km69stang

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

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.

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.

Thank you for the heads up, Glen! I did not know that. I will do more research on that.

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!!!

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

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?

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.

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

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