there to find your burner needs. Then, if the BBQ regulator fits, play with the orifice.

A blown burner changes things. You might want to consider having a low pressure regulator run to the shop. With a blower, you can get by with any pressure, but you need to specify that you'll be wanting 100,000 BTU/hr delivery. You probably won't use that much normally, but it's nice to have it available if you do. However, the lower pressure you get, the bigger the piping to the forge you'll need. With a lot of gas going through, there will be some pressure drop through the system. I don't know the specifics off-hand, but there are tables on the 'net that tell you how much, depending on pipe size and length. If you've got 30psi, then a few pounds of drop don't make much difference. But at 11"wc, the system could be limiting. I've got 5psi coming into the shop and that goes through about 16ft of 1/2" copper tubing. I get plenty of heat when needed with this. If I were to go with lower pressure, I would probably need at least 3/4" pipe. 1" would be better and doesn't cost much more. The reason for low pressure is safety. At 30psi a broken pipe/tube/hose can pour a whole bunch of propane into a shop in a short time, a whole lot more than 100,000 BTU/hr. With low pressure, the system will limit that amount. And low pressure is easier to contain. Systems that show no leakage at all at 5psi could leak at 30. Blown burners are much more forgiving to build, because they take out that air intake question. And I'm told that Doug Wilson's "flame holder" really quiets things down. I'm going to experiment with that concept more on my forge. Quiet is good. But you can't do that with an aspirated burner because they're real sensitive to any obstruction in the flow. However, natural aspiration makes the forge more portable. Good luck. Stay safe. Check all piping for leaks (soapy water works well).

Just a little filler information, because it sounds like you're well on your way - The "red hat" is probably because of its shape and color. Fisher makes them, and they come in all sizes. The 0 - 30 is what works with the Reil, T-Rex, etc. burners. BBQ regulators usually only deliver 11" of water column (wc), which works out to about 0.3-0.4 PSI (if I remember correctly). You can design a burner to work on that little pressure, but it needs a blower. However, the BBQ regulators can't deliver the BTUs/hr you need for a forge. Over in my neck of the woods, New Hampshire, no supplier will deliver any more than 5 lbs of pressure to a residence. That's in the National Fire Protection Code. There were a few who wouldn't deliver more than 11" wc just to be safe. But having a bulk tank is sooooo convenient that I went with a blown burner. No more freeze-ups, no more running out on Sunday afternoon, no tanks stored in the shop, ... And now my grill has gas once again :D

I've been using some Kevlar gloves I bought from Enco for about $5. These aren't the big Kevlar gloves from Centaur. They look like terry cloth. but I found that they protect about the same as leather, except when you grab something too hot, just letting go is enough to get cold again. Leather seems to hold onto the heat as it starts burning and you need to shake the glove off as soon as you notice they're not protecting enough. Also, these gloves have a knit cuff that can't trap scale. And they're flexible enough for TIG welding.

I've been reserving "Iron Ring Forge" for the time when I get off my butt and actually make stuff to sell. It's a double-entendre. The iron ring is a ring made of iron and might work well for a sign, touchmark, logo, .... But there's also the ringing sound.