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I Forge Iron

Borntoolate

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Everything posted by Borntoolate

  1. For me the hardest stuff to do is the stuff you are just trying out. The first few items or technigues might be trash or turned into something other than intended later. There are metals like Sodium or Potassium which are Alkali metals. They are pretty soft at room temperature but still in the "metal" family. I would not put them in the fire and definitely stay clear of the slack tub as they are pyrophoric. These are probably not really forgeable or useful once forged but once again they are in the metal family. Forge welding would probably be on your list. And amongst the forge welding joints there are probably some more difficult arrangements, sizes, handling of two different pieces. I saw on line where they were forge welding the top of an anvil. 5 or six people swinging hammers with sparks flying. So maybe that is another option. Working in a strike team as a difficult technigue? By the way I know very little about either of these topics.
  2. I was looking for a listing of modern day sayings that originated from Blacksmithing. I did not find a list on the net readily. Perhaps we could make our own. When you post put the saying by itself for potential easy compilation later. I'll start with the easy ones. Numbering them from the previous post would be a plus. So whoever posts next start with 3. If the saying needs an explanation include it. I assume averyone knows the two below. If you have a saying that is perhaps not used much these days that is ok. Also, I think nails were sized and priced in regard to how easy they were to smith? ie 10 penny nails?... So if someone knows that bit go for it. 1. Strike While the Iron is hot. 2. Too many irons in the fire. Others?
  3. This is more of a practice on how to post a properly sized pic. Let's see how it comes out. Had to open the latter in Paint to resize. Still a bit too big. Ugg. Anyone have a quick way of setting pic size? I know this is off topic but then again it is a prob at times on this forum. After reducing about 4 times in Paint so that it fits one my own screen it looks like it comes out about the same size on I forge.
  4. Thanks Brian and others. Guess next time I need to pay closer attention to the material. I had that wrong. For anyone going to Brians workshop I would suggest that you might want to take some notes. I found that he dleivers a lot of info pretty quick. More than I can properly store and readily recall after a few heats. Even remambering the sequence of making the hammer got lost. If I had just written down the basic steps in sequence that would have been useful. Then of course things like materials etc... Not to mention actually remembering something like the next day... And LOL we did finish too late AND I couldn't stay the next two days so yes I left too early.
  5. I have all grease caps. Without the worm gear all is well. Best I can tell... But then I do not know how to take apart the other two gear bearings and inspect or replace them. I don't think they are a problem. But I could be wrong. I beleive the other gears have sleeve bearings not ball bearings but I really cant's say.
  6. If you are Muslim perhaps the horn should point towards Mecca? IF you are clumsy the horn should point away from the general path around your anvil. In general I believe the horn should point either to the right or left or East or North or South or West or some combination thereof. I think the horn should gnerally not point upward or downward. (though there may be exceptions) These last two assume that hammering at the forge is taking place or intended. This also serves when using the bottom of the anvil as previously mentioned. When blowing the anvil up into the air with dynamite I am not sure... Anyone??? At my first blacksmithing gathering I was definitely asking for advice on everything and I got it. The first guy told me to leave the hammer handle on the anvil AND place the desired hammer face a certain way. The next guy told me to face the hammer face the opposite direction (they were both right handed). After I talk with enough lefties I will have to make a hammer with two identical faces and handles entending out from both directions. This will be the perfect hammer where placement will never be wrong. All the rules will be followed. One problem, there will be very little blacksmithing unless we can figure a way for two people to swing the same hammer at the same time and hit both faces simultaneously.
  7. Teeny, thanks for the thought. My rebuild plan includes putting the burners in to create swirl. Mine point pretty much straight down/across and hit the firebrick. There is no rotation like I would expect to get from yours. Plus one burner is smaller than the second larger one and has a huffing problem. My kaowool is a bit messed up and so forth. So this was my initial first time gas forge where I learned and now need to tweak. Tidbits like yours help as well as pictures... like yours. Thanks
  8. Absolutely I would take Brian's advice. I was just being in a hurry as I know he is in conference all weekend and I was in the shop and wanted to hit something :D
  9. Hey, I went to Brian Brazeal's tool workshop and we made a hammer. We did not quite get to the heat treat part. Does anyone have the basic plan for that? I think this was 4340. Do I need to Quench and temper? Or just temper? Regardless does anyone have the procedure? I am itching to hit something with this hammer head.
  10. So I chose to tweak as best I can, put up with the noise and see if the new setting of gears and such find their way to happiness over time. I also found that one of the blades was a little loose. Upon assembly I noticed an added noise. one of the blade rivets was not fully set and I was afraid to try wacking anything too much for fear of breakage. Plus, one side of the rivet had been whacked to almost nothing already. I put a small piece of paper in the gap between the blade shaft and the blade to stop it from moving as a test. The added noise went away. So now, with a dab of JB weld in a few strategic places I expect that bit of noise to be gone. I JB'd all the other blades in a similar way for balance and prevention. Just a dab mind you.
  11. Get some coal or coke. Build a table as suggested. I built a drum forge recently. It is not perfect but it gets stuff hot. WE made hammer heads the other day and the heat plus my firge fire skills were marginal. But, we got the job done. Air flow is important. You need to have enough flow to create a big enough fire and make is like a blow torch to some extent. Or at least be able to. A spike ought to be asy to burn much less get to forge heat. I don't understand the top either. Here's some pics. Once again, not the model of perfection to say the least but I just got started in January. First pic is just the forge. The drum slides underneith and is removable. The wheels (Lawnmower) and other metal is pipe and scrap bed frames from the neighborhood garbage. The second pic is my hammer partner pulling the hammer blank from the fire. It is probably of marginal heat but at 3" by 1.5" solid it takes a bit of heat. NOte the last pic. Wood side! IT seems to work. I think he has sheet metal inside at least part way up. Note the size of the fire, piled up coal etc...
  12. What is the diff between "Hard" brick and Insulating brick. I have firebrick in the bottom of my gas forge and is it hard. I have Kaowool and ITC for the bulk of the inside. BUt I may rework this forge and am curious of the difference above.
  13. CILADOG, so it's not just side to side setting of the brass gear but also front to back setting of the worm that the fan blade is attached to then? That would be a LOT of trial and error if so.
  14. I put new bearings (1/4") into a Champion 400 blower on the worm gear only. Cups and cones have some wear which I did nothing with. It has a kind of Gravely plus tinking sound when you operate it. Very annoying. Any advice? It is not the fan because the fan is off and it make the same sound. With the worm gear removed it is smooth as can be. Of course there is no load on any bearing either then. At Brian Brazeal's wotkshop it was by far the noisiest blower. Lyle did say he thought it was about 30,000 (or was it 3,000) behind Brians as far as SN#. Any advice? Here are some pics for reference. I have played with various bearing settings and such but it still is mostly not where I want it or even close (NOISY)
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