Toreus

When I had to whip up an improvised hot cut, I cut off 6in of spring, sharpened one end into a butcher (sidecut) hotcut (keeping the side I wasn't grinding wet to keep the HT). Voila, stick it in your vise and hammer away. Slides down after extended use, so I've since bent a piece of mild steel into a saddle. Works great!

Nice tongs! What are the diagonal grooves nearer the pivot for? Reminds me of deer tracks :lol:

Lots of good stuff here

Congrats to the CBBA!

I made "buttons" out of firebrick, inserted the wires and coated the entire thing in high-temp cement to prevent them from oxidizing away. They worked great until the temperature got hot enough to melt them even inside the insulation. I'll have to be careful not to get the temperature that high again in that forge. Pics are in http://www.iforgeiro...uctive-surgery/ (Can't figure out how to link them, and I'm not at the computer with the images ) It doesn't look melted, so I'm guessing that means it'll still insulate okay? I'll be getting that mask tomorrow! :)

I recently overheated my propane forge and melted the wires I was using to hold in the ceramic wool, along with the piece I was working on. With nothing to hold it, the insulation drooped and now the flame is in places it shouldn't be. Is it safe to simply wire the insulation back in place? Will having it fired above its rating make it more dangerous? The <MSDS> for the insulation I used. I didn't know about this when I first installed it. The guys who sold it didn't use any protection, so I figured I'd be safe enough with a dust mask and wetting down the insulation. If I *can* do anything with the insulation, I'm buying myself a p100 half-face mask asap. Thanks, Toreus PS: I posted something similar but more long-winded in the Gas Forges forum a few days ago, no response yet. Hope I'm not committing a faux-pas by putting this here.

I made a "button" out of soft firebrick, put a high-temp wire through it and coated the entire thing with high-temp cement (to prevent the wire from oxidizing away). That held my ceramic blanket in place really well until I got the forge hot enough to melt the retaining wires (and the work I had in it at the time). If I was to do it again, I'd probably put chicken wire (or even better, a mesh of high-temp wire) between the first and second layers of blanket, attach that mesh to the shell, and hope that some more high-temp cement would be enough to glue the insulation to the mesh. Same thing might work with castable- when it cracks, it might hold it together regardless, sorta like rebar with cement.

If you wanted a more even heat, what about putting some sort of a choke/baffle in the gas tube nearest the blower (not near where it enters the forge). Disclaimer: I am still new at this :unsure:

I decided to try forge-welding using my propane forge. I did manage to get a weld, but some insulation fell out. When I fired it afterwards, there were hotspots on the forge body and so I had to shut it down before it got up to operating temperature. Turns out the insulation had drooped, and the propane-air mixture was burning between the insulation and the forge body and between the insulation layers itself! I found this: I've heard scary things about working with ceramic wool after it has been fired and so I haven't messed with it just yet. (1) I was wondering if it would be safe/possible to make another "holder button" (don't know if there's a term for them) and simply replace the one that had its wires melted. The green is some high-temperature kiln wire, the buttons are made of soft firebrick coated with high-temp cement. If repairing this forge is going to be difficult, I may simply build another one- since the wires melted the first time I tried to forge-weld, they might fail after a while at regular forging temperatures. (2) For those of you who have curved ceilings and don't use castable refractory, how do you keep the ceramic wool from drooping/falling down? The only place I could find in Manitoba that sold refractory LINK has several months' lead time for bricks or ceramic wool (Fiberfrax brand) higher than 2300F. It looks like I hadn't done enough research when I bought the stuff . Could that temperature rating have something do to with the failure? Thanks, Toreus EDIT: Clarification and added info.

I don't intend on using anything heavier than my 2.5lb regular hammer on the heel so I should be good. Edge and Southshore: I thought about grinding the surface smooth, but would that affect the temper or thin out the faceplate too much? For the edges, do you suggest radiusing them until they're smooth, or...? Sask Mark: Now that you've named it, Foster fair jumps out at me- thanks!

I bought this anvil yesterday for $60 (Canadian ) The heel was broken off and welded back on and some supports were added. The tip of the horn was built back up. Most of the edges have been welded up as well, but there is a nice section about 4in long near the horn with a nice small & smooth radius. Question #1: What kind of makover should I give it? I'm still a beginner and I don't want to ruin the anvil by being overzealous, and so I was thinking of simply grinding smooth the tip of the horn and leaving the rest as is. Question #2: It looks like whoever fixed it up welded it up good- what do you people think of using *some* hardy tools on it? I'm thinking it could bear hotcuts and the like- no heavy pounding. Question #3: What on earth is it? I see a "B" on the bottom row, a "185" followed by what looks roughly like a "k" in the middle row. In the top row, I can see what looks like a "P" followed by something that could be either a "U" or an "O" and at least 3 more letters. I haven't found any markings underneath or on the feet, but I haven't completely cleaned it yet. It seems like 185lbs would be about right for the weight, but for the rest I have no clue. What do you good people think?

...I may have found true love. That is one big hammer!

Very nice- I'll definitely have to make some of these! How did you attach the candle base to the stem? It doesn't look welded...

According to Wikipedia, Titanium melts at 3034*F, which is uncomfortably low. I've seen people forging titanium, so you probably get significant warping even if you manage not to melt it. If you can manage to sell it at a good price, I'd say Tomas Dean's advise is spot on the money (pun intended)!

What is it originally meant for? If it's not made specifically for LP, propane might degrade the seals. If you can't find it in the specs, calling the manufacturer usually works. Other than that, looks like it would work fine.

I like the design, but I would think those little curls (especially the one on the blade!!) would be great spots for cracks to start, especially if you're heat treating. The braid area would just be burned in, or would it be carved/layered somehow?

How stable is that setup? I'm building a vise stand currently, but it's a lot beefier. That said, since I'm a university student and need to move around a fair bit, the easier to transport the better. If this is stable enough to use as a full-time stand, that'd be great!

Looking good! I've been making tong blanks myself, and I've been having that same problem with hammer marks, so thanks everyone for the tips!

I didn't use flame at all- I opened the valve and put the tank upside down to vent any remaining gas, then I unscrewed the valve. I filled the closed container with water to the top to ensure there was nothing left. I then used an angle grinder to remove the front and bottom, which have now become the front and back. If you guys can think of any other steps/processes to make it safer, I'd be glad to hear them! T.

Edit: The images are HUGE! How do I fix that? I couldn't find anything in the Help section... :S Hey guys! Got the forge body welded up, and I did a fire test yesterday to make sure everything was working. Now I'm just waiting for a dry day so I can install the refractory and get it curing. I still haven't fine-tuned the mixture, but I want the refractory in before I do that. More detailed pictures: The flamestop is a foot-long piece of .25in flat bar cold-twisted about 300*. (I love overly large pipe wrenches ) Worked well, since you can see a piece of paper taped right above it. I'm really happy with how the doors came out- they're very easy to put on, even one-handed. I will put large wingnuts on to make it feasible when the forge is running full blast. Sucker heated fast! I had it on for about 50-60s and after it cooled, I noticed these lovely oxidation colours. Thanks to everyone, a more helpful group of people would be very hard to find! And lastly- does anyone have any comments/suggestions for this forge? Cheers, T.

What they do to make trombones and trumpets (and I'm guessing the other brass instruments) is they mix a lot of soap into water, fill the pipe and freeze it. That way when they bend it, it doesn't collapse. I don't know if you could nicely twist 1" square tubing cold this way, but I thought this might give you an idea. Cheers, T.

Canadian Tires sells some High-Temperature Cement. Not sure if it's exactly what you're looking for, but: http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/3/HouseHome/1/HeatingAirConditioning/WoodPelletStoveAccessories/PRD~0642704P/Imperial%252BHi-Temp%252BStove%252B%252526%252BFurnace%252BCement%25252C%252B710%252BmL.jsp?locale=en Cheers, T.

I'm thinking of doing the very same thing myself- haven't found a good crosspeen hammer locally here in Canada. The flat side looks a fair bit heavier than the peen side- how's the balance? Cheers, T.