Greenbeast

fair enough! i will track down a used wood stove for next winter

It could be that they don't take to a flue very well, or that they require more fire maintenance than a closed woodburning stove using large logs, in which case this'll all be moot!

not a good comparison with modern houses but the original question (and my follow up) was for workshop heat

i don't understand, humans have been burning wood for heat for thousands of years, in fact in open fires indoors for hundreds of years. shall we go back and tell them it's not a good idea?

well obviously! but does the functioning of it preclude the use of a flue?

what do you think they will be like for keeping a 'shop warm? as opposed to cooking on? and does the fire require a lot of upkeep (not convenient when busy working)?

Yes i have my anvil at about 70-90 degrees from my gasser at a distance of about 2', stock travel to the anvil is minimal.

Thanks for the description!

Thanks guys

Get a grinder on it and start taking the rust back, then you can see what the damage is.

Yeah i'm no pro, but i'm getting better, i agree it's useful if not necessary. How else to quickly get across design ideas when talking with a customer. I've taken to keeping my smallest notebook with me all the time for this. Lose no opportunity to get customers wishes down and keep a spark alive for the project

ha ha! thanks for the help

thanks, i tried searching the 3M site looking for explanations of the filter codes, but nothing.

I love being able to forge and fab stuff. It definitely sets us apart

As much as we appreciate your thirst for knowledge in this new interest, the best way is to just start hitting hot metal. It will change the way you think.

I just got myself a 3M Jupiter PAPR. Not sure what filters it's currently got fitted but obviously i'll need to start buying new ones at some point. I'll be wearing it to grind, possibly while forging, and if i get the right head top, to weld too. Would want to do spray painting with it also. What sort of filters should i look to buy, would it be best to have a selection and swap them out, say for the odd painting session? thanks

Thanks guys! Yes, if/when i get my hands on the items i will be researching them! Really appreciate the instructions/tips I believe they are solid silver rather than plated but we'll have to wait and see

What a gift!

Yeah i'll wait to see what they say and how much they've got. I'm interested in branching out though! I've got another commission in brass to attempt at the moment, it's exciting moving away from steel briefly

Quite, i've asked what sort of thing they're like made so i can try and cast an ingot into a rough approximation It's not mine to do as i wish but more a commission to turn scrap into something desirable.

Never done anything with silver but a colleague who knows of my smithing has just asked about melting down a load of scrap solid silver cutlery and doing something with it. I guess i could cast to shape. Or I was wondering if i could cast a simple bar/ingot (simpler than a sand mold) and then forge it out to something?

Thanks for the detailed reply.

i'm curious about how official apprenticeships work(ed) is/was there government funding? a certain standard to be taught? certain timescales to be adhered to? i.e. a minimum employment term stuck to by both apprentice and master? There doesn't seem to be much around in this trade, that's for sure!

I've been getting on ok with my first real gas forge made using an old gas cylinder and 2-3 inches of ceramic blanket. A couple of months back i started thinking about building a more adaptable and maintainable forge. I asked questions on britishblade forum and took advice from some of the pros, eventually coming up with this design. It is constructed out of 1" angle and 1.2mm sheet steel, the insulation is 2-3 layers of 1" ceramic fibre blanket with rigidiser applied. It has a 18mm hard firebrick hearth which can be changed out if/when they break and the openings/total volume can be changed to various configurations using insulating firebricks, i have some 1" and some standard 3" sized ones. It will have a second burner added, when i get round to it. It should enable me to do short squat things and long thin things and even things that wouldn't fit inside a normal gas forge by opening up the two sides together. Here are the build pics:

Great tutorial. I love the idea of a reconfigurable forge, i'm in the middle of building a forge that is 1" angle with sheet steel panels, lined with fibre blanket, it has two open sides with dimensions suited to being bricked up with the soft white bricks, to change from short squat forge to long thin forge. Even to open both sides to allow odd shapes in (this is where propane forges fail compared to coke forges)