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I Forge Iron

km69stang

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Everything posted by km69stang

  1. Sorry to bring back a literally dead post, but, I found some information regarding this... http://www.rrtoolsnsolutions.com/CarMaintenance/c10knucklepin.asp "C10 Knuckle Pin. They are made from AISI C1060 or equal steel, tensile strength (ksi) 135, yield strength (ksi) 75.2" It might not be the best for a blade, but it should work for a hammer! ~Kyle
  2. I have begun working on modifying a WWII era Mosin Nagant. I was taking off the front sight hood and used a brash punch I fashioned to remove the sight stud. What I did was go to Tractor Supply and buy a 1/4 inch brass rod, cut it about 6 inches long, and chuck it into mu drill press and file it down to a smaller diameter. I only filed down about 2 1/2 inches. This fit perfectly through the hole in the top of the sight hood to pound out the stud. Now, to actually remove the stud, i took a lead brick I have and drilled a 3/8 inch hole in it so to have a hole for the stud to go down into. I took the punch and started pounding on the stud. It took me a while, but that's beside the point. I bent the punch while using it. This is my question, can brass be tempered in any way, shape, or form? And if so, should I have done so before I used it? Or, what should I have done anything with the brass at all? Any insight would be helpful.
  3. Ok, I started this idea in another thread, but I cannot find any information anywhere, so I decided to start here. I would like to make/fabricate a fresh air hood to keep flying sparks, welding spatter, maybe a little heat from forging and casting. Anyways it is just a thought for now. MY intentions were to connect this to my air compressor and have a regulator on the hood. I am kind of a fat guy, and I sweat a lot and breath heavy. My welding helmet fogs up after 4 minutes of welding, and it sucks to have to stop, take off the gloves, take off the helmet, wipe off the window, put the helmet back on, put the gloves back on, blah, blah, blah... I worked in a shop where they had a setup like this. It was a anti-shatter face shield with a thick denim hood sewn together and fastened on the face shield. This whole thing had a regulator and quick disconnect on the back sticking out. This all was connected to an air hose that was suspended from the ceiling. I was planning on a rig like this, making one out of my welding helmet and another out of the face shield, mimicking this hood I used. Now, on the other forum, , I was told that this might be a bad idea because of oil, dirt, dust, and whatever comes out of the compressor. Now, I would imagine that if I connected some sort of filter, this would be alleviated, but I'm not sure what to look for. Now, if anyone has undertaken this, or knows in what direction i can go to accomplish this, any information would be greatly appreciated.
  4. Thank you for the heads up, Glen! I did not know that. I will do more research on that.
  5. Glen, with the melting of the brass, it was the only metal that I had in abundance that I would be able to melt and be able to cast. I was and am aware of the zinc fumes, and so I had 2 box fans running, one forcing air in through a window, and the other pushing it out the door, plus an exhaust fan I installed at the to of the garage. As i said, this was just to test what temperatures I could get, and since brass melts at about 1650 to 1700 F. I decided that it would be a good indicator of what it is possible to achieve. Not necessarily the BEST way, but I have no access to a digital thermometer of that kind of range. I want to be able to weld in this, or at least, draw enough first hand knowledge to be able to build another capable of doing so. I have read enough material to know that VAPORIZED ZINC IS BAD JUJU. I am in the works of a design of a 'fresh air helmet' that is connected to a regulated air line from an air compressor. I believe that this can serve several purposes: keeping toxic fumes from entering my body, acting as a face shield by keeping welding and molten metal spatter from spraying on my face, keeping my welding helmet from fogging up because I breath heavy (fat guys do that), and keeping my head cool in the summer heat and preventing all that sweat from getting into my eyes! It may look weird, but, safety and comfort is my main concern behind this. I worked in a factory that had a air-fed face shield in the grinding booth, that covered the head and neck with thick denim to keep the flying metal shards out. It was nice not having sharp metal in my hair when I went to take showers. No metal splinters!!!
  6. Ok, so I decided to see what my new forge can do, and I decided to create a temporary crucible from 3 inch Schedule 40 Steel tube and a 1/4 in thick plate steel, with a few washers welded to it for manipulation. I decided to melt brass that I have laying around and cast it into ingots. I figured this was safer than attempting to weld after just getting the forge built, and not exactly knowing what to do in forging. I just wanted to see the potential heat that I can achieve. I was able to melt the brass with some ease, as stated in another post, but I encountered the oxidizing of the steel as stated in other postings. I scoured this specific forum and even searched for the work 'oxidize' and 'oxidization' and read everything, and am still not sure of the right method. I did this before asking as to not be bombarded by, 'you should have read the other posts on this subject.' Now, my question is, what should the atmosphere be like, as best that can be described, to prevent oxidation of the steel? Should there be more of the 'Dragons Breath' bellowing out of the forge, as in more gas in the mix than in optimum burn mixture? I don't want to create more rust than a finished project when i am trying to forge. I am trying to make sure that I am clear on what I am asking, and I know that this is a NOOB question! Thanks much. Kyle
  7. What did you use to carve out the firebrick? Your method of making a crucible seems like a pretty ingenious one. I may go so bold as saying that it may be cheaper than buying a bunch of high priced graphite crucibles and going through the tedious process of tempering them and possibly having them break! And have you used that crucible since? Has anything happened to it, chipped, cracks, broke?
  8. Here, I found this web site a while ago, http://www.backyardmetalcasting.com/oliverburner1.html . This site has a lot of other information that would help with other questions or future pieces of equipment you want to look into. CHECK IT OUT!!! This web site is full of information, this particular page shows a simple Oliver-Upwind Burner. What I did was use this concept and applied it to my forced air burner, the first forge that I have ever used or built myself. I have yet to see if i can achieve welding temp, but I was able to get brass to melt in it. I used a steel crucible that I made quickly, and it is not recommended because the steel starts to oxidize a lot and begin to flake off in layers, so keeping the brass clean is hard! I did this just to see what the forge was capable of. Brass melts between 1652 and 1724 depending on the alloy. But, the brass was fluid enough for me to pour it into my ingot mold, and it stayed fluid for a time after it was poured. But, as for reaching 2300 degrees for welding, I have to play with the gas/air mixture. I'll get back to you on that. I just have to find some metals I have to try welding. I have some mild steel somewhere, I'll try a few layers of that. Or, I read somewhere that one guy was able to use old hack saw blades that have gone dull. If I remember right, he welded them together on one end and welded a rod to that end to help with the handling and welding. One useful piece of information is that if you plan to forge weld, you should use a 'flux' to help protect it and assist in the welding process. I have read where people use metal filings and grindings, but most people use plain 20 Mule-Team Borax as the flux. You can get that at most grocery stores in the laundry detergent isle. You can see my forge in videos here, http://photobucket.com/km69stang , and there are pictures in the subfolder, so be sure to check that. And if you have any other questions, I'll try to answer and maybe post more pictures if necessary.
  9. km69stang

    My First Forge

    The forge on the table top just to get a size comparison to see how much working room I will have.
  10. km69stang

    My First Forge

    This is the future table top for the stand I'll be making for the forge. This is 1/4 inch steel from an electrical cabinet backing from a plastic injection molding machine. As everyone likes to say, 'It followed me home! I swear!'
  11. km69stang

    My First Forge

    This is the gas and air delivery pipes. I took a page from Jymm Hoffmans book and used 'tees' at each junction to turbulate the air and gas to get a better mixture when it reaches the burner tip. Jymm says that this helps reach optimal mixture for the burn. The brass tube has a small hole drilled in it using a #57 drill bit to create a simple jet similar to a pencil tip propane torch. Then by adding regulated air, it forces the gas out in one end and not the possibility of shooting back out the other side in the blower, which can be bad! The hose clamps are there to keep the jet from moving back and forth, and it tells me which direction the jet is pointing. I took the jet idea from a atmospheric forge I saw on another web site. I'll be creating a blog about why I chose to use a forced air and not an atmospheric. Click on the link to see video---> http://photobucket.com/km69stang
  12. km69stang

    My First Forge

    A close up of the bolt and nuts. Click on the link to see video---> http://photobucket.com/km69stang
  13. km69stang

    My First Forge

    This is the other 'fasisticated' system for holding on the back of the forge until i need to remove it for longer pieces of metal. It is just a long bolt with 2 nuts welded to either side of the door to hold it on. Then the bolt is removed to reveal the cavity. Click on the link to see video---> http://photobucket.com/km69stang
  14. km69stang

    My First Forge

    This is the inside. I have not been able to get ahold of the 'local' refractory supplier. They are too stuck up to answer an email for a small amount of refractory. Which, if the price was right, would lead to a bigger order later in the year. Anyway, it is just the ceramic wool covering the inside and the soft firebrick on the bottom. The black spot int he upper-left of the picture is the burner just slightly recessed in the ceramic wool. Click on the link to see video---> http://photobucket.com/km69stang
  15. km69stang

    My First Forge

    This is my 'fasisticated' burner mounting system. I welded on nuts to the pipe, then welded washers to the bolts to get more torque on the bolts. I ended up using a pair of vice grips to get a lot of torque to hold the burner! Click on the link to see video---> http://photobucket.com/km69stang
  16. km69stang

    My First Forge

    This is just another shot of the forge. Click on the link to see video---> http://photobucket.com/km69stang
  17. km69stang

    My First Forge

    This is my first forge. Believe it or not, this is about 6 months in the making! It is not totally complete, but it is at a stage where I can fire it up and test it. Click on the link to see video---> http://photobucket.com/km69stang
  18. I just added some more comments to the First Gas Forge thread in regards to the burners, they are into the system, past the insulation just a tiny bit. The size you are building is really pretty small, at least for the blowers I use. Yes, bigger is not necessarily better. The smallest I will build is using a 12" cylinder, opting for 15" when I can. I found that the burners I build support about 6 inches in length of the shell for every burner. If some one asks me to build a longer bigger one, I ask what they plan to make and if they have a power hammer. If you are strictly forging (pounding hot metal,) by hand, than 12 by 12 is a nice size shell. I still use this size for a lot of work. However, if you think you might have some odd shapes, a cut on one side for such items really helps accommodate many items. Again, check my other posts about gas forges. Jymm I was actually planning on recreating this forge of yours. I wasn't sure on design specs, so I picked what I thought was close, but upon inspection of this picture, along with other information, I now know that my guesstimates were way off. That forge i believe is VERY well designed and look easy to recreate. (given that I can get measurements close) I just wasn't sure where to place the burner. Another thing, do you place a special tip in the chamber or is it just factory round? I have seen where people flatten out the tips to put into the firing chamber. And I was wondering if you do the same. (I like to ask as many questions from a Master as I can come up with, that I can not find out on my own.) I would be greatly appreciative if you have the time and will, to take many pictures of different angles that you think that is an important detail of construction of this forge. Or any other forge that you think that would be better for a first forge. Thanks Much for the information. Kyle
  19. Hello All, I have been a member of this forum for only a few months and I have read this Gas Forge thread extensively. I myself am in the process of building my first gasser and have gathered most of the information that I require to finish the build. I have read enough to get the point that 'Bigger is not Better!' To be honest, I never wanted to make something big in the first place. I just wanted something with a chamber of 6 x 6 x 10. I was planning on using kaowool to line it, and have a Jymm Hoffman style to the overall design. But this is where I have my design issue. I am building a forced air/gas design; I don't particularly care for the atmospheric design. I have the shell, pipes, and jet delivery, but where do I place the tube on/in the shell? The picture that I have seen of Jymm Hoffman's forge, it has the pipe welded to the side of the shell. But is it welded to the surface or is it sunk in the insulation some. I'm not asking specifically about Jymm's design, but I wouldn't want it excluded either. He obviously knows his stuff. I guess what I am asking is if there is any opinion or tried and true, tested designs of this forge for this specific area? And if there are any other little details that any of you can think of or post pictures of to get the small details, that would be greatly appreciated. Happy Forging! Kyle
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