Archie Zietman

oh yeah! I decided to keep it as simple as possible. I decided that, since the simplest forges are holes in the ground, I would make the firepot very adjestable by using topsoil and perlite as a lining instead of clay, or a castable refractory cement. I could alter the firepot to however big was necessary for the job, and thus save charcoal. the forge is a washtub with fireplace bricks in the bottom, 3 side blown tuyeres, and the firepot is dug/sculpted in the soil/perlite mix. (about 1/2 and half)

Just bought the mterials to finish up the forge to go with the blower. lots of 1/2 inch black pipes and fittings, an a bag of topsoil, and wo of perlite. should work fairly well. I'll see tomorrow.

I haven't checked those, no. I am testing out a small 3 pound iron weight with one face polished smooth, set upright in a small box of concrete, which should work for small stuff, I hope

I was kinda going on that principle, but I suppose it is better to keep above the law. Truth be told I probably wouldnever have gotten round to it anyhoo, but it was a lesson. The reason I was thinking thus was because the local scrapyard doesn't sell to the public, and the car parts place only sell for specific car repairs (which is wierd) thus I turned to the proverbial railroad track.

oh..ok...never mind. :oops: sorry.

now it is time to raid the railroad track near my school. I've been coveting a four foot length in their pile of track lengths (they're all ten feet except the four foot length). the construction workers are not there during the winter, so tomorrow I shall strike! and look for spikes in the process! :lol:

goonna be hammering on tueday, so I might as well make him something. I just brought it home. it is so big I cannot carry it for more than 5 minutes, and you can feel it blowing from about 6 feet away. it is sweet. He wanted time at the forge as payment, in the end, which I am all too happy to give him. I'mm gonna forge him a road-bolt knife I think (instead of a railroad spike, it's a medium carbon steel bolt I found on the side of the country lane in france, this summer. I knew it would come in handy.) I lugged it into the gym after the christmas concert this evening to show him, and he couldn't believe it. it makes me happy.

I am thinking of useing one of those massive 2 way hose adapters, which, when you turn the hose allow you to alternate/ split the air load between tunnels, and send most of the air back away, only taking some for the forge. if not, it'll probably pressurize and pop. Another thing I could do would be to take off the motor (use it for something else) and then put a bicycle wheel above it, with a rubber belt between the two, and a handle, so I'll get the bicycle gear effect on a bigger scale, and not always have far too much air coming out. Whatever I do, I've got a big blower! :D

Hello. My schoolfriend a few days ago found an old electric forge blower in his barn (he lives on a farm) and I was intending to buy it from him, being under the impression that it was a small thing with a broken motor. Boy was I mistaken. He refused payment for it, and said he tested it and it works beautifully. He told me that I might want to divert some of the air away from the forge. I wasn't sure until he held up his hands to show how big the air expelling hole was it's about 6 inches diameter, and the whole thing is darn huge! I'm definately going to use a hose valve to regulate the amount of air put into the forge, diverting the excess back out into the air! It's big enough to fuel two big forges!!! I totally scored on this one!!! And if I can hurry my forge along, I'm gonna be all set! No more problems about "not enough air!"

Vascowear apparently hold the best edge, according to Jim Hrisoulas in his book "The Complete Bladesmith", but I don't think it's in production any more.

Congratulations!!!!!! :D

jusat nailed 2 horseshoes up over the shop! I've got a massive 5 foot long by 1/4 inch thick by 2 inches bide band of the stuff which I found in the corner of my basement. I spark tested it and it's wrought, apparently. I also have a 2 foot long half inch thick nail type object which is wrought. it's very corroded, so I am going to draw it out as flat as possible before welding, so that there is less of a risk of cold shuts. I'll have to do it the week after next though, homework. :(

Hello. I have a large bar of wrought iron I am wishing to use. Is there a very specific temp0erature range that wrought iron is forged in? Thanks, Archie

I use charcoal, and get barely any scale. what scale I do get, I brush of lightly with a brass brush so it doesn't indent into the steel and pit it.

Hello. How does one reduce grain growth in steel or iron? I know that one can shock it by heating it for a few seconds than dipping it in oil to shock it into contracting. is this the way it is done? I have only seen it done in a hot gas forge though. would it work to stick it in the coals for a few secs and then shock-dip-quenchy thingy it the same way a few times? Thanks, Archie

hahahaha! mead is yummy. I'm actually thinking of selling some, or maybe cryo-distilling the alchohol out of it to make a kind of "champagne for kids" type thing. It'll taste good no mattawat!

you put yeast in it right? you need to let it stand until less than room temperature, minimum 3 hours before putting the yeast in, otherwise the yeast will die, and barely any will stay alive. Pitch more yeast in, it should froth up right away, and give off only clean bubbles, and flush away the brown yucky ones. It takes everal weeks to finish fermenting, mine took 3. Have patience

wow. that's a lot of presses! :D

mouko yamamoto, I had about 1/2 and inch of sediment in the bottom of my carboy during the first week, then I racked it, and another 3/4 settled on the bottom. it tastes fine, just let the sediment settle until the mead is clear before siphoning it off into bottles, and if you want to be extra careful, do it through coffee filter paper.

bread yeast stops fermenting and dies at around 18%, and my yeast stopped fermeng which means the yeast are dead which means the alchohol content is about 18% I may be wrong though. :D

oh BTW it's a semi-dry apple-mead with about 18% alchohol content. like hard cider squared! :lol:

just bottled it. I filtered it through coffee-filter-paper, and then into bottles. I corked them and then dipped the tops up to an inch down their necks in melted wax, just to be sure it was airtight. Then I opened the first bottle, and it is GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!! yum! yum! now to make a few iron racks to hold it. I'll be giving most of it away though, a gallon goes a LONG way. so long that I din't have enough bottles for the last third of the gallon. I got 6 though. I'm gonna save one for a special occasion with lots of people. One goes to my cousins and aunt and uncle in engyland, because I'm missing my cousin's bar-mitzvah one to my mad italian neighbor who makes his own wine beer and whisky by the barrel-load and one for a friend whom I'll be staying with in chicago in a few weeks. still leaves me 2 bottles for the here and now! :D

I forged a bit from files. Annealing helps, but I did without and it was fine. :D

be careful if you're gonna be dancing at a haloween party, or gonna be in crowds!

nonononono! It was a not very well executed joke, saying that only silly drunks are pro-Bush. I didn't actually vote, I was saying that I am just not very enamoured with Bushie baby and his administration, and was more for Kerry during the elections. never mind, forget it. :oops: Mead was 1 gallon of apple juice, and 3 pounds of honey simmered for 20 minutes, with cinnamon and cloves and nutmeg. Then I let it cool down till it was tepid (less than warm) and then mixed 1/2 of a cup of water with a 3 pack of fleischmann's rapid rise bread yeast, and pitched it in. do it in the sink, as soon as the yeast hits the must(applejuice/honey etc) it foams up like anything and then you cap the bottle with a balloon with two pinpricks in it. works great as an airlock. happy brewing! Don't get confused! Hard cider is great, especially the stuff you get in north france.