Zapsteel

Starting to mount hybrid burner tubes, hopefully will finish up firebrick forge and give test run

Thank you, My first anvil stand made from steel instead of wood/stump.

Here is pic of my new 300# Isaiah hill old school English anvil, Made new stand from 1 1/4" plate and 1.5 x 2.5 solid bar stock, used tripod design for self leveling, will add hammer holders and bottom tray later on. Sorry not letting me post pics, saying i used allotted memory w just 1 previous pic, not sure how to fix this, Zap!

Aloha Brian, Yes I made a 4th prototype for testing ( which has a tip on the end to hold the flame as the ones in the pics now do as well, I was able to operate the burner from 4-50 psi w/ propane with a very stable and hot neutral looking flame, I was very happy that I did not even need a slide/air collar, the initial tests were impressive, these burners have custom venturi's which create very stable yet high output flames, I will keep you posted, I too cannot wait to finish my forge and continue to test/try out (awaiting refractory to line fire bricks). Zap

The burners sure do look nice and clean. Nice job!

Have you test fired them yet? Do you have plans for a flare or flame holder? I'd like to see the finished forge.

Getting ready to start building Gas forge, just finished Prototype Hybrid gas burners.

LDW, aloha! any thoughts on how to make use of my surplus of 20-30 feet of SS# cable? I really would like to make some kind of damascus blanks with it or mix in some material (low or high carbon/1095) to help ease the process of making damascus blank, any thoughts would be greatly appreciated even if it means discarding, Zap!

If you use cable that is 1/2" or smaller the handle will flex. Stainless is a different ballgame. If you etch cable aggressively you will get a more defined pattern. Once the gallery gets going I will attach a pic here of an aggressive etch on a blade.

Thanks for reply, I just have quite a bit laying around and wanted to use the "free stuff" if you know what I mean, also I didn't necessarily want to keep a cable handle, a damascus blank would be fine, any other thoughts on how to use this SS# material for a forge/blacksmith project or damascus or mixing in while some other materials to create a damascus? Thank you in advance, Zap!!

I think SS cable will prove quite frustrating.
Keep in mind guys, wire damascus is prolly the hardest to make correctly.
I don't chemically clean mine, several red heats and bang on the anvil cleans things out well.

Was wondering why you did not have them rough out the dovetails to remove some extra material to help w/ machining? Those cuts are mighty fine, nice job and nice to see your project going from virtual to the real deal! Zap

Well, here's the start. Got my burnouts, wow, 300lbs each. Looking good. See if I have time to get one up in the machine this weekend. Boy, what nice cutting!

Wow thank you! That was so nice to see from start to finish, I'm trying to get my forge completed so I can give this a try, wondering if SS# cable will work as well, I have a bunch of 3/4" cable, or can it be mixed with high carbon steel to make sort of a damascus blade? Any thoughts are much appreciated, Zapsteel!

Here is the way I do it, Like Brian Brazeal says, It practiacally makes itself. I made 4 knives like this today, got 2 more to go then I will start cleaning them up.

Picasa Web Albums - Lyle - Birth of a ca...

Sorry about the delay answering, I had to work (3) 12 hr shifts, but anyways, not sure what temp bricks are rated for, they came out of a large commercial oven/forge, I have 2 colors, white and tan, I was told by a good friend that the white bricks we're the higher temp bricks, I was thinking of just coating to protect and make sure it will last, but any suggestions of what to coat or use would be much appreciated, I'm tired of the school of hard knocks if I can help it, thank you in advance, Thomas!!

Thanks Thomas, I have considered something to that effect, can a person coat all of the fire bricks internally w/ refractory or is there no need except for where flame hits/bottom of forge?

Aloha Thomas, I have been prototyping a hybrid burner using SS pipe approx 1.31" OD and .120" wall, I have a customized machined venturi insert and extended tip pipe over the end/exhaust portion, I have generated a stable flame from 4 psi to 50 psi w/ a good neutral burning flame like in the pics producing generous amounts of heat/btu's ( will test/measure once in forge), My question is when I place the burners into the forge thru the fire brick, how much of the tip should actually go into the forge? I noticed the tip heats Red hot at higher Psi (25-50), I don't want to extend to far in or not enough, any suggestions would be much appreciated! ( I have the fire brick but have not made forge yet, thinking of 9x6x16" internal dimensions w/ 3 burners. Zapsteel

RIOGRANDEIRONWORKS; there are sometimes forges for sale on the NM ABANA Affiliate web page. ABANA-chapter web page

Are you going to the SWABA meeting this Saturday---we could ask the group about one for sale and it will be at Rob Gunter and Sons blacksmithing school in Moriarty and he has made a number of very good propane forges before.


Thomas
President of SWABA (South West Artist Blacksmith Association)

Maybe could be called the MinuteMan Anvil, changes in minutes, anyways naked I would like to see the latest drawing, this is very fun to watch evolve, thanks for letting us play in your sandbox!

For the horn maybe you could get a piece of of a demolition buster hammer shaft, they range from 2-6" diameter at the very least and I think are made from AR 500, made for impact/abrasion or abuse as some call it, probably could get broken section cheap or free to make prototype!

Latest revisions with a really cool "nosing tool". Ya notice the farther we go with this the more it "looks" like an anvil?

Thank you for the web site, started playing around w/ sketch drawing and Double Cad XT, interesting software, looks like it will be a lot of fun to play with!

Which program did you use to draw the prototype anvil? I use a lot of auto cad programs, this looks a lot easier to use, interested in program, Zapsteel!

Zap: Wedges with a center-pin, just like in a power hammer.

JAFO: Let's say I'm seriously exploring it.

Very nice drawing, I like it!! What mechanism would hold the center dovetail pieces in Place?

You guys are gonna get sick of my Sketchup drawings, but I gotta practice somewhere!

If I were to fabricate an an anvil, this is what it would look like. The horn dovetails are tapered so they just slide in and lock. They shouldn't get heavy use, just for shaping. Drawing would be on the fuller die. Made from 3" plate, it would be about 300 pounds.

I've seen anvils in England that had dovetails like this. That, plus Brian's design and a few other ideas thrown in.

I appreciate your good cheer, new guys like me find a lot of encouragement from you experienced folks!! Hoping to see some of your works of art!!

the tongs look brilliant!

Always nice to hear from a local boy, Hawaii runs in my veins, it would be hard to ever move away, Give me a shout when you make it back! Thomas

Howzit from another islander! Born and raised on the Leeward side, grad Mililani 89, left in 94 and been trying to get back ever since...
You could get in touch with Farmer Phil if he's still on O'ahu.
Very nice work on the tongs, still working on my first set I started when I took basic courses.

Dave

I do not have my forge or anvil yet, but coming, made these with torch/welding.

I will for sure let ya know, I thought I was pretty computer savvy but maybe not!!

yeah zapsteel i havent been able to upload for a while - not sure at all what im doing wrong the site was updated and all the techno heads in here manage fine i think but i had only just got used to the last method!! so if you work it out let me know:)

Aloha and thank you much for the welcome, I have made a pair of tongs ( not with my forge and anvil, still waiting for them, but still look alright), but unable to post pics on this site, I have tried jpg/gif/bmp, the last page when I try to process, says unable to support at this time, I even set my camera to the smallest Kb/email style pic, please let me know what I might being doing wrong, I would sure like to set up some of my pics, thank you in advance, Zapsteel!!

hi zapsteel look forward to seeing what youre going to make:)

I'm glad someone understands the difficulty of finding anvils/hammers/equip out here, most of the time I have to pay top dollar and them pay unreal shipping, but I do it for the love of the trade and I'm very excited about starting up and sharing with you folks!! Thanks for the welcome!

There is at least one other hobby smith out in your neck of the sea as I remember his laments over the problems of finding equipment out that-a-way in the smithing forums over the years.

I appreciate your aloha and would welcome you stopping by and checking out the shack where I make all the noise!!

Aloha Brah!!
I was raised in Kaneohe, and Kailua, My father was born in Tripler, and My Grandma on Kaui in 1898! My wife was born in Waipahu and we have family there, it would be cool to visit a smith when I get out there, (I try to do it wherever I go), welcome Iforge bruddah! I was certified in scuba at Hanauma (1977), and have been a diver ever since.