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

Thanks Louie I do have some stock removal experience but that was some 15 years ago
I still have a piece of ATS34 I have been carrying that long a crossed 4 state in countless moves to remind me that I wanted to be a knife maker when I grow up.

Just to be clear this was not my fist attempt I destroyed a lot of good steel getting to this point since taking a introduction to bladesmithing class last October .

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.

Nice forge design, The pictures came through just fine, if you ask me.

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 assume this is an aspirated burner and not a blown one?

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

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

So in addition to the questions above I'm also concerned about the angle of the burner(s) because I want to try to avoid hot spots as much as possible. I don't have a welder, so I'm using locknuts to attach the burner holder. If I angle the burner as much as possible in the holder this is what I get. Let me know what you think.

Thanks,
LouieIV

So I'm getting ready to cut the holes for 2 burners (one will be plugged until I get a 2nd burner), I was going to put them evenly off center. To explain I found the center of the interior of the forge (front to back) then split the distance front and for each burner hole. When i made the markings the front burner seemed kinda close to the front of the forge. So I started looking at pics of dual burner forges. Some of them appear to bias the burners toward the center. Each burner is still equal distance from the center (front to back) of the forge, but not splitting the distance between center and front/back rather slightly closer to center than front or back. Is this making any sense??

Example:
Back wall to front wall is 10 in.
Center of the forge is 5 in. from either wall.
So if everything was equal center of each burner would be 2.5 in off center.
With me so far (not sure I am)

This just seems like the front burner is too close to the front to me.

So some pics look like the burners are biased towards center.
Example:
Same forge as above but put burners at 2 in off center. This of course would mean they are at 3 in. from the front and back walls.
Would this be a better design?

Clear as mud??

If you made it through all this and can make sense of my ramblings, I would much appreciate your advice and opinions.

Thanks,
LouieIV

PS I would like to eventually try my hand a forging knives, and thought it might affect placement.

Thanks for the tips. I got the rest of my stuff in today. My wife is out of town until Saturday though and I have the kids. I have to wait until she gets back cause I don't want the kids around the inswool until I get it coated with the Satanite.

-LouieIV

I didn't think the blanket need anything before coating, but wanted to make sure since this is my first time and all .

-LouieIV

Real nice looking knife. I like it.

-LouieIV

I've been preparing to build my first forge for awhile now. The last of the items needed are supposed to be here on the 9th.

The design is the Simple Gas Forge on Larry Zoeller's web page.

I'm going to be lining it with Inswool (very similar to Kaowool), coating it with Satanite, then ITC-100. I was wondering if the Inswool needs to be fired/cured or anything of the sort before lining it with Satanite?

I'm starting out with a single burner(hobby money is at a minimum), but I'm pretty sure I'd like to be able to forge weld eventually, so would like to add a second burner down the road. If I plan for 2 burners should I put my single burner in the front or back? I'm thinking back.

Thanks,
LouieIV

I know how to seal/seal check the respirator, but as far as a certified fit test that's a bit more in depth than I'm prepared to do.
I am fit and have used respirators before, thanks for the heads up though.
I'm thinking I will shave. I just keep a short goatee any way, so growing it back will be quick and easy .

Thanks,
LouieIV

First of all thanks for all the responses. ptree yours was especially informative.

Both Inswool and Kaowool fall under what is called RCF (Refractory Ceramic Fibers)

So from what I've read someone that is not working with it on a regular basis, like most of us assuming you seal it with some sort of coating, are at pretty low risk. Just like with most 'dangerous substances like asbestos, lead, radiation, etc... it is exposure to very large amounts and/or long term exposure that causes problems. With that being said, when I'm thinking and not being stupid I tend to err on the side of safety .

The MSDS recommendations are based off 8hr work days and the particle count in the air. I'm guessing most of us don't have a particle counter at home.

I found this recommendation chart My link. I believe this is based off an 8hr work day. This is from Canada and was the most straight forward recommendations I found. The least amount of recommended protection I saw was goggles, gloves and an N95 rated mask, I think this was on an Australian MSDS (not sure though).

I will be using goggles, latex gloves, disposable coveralls, and a P100 respirator. I will be doing it outside, since I don't have HEPA filtration in my garage. Like I said I tend to err on the side of safety.

Disclaimer:
I'm no expert, please do your own research when determining how much or little and what PPE to use.

-LouieIV