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I Forge Iron

Mad Dawg

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  1. Thanks for the reply guys. I did find some available on line, but the shipping costs were high. Seems I'll be able to get plenty of elevator cable at the scrapyards, but I'd like to move on into known materials. Thanks for the suggestions. Mark
  2. I figured I should show all views of the knife so here are a couple more pics... You can clearly see some of my mistakes in these pics... I hope to do much better on my next project. Thanks for looking and constructive criticism is always appreciated. Later, Mark
  3. Hello Guys, Maybe some of you can help me with procurring steel? I called all of the local steel distributors and they all acted like I was speaking another language when I asked for steels for knifemaking. Maybe I am calling the wrong places, so any tips on locating steel sources locally would be appreciated. The phone calls did pay off as I got into a conversation with a gentleman who gave me contact info for a guy who can sell me various grades of high tension elevator cable. Possibly even get scrap for free. I'll see how that goes... any how... any info on buying steel would be appreciated. I am trying to get it locally in Vegas and avoid purchasing it online. Thanks, Mark
  4. Heya Guys, I finally made my first knife. It's made on a pattern welded billet that I purchased on eBay. I made a couple of mistakes being it's my first time, but I am very happy with it... if it survives the quench I'll be stoked! You cannot see it in the pic, but the patterning on the blade is very nice... much nicer than I expected. I have some Cocobola scales for it. Still haven't decided on exactly how to finish up the handle, but it's just a couple of small tweaks. Anyhow, I hope you guys like it... this is my first "non-scrap" project. I just built an H-press with an air over hydraulic jack for making damascus billets... I dislike buying them made... would prefer to make my own. I hope you guys have a nice day, Mark
  5. Hello Matto, I made I handwritten list of items needed, but I basically just copied plans found here and other sites. I would do an "howto" on the press, but it's been done several times already. Just do a search for "mini press forge" on google. Read some and look at the pics. In the end, it's an easy build... just need some good welding skills. I would get the 20 ton jack over the 12.. but I cannot argue with free so mine is 12 ton. Hope this helps, Mark
  6. Heya Guys, Didn't take any pics today as usual... I was too busy testing out my press... I made several billets of cable damascus.. started pressing a stack of regular and chrome washers alternating... I even welded some small bandsaw blade pieces to some leaf spring pieces.. that was going well but I messed it up testing stuff. Overall, I am happy with the press. It looks like I'll be able to make pattern welded billets fine with it so I am happy, as that's all I wanted it for anyhow. I took a pic with the cell phone once work was over. It's not a great pic but you get the idea.... My forge is in the pic as well. As you can tell I am much more for functionablility than looks. I'll try'n be more picture friendly in the future... but I just don't think much about pictures when I'm making something. Have a nice day all, Mark
  7. Heya Guys, I finally made a mini press to make pattern welded steel for various projects. I copied many designes on the web and ended up having a friend weld it up... I didn't trust my welding skills. Anyhow it's a 12 ton air over jack on an h-press. I also had many sets of dies made for different purposes. We didn't finish with enough time for me to heat up any metal. I had to go to work :*( .. but as a test I crushed some wood in it. I also "tested" the welds by letting the dies press against themselves at max strength. Everything seems nice and sturdy, though I'll keep an eye on it for the next few months just in case. I tried to upload a video I took of the test runs, but they're too big or I'm doing something wrong... I will take pics tomorrow on the test run for metal. I will be trying to make a pattern welded billet from some scrap elevator cable. I'll try'n get several nice pics of the press to post as well. Work again tomorrow so pics may be next day. I traded a tomahawk for the welding. Air jack was free and I paid around $65.00 dollars for all the metal. I am lucky enough to have access to a HUGE scrapyard, so my dies were made from scrap metal at little or no cost. The 2 inch tubing I bought new as well as the 2" steel plates for the dies and guides. I am very excited. Later, Mark
  8. Hello guys, I was thinking about this and am a total loss... I am a beginner blacksmith. To date I have made several tomahawks, a pair of tongs, and a knife. I have a small propane forge and I am looking for a project that will not only suite my skills, but also challenge me to get better. I wanted to make my wife something nice, but am at a loss as what to do? Any ideas... what have you guys done for your signifigant others in the past? I know this is a very broad subject, but I am looking for inspiration. Thanks, Mark
  9. Hey Guys, I fabricated the propane forge yesterday and after a full day of using it I must say I'm 100% pleased w/ my results. I didn't make doors for the forge, it's just a tube lined with 2 inches of ceramic blanket. I put a piece of kiln shelving between the layers for a floor, then coated the entire thing with alumina silicate rigidizer I bought from ellis knifeworks. I ended up making my own burner and am glad I did. Works great. I am tired, but when I get some time I am gonna post pics of the entire setup. I ended up using a .035 wire feed welding tip which screws into a brass plug that I drilled and tapped to hold it. Don't really know how a burner is supposed to perform... but I can take mine down to no reading on the gauge and keep a flame. Just the smallest trickle of gas will keep it going. I have only forge welded once, but it took, and from my limited experience I'd say 8-10psi would reach welding temps just fine. When the propane tank got down to about 1/4 it started to freeze up, I will definately have to fabricate a system to piggy back two tanks. Once harbor freight put's there cheapie steel cart on a good sale I am gonna buy it and bolt the forge to it. Then use the bottom to hold the tanks. I took video of the who process so I'll post it sometime once I figure out how to do so. Again, thanks for the help. Without your kindness and support I'm not sure I'd of had the confidence to attempt the project at all. Mark
  10. I just wanted to thank everyone for their help. I have ordered or bought locally almost everything I need and once I get the time off I'll get to building the forge . Mark
  11. Ok, I just measured it. It is 16 inches long from the furtherest points out. The diameter is 9 1/2 inches. I was planning on cutting it at the original weld seams, which would give me a workspace of 10 inches. I was then gonna hinge the cut pieces and make doors with smaller opening when they are closed. I had one more question. I plan on lining the interior with ceramic blankest and plistix.. two one inch layers then coated.. 8lb density. I had originally intended to line the caps or end pieces w/ the the leftover blanket and plistix them as well, though I am worried about them staying in place. Would it be better to cast the end caps with a home made refractory? I was thinking it may stay in place better and since only the ends are casted refractory it shouldn't take too long to heat it up... though I am not sure 'bout that. It's why I'm asking for the best route. I was also gonna use a thin firebrick for the bottom. For a burner I was gonna buy Zoeller's side arm burner kit. That's 'bout it. I am hoping this configuration will give me a nice little forge that won't take up too much room . Thanks for all the replies, this is a great forum. Mark
  12. Hello guys, I was just thinking about my first forging attempt and I figured I'd put it down in words. This is nothing more than my thoughts on my first attempt, so read no further is ya don't care... I had been watching all these videos online about how to forge things.... to my mind.. a knife. I had wanted to forge a knife since about 11 years old, and at 44 years of age, that left quite a gap. I don't know why I didn't look into blacksmithing at a local community college or workshot, or any of the number of ways you can start... but I never did. One night I was perusing through some youtube videos and I watched a guy forge something from a scrap piece of metal. It wasn't much, but I was totally captivated. I ended up watching hours of video on how to forge things. I wanted to try, but I didn't want to invest much money into something I may not like. So I decided a brake drum forge would be the best alternative to find out if I would like blacksmithing. Hell, I even found a brakedrum for free and brought it home. In the end I didn't want to pay the 20 dollars for the parts so I went a different route. I have this old chimenae in my yard that I haven't used for years. The top part had broken down to the sand filled part and I had been using it for decoration for years. This basically left me with a huge ceramic bowl filled with sand. I took an old barbeque wood smoker box(approx. 4x3x1 inches with a grated lid designed for gas grills), cut a hole in the bottom and welded some steel tubing to the hole, for an air intake. I then buried the box in the sand up to the edges of the lid as well as the tubing to protect it as much as possible from the heat. My pulse was racing... I was close.. would it all work? Shop Vac well duct taped to the air intake I vowed to try. My tools were a heavy blacksmithing hammer I bought cheap and rewedged solidly as the original one sucked, a cheap 55lb anvil that I got even cheaper from a local website, and aforementioned forge. Fuel for this misadventure turned out the be scrap wood from a neighbor clearing his yard. Could I really make something with this really basic setup I had? I had been working alot of overtime the last few weeks, so it was sorta a miracle how these pieces assembled themselves. Now that I had them, what should I do... I hadn't even planned ahead enough to decide what to make. After looking over my small scrap pile I settle on a piece of scrap rebar I had. Man, o' man I envisioned that clip point knife video I had watched over and over again. You never know 'til you try is my motto, so I fired her up. Honestly to begin with, I was just hopin I could flatten the rebar... nothing more, I just wanted to see heated metal move. The air flow was good, and after forty years of campin' I'd best know how to tend a flame so it wasn't all that long until I had that rebar glowing. I pulled it out and commenced to giving the end a few good blows. Not only was I amazed at how easily the metal moved, but I was totally captivated by the process. A few heatings later I had a nice straight billet worked out of the rebar, not perfect by any means, but well within my expectations. I was happy so I continued on. I worked the billet out to about the dimensions I wanted, then ate dinner to get the wife off my back. After dinner it was cool 'nough so I ran to the garage and cut the end of the billet off to make a clip point.. was that even the right terminology? Man was I happy, it was all looking so good. Now the really tough part. The bevels. I hammered nice and soft on both edges of the heated metal and marveled as the blank started curving and clip point started forming. As I was forging I was trying to pay attentiong to the coloration of the metal and how it moved under the hammer blows. The hotter is got, the easier the going, so I kept pushing that edge. I was paying really close attention and keeping the edge just the right color and the knife was doing exactly what is was supposed to, but then tragedy struck. I had the blade forged excactly as I had envisioned, but I decided I needed one more heat to straighten it just that little bit. I'm not really sure what happened... I pretty much did what I had been doing all night, but when I pulled my o' so perfect knife from the fire the tip looked like a crack addict's teeth. All eaten away and ugly. To say I was disappointed is an understatement. All my work ruined. I don't give up easily, so I tried to reforge the tip which ended up in total disaster. I weakened the metal in one area and finally decided to let well enough alone. After a not so short time at my little belt sander I reastablished a profile I felt wouldn't weaken the knife as a tool. The knife wasn't so pretty anymore, but I figured I'd learn valuable lessons by finishing it. She cleaned up nicely, though some of the blemishes were way too deep to get out. Not really sure how good the steel was I started w/ I decided to leave well 'nough alone. Yesterday I brought the knife up to full heat and quenched it. The blade survived so at least that worked out. I haven't cleaned it up beyond this, but I did get a cut piece of red oak free at the store so I am making a handle and we'll see how it does as a tool. I knew from the first hammer blow I was hooked. When I saw that metal move... well I'm sure you all understand... Later, Mark This is the knife after I profiled it, before I cleaned it up then hardened it
  13. Thanks for the nice comment about my tomahawk. It was my third blacksmithing project. I made a knife first, then tongs, then that tomahawk. The knife turned out decent, but I have too many deep grooves to grind it out nice. If I ground them out the metal would be too thin to make the knife servicable. I am happy with the knife and I learned quite a bit making it. The tongs turned out great as well. Anyhow I digress, since I asked for advice I figured it'd be easiest to just outline my forge plans... The tank you've seen... I was gonna line it with 2 running feet of ceramic blanket then coat it w/ plistix 900F. I was gonna put an insulated firebrick for the floor. The burner I was gonna buy the side arm burner kit from zoeller's site, as well as all the materials for the forge. The forge will be perfectly sized for one burner. I priced it out at $164 plus shipping.. does this sound bout right? There is a pic of a 5 gal craftsman tank forge just like mine on his site and I didn't plan on copying it at first, but after I got the tank and realized it was the exact same one I see no reason not to copy that one exactly. It seems to be just what I had in mind and I really like the way the guy did the doors at the ends. Also thanks for the advice on getting the dent out. As I stated I am much more concerned about performance than looks. The main reason I wanted to get the dent out was cuz it goes into where I am gonna cut the end and I didn't want it to affect the door. But if I can cut the one end out, then hammer the dent mostly out then cut the other end I should be fine. I had pretty much gathered that I would need a firebrick floor to the forge for forge welding, but I tend to ask a lot of questions before I start a project. Sorta along the lines of measure twice, cut once sort of thinking. And after perusing a buncha sites I noticed that alot of people didn't have firebrick floors in their forges. I am gonna include pic of my first two projects... mostly cuz I am happy I figured out how to post pics and want to do a couple more Later, Mark
  14. Hello guys, At the moment I have been forging in a broken chiminea I had, but this is temporary at best. I picked up an old craftsman 5 gal airtank at the junkyard for a buck and I want to turn it into my new forge. The tank has a pretty substantial dent in one side. It doesn't go in more than an inch so I was thinking it shouldn't be a problem. Anyhow is there any way to get this dent out. I was thinking of putting a small hydraulic car jack inside the tank once I cut off the end and tray to pop it back close to original shape. I am not worried bout aesthetics at all, I just don't want the dent to affect performance. My second question is simple but after an hour of reading old posts I haven't found an answer. Do I need to put a firebrick on the floor of the forge, or will a Plistix coating over the ceramic blanket work just as well. The only reason I'm asking is alot of the pics I see of small cylindrical forges don't have firebricks bottoms. I am gonna try to post a pic w/ the dent and my first tomahawk I made for my son... Later Mark
  15. Thanks for the reply.. I will definately make that rivet tool. However I put the tongs together this morning. I heated up the quarter inch stock and dropped in and hammered both sides.. Not perfect, but I'm happy with it. And the tongs work great. I finished up a knife afterwards and drew the spike out on a ball peen hammer I am turning into a tomahawk. Had to quit to get ready for work, but had a nice productive morning Later, Mark
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