Tim McCoy

Like many others have said before, "God, I love this site!" Glenn, your thoughts about ventilation are well taken. I understand that a space with cracks and holes is not "ventilated" if the air within it stands stagnant! Seen more than one article about men dying while being trapped in a hole in the ground with stagnant air - being asphyxiated. The top of the hole was ventilated in a sense, but most inefficiently! Routing the exhaust gasses from the rocket stove through a space with some type of piping could work ... but then I gotta go outside every once in a while to feed the beasty. The question was about had anyone had any experience with a rocket stove as heater ... seems that the result of all this centers around personal choice. Like many projects discussed here, this one may not work. It could work, but without another's experience as a time saver (not having to reinvent the wheel thing) it may require too much experimenting on my end to make it worth while. Guess I could take that 15 gallon drum I have, cut to half size and make it into a heater, unless someone knows where I could find a very small wood stove. Thanks everyone for helping to sort this out. Group inductive and deductive reasoning ... God I love this site!

Hands down one of the best videos on forging any ax . . . enjoy! Just a blacksmith, striker, and top tools.

Thanks so much for all the input - the comments about concerns for CO2 are well taken, especially for non-vented areas or workshops that are airtight. Glenns comment about the mass heaters is also spot on ... all that would have to be done for Dean A's rocket stove to be a heater is to place a large firebrick on top ... the escaping heated air would heat the brick which would radiate heat during and after the fire (thanks for the link Dean). I saw a You Tube entry that had a rocket stove created out of just firebrick. Seems that the rocket stove ("invented" around '80-82) can be as sophisticated or simple as needed. Cost containment forces me to work in a more primitive setting. I have a micro shop, interior is 7x7', dutch style door and the distance between the top of the walls and the area where the eaves stick out past the exterior of the walls is about 12" so there is lotsa draft. It is constructed so that most wind is kept at bay, but there is always plenty fresh air. I'll add some photos this week-end. There is no power to the little building and no plans to add any, hence a need to have a secondary heat source (fired by wood/coal/corn/charcoal/what ever) when the forge is not burning something. For those of you that have to work with little space you will understand that except for large sized work, much can be done in this small area. Forge, some kinda striking surface, slack tub, vice and oil pot setting around the walls allow the smith to still work while his hand tools hang from the walls - everything else goes outside. Seems that in a work space that is vented by virtue of being built on the cheap with scrounged material, a small heat source that can be built from more scrounged material that provides almost complete fuel consumption could be the answer even with the drafts. When I first saw the rocket stove I was intrigued by it's simplicity - it's an "L" shaped tube that burns consumables like its name implies - and almost anyone can build it. I think I'll give it a try. I'll let you know how it works!

I know that winter may soon be over for some of us, but was wondering if anyone has experience using a rocket stove to heat their shop/work area? Below's a link to a UK blacksmith that offers rocket stoves. Seems like they could be an efficient and cheap way to get heat where there is no other way without having to rely entirely on your forge. Especially if your spending time doing cold work. Just wanted to hear from some of you before gathering the stuff to put one together. All comments appreciated! http://www.rocketstoves.co.uk/

My new slack tub is a heavy gauge stainless steel cooking pot - five gallon with two handles/no lid - found it in a dumpster last August ... :lol:

IMHO rebar is wonderful for practice and for many things considered "non-critical" such as handles, fire rakes, fire pot pokers, short legs on certain stands, vines for foral elements, and so on . . . everything metal does not have to be tool steel or sufficient for a life time knife or a cold chisel. While everyone has an opinion about the acceptability of it as a suitable metal for a real smith I think you will find it a very usable addition to your steel pile. Watch the forums and notice how often rebar appears as the entire piece or as some part of another element - too often for it to be considered a throw away.

Ditto Mr. Miller !!

So, great shop/set up! The tongs you made are one of the first steps in the learning curve for making that tool. Great first effort and you should never apologize for them - just keep at it! Tim

Good luck with any treatment that you undergo ... worked for my wife! Prayers for you and your family.

Great effort - like the idea of leaving some of the ribbing as an aid to gripping ... rebar does come in different grades ... serch the web you will find the chart. If you "need" a blade that will hold an edge longer try splitting the bar and adding in a length of file and forge weld it in ... just a thought.

This link should help dispell any doubts about using stone for an anvil . . . enjoy! Low tech but effective ... seems that the granite yields nothing to the blows, no chips or dust that I can see ... wow!

Wow !! Great information and really appreciated. Good to have all this on one spot to refer to. Frank T. thanks for the link . . . Tim

Funny how one man's scrap ends up creating such emotion once "worked". It would not have evoked the same feelings for me if done in a more smooth style. I regard it as the quintessential Easter piece. Thanks for sharing!

Tools as art - wonderfully done! We should all take the time to "pretty up" our tools.

Would some of you with more technical knowledge share with the rest of us the differences in "Super Quench", Water and Oil as quenching mediums? What is best for what? Is there a quenching medium that is sufficient for "general" work ... or do we really benefit from specialty formulas? Gotta favorite recipe? Thanks ahead of time for your input.

Thanks for the update - well done!

Wow, a long read, but well worth it. What has interested me most is the images of the detritus left strewn about on Jake's shop floor. No amount of words can fully explain anything that even smacks of creation - whether it be classified as art or work. What we create has a result punctuated by the pieces and parts we discard. Those things not presented to the public are not waste ... they end up being the parts of the statue that had to be cleared from the stone to get to the statue living within. They just aren't needed now. So, what we find laying on the shop floor speaks to the work one does and no matter how useless it may appear or strange it may seem to the casual onlooker, for those of us who do anything creative it holds enormous meaning. How many words won't make the poem, what pieces of sawn wood cannot be the drawer front and what chunks of metal never get formed beyond the first or second heat? What I have found here is confirmation that almost all of what we do with our creative efforts is to push ourselves to our own limits - like pushing your brain through a staw ... painful at various levels, but so rewarding when we get what we want. It has been fun to listen at the feet of others while they consider their own reasons for doing. Thanks !!

Like many of us who haunt these pages I only knew Sarver by reading his posts. He set a high bar for many of us to strive to reach - I am glad his shadow passed by me. It is always too early to find that someone you admired has passed away - prayers go out to his family and friends.

Prayers for Bella up from Vegas . . .

Prayers for Bella up from Vegas ...

Sam - Your finished work has really progressed . . . well done! Tim

Sorry for the late update ... there is so much going on in all of our lives now it seems. Wife had tests and long visit with the doctor. No heart transplant because the anti rejection drugs would kill her ... strong stuff that can really hurt a long time diabetic. BUT, she can have a heart pump ... no anti rejection drugs for that. Came back to Vegas and were scheduled to be back in LA two weeks ago for second series of tests and consulting, but wife had a serious infection, from osteomilitus (fancy for you gotta infection in a bone in your foot) and she had to spend another 9 days in hospital. Out again and taking intraveneous antibiotics for six weeks - that ends in 18 more days then we are off again to LA ... thanks for the kind thoughts and prayers!!! Our challenges seem large at times, but when compared to what others have to deal with, maybe it ain't so bad after all. When I think about the folks in Joplin and Glenn's loss and all the other folks seeking help and support here I find it easier to lean on God and let Him take care of the hard stuff. Our best to all of you with many thanks! Tim

Looks like a Pexto Stake Plate ... you can do your own research on the net. Great find and a great tool ... its a work station that allows you to use various hardy type tools such as bickerns, metal forming tools, cut-offs, and so on. You can search on this forum for threads about these. Congrats

Not to get too far off topic from having things follow us home ... BIGGUNDOCTOR is more than kind in his support and encouragement - he's a true friend who asks for nothing - thanks Walt!!

Prayers up from Vegas . . .