welder19

Also if you want it efficent then you want to use kaowool with a thin hot face and use the epk for that or if you have the $$ then buy ITC-100 and coat it with that, either one will stiffen it up as well as eliminate any airborn particles, just be sure to wear a dust mask when working with it, you can also dampen it which will cut down on the harmful dust when working with it.

welder19

If you want more strength just add some grog but it really isn't nessecary, and to make it more isulative add some finly ground up foam or even fine saw dust, when fired it burnsout leaving little air pocckets which act as an insulator.
If you want higher temp rating then use epk-kaolin instead of generic fireclay.

Bailey Ceramic Supply - Clay - Dry Clays and Chemicals

welder19

Pinched nerve is not really the corect term though still widely used, if you actually had a pinched nerve you would be looking at being parylized, it's really not something that even happens, it's typically an irretated nerve or when muscles tighten up and or spasm they pull, twist and contort things which in turn give you pain.
I have 3 herniated 3 bulged and premature degeneration in almost all the rest, I wouldn't wish spinal/disc problems on my worst enemy, there are lots of exercises and stretches that you can do to build strength and loosen muscles, even if you don't have problems you should do them cause chances are you will have problems some day.
For me surgery is out of the question also due to too much risk of never being able to walk again, my life consits of exercise, stretching, chiropractor, inversion table(the best) lots of pain and lots of pain meds, trust me, you may think your bullet proof now but your not and everything you do to day is going to affect you down the road and there is no reversing the damage, if it's the only thing you do TAKE CARE OF YOUR BACK, it effects everything which you don't realize till you hurt it, even the simplest of tasks become difficult if not imposible and you end up not being able to do a lot of things that you really want to do.

welder19

Music and such is cool but I don't like it too loud nor do I think it's too safe, I like to be able to hear whats going on, hear if a leak develops air, propane or whatever else you have in your shop, or a machine changes sound while cutting, drilling, grinding etc., burner changes it tone, and so on. To me these are all things that you need to be able to hear to protect yourself and your equipment as well as others that may be around.

welder19

$4000.....I wouldn't pay that much even if he had the whole smithy to go with it LOL, some people think just cause something is old or looks old that it must be worth a lot of money.

welder19

Newer ones are mostly alum but the steel ones vary some between manufactuers but 1026 DOM is somewhat comon.

welder19

The tub will start to discolor first, turns to dull dark grey, then when it starts to burn you will see a yellowish smoke and ashy coating on the tub. If breathed you will get what is known as metal fume fever (no fun!!!!) best thing to do for a mild case is drink a lot of milk, but if it's too bad you'll need to go to the hospital, first thing you'll get is dificulty breathing which will continue to worsen till you think your going to die, which you can if you breath enough.
You should be ok if you don't get the fire directly on the walls of the tub but personally I wouldn't chance it.
Options
1- hope for the best and leave it as is
2- wear a respirator when forging
3- wear a respirator and burn or grind the zinc off
4- get a piece of sheetmetal and form it to the tub and leave a gap between the tub and sheetmetal
I would go with #4 if it were me.
Good luck and be careful.

welder19

I agree with Thomas about the anvil weight but other than that it looks good, nice job!

welder19

That's a big problem today, people don't think about their actions and how they could effect others, just like all the idiots that we let drive 2000lb+ murder weapons down the road, women doing their make up, evryone talking on their cell phones, playing with some kind of gadget that has all their music stored on it or just the radio, looking at the stupid computor built in the dash, laughing and goofing off with their friends, having meetings in the car going down the road, eating......basically doing everything and anything except paying attention to their driving and the people around them.

A woman crashed into my yard a week or so ago, I live on a straight road, she was playing with her phone, well fortunately no one got hurt (other than 2 of my shrubs that she destroyed), but just 1 1/2 hours earlier my with and daughter were standing about 10-15 ft away from the pole she hit waiting for the school bus.....how important is that call your trying to make or take while driving? take your eyes off the road for a split second and anything can happen.

So many people just don't care, like not paying any mind to the hardware they are using or the quality of parts they put on the 2000lb+ murder weapons that are going to be going 60 mph down the road. It's just a matter of knowing and paying attention, if you don't know how to do something then don't, have someone teach you, if your doing a job and too much on your mind to thouroghly pay attention then either don't do it or take a break and clear your mind.

Always think about what could happen due to your actions.

When I said that the grade of washers don't really matter I should have been a little more specific, but I guess I was mainly thinking along the lines of blacksmithing and machineing and fabricating and such, more specific to the things that go on here on the forum.

welder19

My Dad taught me when I was 7 or eight, he owned a body shop in town at the time so he would take me to the shop in town in the morning and a woman who lived in town and had kids would then pick me up on her way to take her kids to school and then she would pick us up after school and drop me back at the shop. In the morning before school and after school I would help out at the shop, so it wasn't long before he taught me how to weld, ox/ac then arc and spot welding, there were no mig or tig back then, those I taught myself, well mig mostly not too much tig,

Congrats, still don't have it down myself, I've had a couple that were so so but none that would be considered good welds.

welder19

I don't know as though a grill burner would give the heat needed here but you could actually make a burner similar to them but much more high performance, you could make it the appropriate length for you "oven" and have it put out a lot more heat, larger holes more gas and more air.
You could definitely get a more even heat with that style burner, as far as them being cheaper.....that I guess depends on where you shop and how much you can scavenge up, I've build somwhere around 8-10 propane burners and have yet to spend a dime....not trying to brag or rub it in anyone's face. just making the point that if you srounge around enough you can do almost anything with very little or no $.

welder19

That's cool, good luck!

welder19

How about like this, please excuse the rough drawing, I just sketched it up real quick in paint, I think it would heat more evenly but 2 burners might be better.

welder19

very nice!!

welder19

God, my wife and daughter, modern medicine and a roof over my forge.

welder19

Better than generic "fire clay" is epk kaolin clay, all those supplies are best bought at a ceramics/pottery supply such as;

http://http://www.baileypottery.com/clay/clays-chemicals.htm

http://http://www.axner.com/axner/materials/ball-clays.php

You can easily make a refractory to withstand 3000 F

welder19

Well if and when you buy your hardware from a quality source the washers (and nuts) will automatically match the grade of the bolt.

welder19

Yea, you want to use matching nut and bolt grades, whashers really don't matter.
Caterpillar hardware is specifically meet or exceed SAE grade 8 and have a larger head than SAE specs makeing them less likely to strip also use a higher quality of steel than most manufactuers, also have a much better thread than most manufactures giving them a better clamp load, more strip and shear resistant than your average bolt, the standard Cat bolts are Rckwell C 37-45 but go higher with the specialty bolts.
Cat hardware is among the best you can buy and definitly surpasses the average hardware or automotive store hardware, if you have a Cat dealer near by then I would highly recomend going there to buy your nuts and bolts standard or metric.

welder19

If I am standing at the forge I turn 90 deg to my right and am at the anvil, standing in front of the forge I turn 90 deg to my left and I am at the post vise, slack tub is kind of behind the anvil.

welder19

Someone else mentioned "A Blacksmithing Primer" a book by Randy McDaniel, I have to 2nd that, it is a great book for beginners and in it he gives you small projects to start with and then works you up to bigger ones, well worth the $.
You sound like your off to a good start, welcome to the forum and good luck, stick around here and you'll learn more here then any other one source.

welder19

Yeah I get it, it has some nice projects in it, definitely worth it as cheap as it is.

welder19

Wolverine Durashocks, the only boot I buy, light weight, warm, comfortable and dry, feels more like wearing athletic shoes than work boots. They have ones with thicker thinsulate for colder weather. Wear one good pair of heavy socks and DO NOT wear boots that are too tight, if there is no air space then your feet WILL be cold.

welder19

Welcome!!
Very nice machetti!!

welder19

I have a feeling its a little bit eiser out west, rather than here in NJ... besides, people are a LOT nicer in every other state.

That all depends on where your at in NJ, N. Jersey, yeah you definately have people problems but steel should not be a problem with all the industry up there, however your better off looking at the small guy's for scrap, find a small machine shop or two, most will let you rummage in the scrap/metal dumpster or at least sell it to you for what the scrap guy is giving him for it. Find a junk yard or scrap yard, metal recycler or what ever else they want top be called to day and they will have all kinds of stuff you can pick up cheap, leaf and coil springs of off cars and trucks are great forging steel especially for tools and knives.
If your gonna build a specific project then you need to find the closest steel yard that sells new steel, what I do is set aside $$ when I can and when I go to buy steel for a project I'll buy xtra misalainious sq, round, flat and angle stock and before you know it you will be building racks to hold your stock.
In N.Jersey there are plenty of steel mills, you can even buy scrap from them as well, places that sell steel will do custom orders and cut to size so they end up with loads of scrap that they will sell, normally, by the pound and typically pretty cheap at that.

welder19 (S. Jersey)