LouieIV

Debra, I'm not an authority on this. That being said, I think vacuuming it out will be fine. The dangers of this are in handling and being exposed to airborne fibers long term on a daily basis. Hope this helps, LouieIV

Well keep up the good work. Looks like you've got a knack for it. -LouieIV

Wow! amazing first effort. Beautiful knife. You say 'first forged knife' just wondering if you've done stock removal before? Either way great job! -LouieIV

How big is it? It looks much bigger that a file . Pics can be deceiving sometimes. Pretty cool looking, thanks for sharing. -LouieIV

I just put the first coat of ITC-100 on and I'm wondering if I need to let it dry completely before firing it?

looking good, nice shape.

Thanks. The pics were just too big, they prefer thumbnails that you click on and they blow up. -LouieIV

Hmmm, these didn't come up as thumbnails? I uploaded to the gallery and then linked to the gallery pics and this is how they came out. I won't post any more until I can get them to thumbnail. Sorry dial up people. -LouieIV Edit: I just uploaded straight from my HD and they came out fine.

Here are a few pics of my completed propane forge build. -LouieIV

Good looking first. Nice tips Kevin, thanks. I'll be using them before too long when I get to my first knife. -LouieIV

Thanks for the info guys. Don't go huffing the fumes or lighting a match right over it. Don't rub the stuff all over open wounds. Keep outdoors or well ventilated. But relatively safe compared to burning it off. Hopefully my 1-1/2 x 6 nipple will be clean by morning so I can get my forge put together and lined tomorrow. -LouieIV :)

I assumed that also. :D

Also lack of a flare might be affecting performance too.

So I'm using vinegar to remove some galvanization. I was wondering what kind of precautions I should take. Are toxic fumes released? Is the residue left in the vinegar harmful to touch? Obviously I don't want to drink it. I assume that if it were to dry out it would be harmful to breath. By the way the "Zinc, Cadmium, Hydrogen Fluoride and other toxic compounds" seems to be broken. At least I can't seem to open it. Thanks, LouieIV

Take this with a grain of salt because I'm very much a newbie. It sounds like your problem is possibly the Tee. You need a Ward brand reducing Tee for best performance. These don't seem to be readily available at HD or Lowe$. Smaller hardware stores or local plumbing supply stores might carry them. The other choice is to order one. Here's a link on the basic 3/4" side arm burner assembly. Scroll down a little and it is there. You can order them from Larry Zoeller. Down towards the bottom he has just the tee for sale. Hope this helps, LouieIV

Nice first effort. Very good looking blade shapewise and all. I also really like the rough look, that's just a personal preference though. Not that I don't appreciate a finely finished sword or knife. there's just something about the rough look, yet still well made and fully serviceable. Keep us posted on future projects. It will be fun to see how you progress. Hopefully I'll be posting some stuff up here soon. -LouieIV