Bentiron1946

Back on sand, here in the Phoenix Home Depot I can get "silica sand" which is a graded white quartz like sand that is very different from "play sand" which is nothing more then a sterilized "masonry sand". Perelite is sold in the garden section in huge bags at a very reasonable price. I have never found fire clay at my local Home Depot nor fire bricks. For them I need to go to a masonry supply yard. Is this guy building a forge bottom or melting furnace? Collecting Mud Dauber nest for a flux sure seems like a lot of work. If you want to spare the life of the grub wait until spring when they hatch and have consumed the spider. That way the next generation of wasp are ready to prey on garden pests.

My first forge was the top of an old gas water heater with the gas tube cut out and a section of it used for the air supply. I welded it in to a tee configuration, put a swing gate on the bottom for air regulation, a squirrel cage fan for forced air supply, drilled a piece of 1/2" plate with lots of holes sand set that in a thick bed of mud/sand for the inside of my forges. I then made legs out old bed frames. After letting the mud/sand dry for a couple of days I fired it up with a coal fire and used the forge for five years with only replacing the mud/sand and 1/2" plate from time to time. Now I use a gas forge. Much cleaner to use and good and hot.

Nick, Keep tight control over who watches over your tools. Them there mice can carry off a lot of 'em while your off to school besides the ones that grow fury little feet and walk off on the own.

Doesn't look all that "vintage" to me. Should work OK though but rather then spend money buying it you would be better off making one yourself. As to the fire coming back on you just put in a back draft damper and make a square to round transition out of a steel coffee can to protect the wood. Still a lot of work for not much.

That is a fantastic accident! Some of the best art comes about that way.

I've thought of melting glass into some of the punched holes in some of my art objects but was always told by glass folk it would just break out when the glass cooled. A friend of mine cast a marble inside of a sphere and it worked ok.

I don't think that a solder seam would look all that good. You might try swaging it down in a series of tapered dies depending on the size of tube you are working with. You will have to anneal between each set of dies.

Then of course there is the salvage yard. You scrounge around and find what you need and pay by the pound. Not always the cleanest stuff around but sometimes cheaper.

That is wonderful set of stakes. I envy you. I give you joy.

I know what you mean about the old farts hoarding all the good stuff. It was like that when I started back in '76 too. These were small anvils one was about 50 lbs and cast in 1900 and the other was a little smaller. They were hard faced with hardy and pictel holes. There was no bidding here, you just loaded up you bags, boxes, buckets or hand truck and went to the checkout table, paid your money and left. Every thing was already priced and the anvils were half price at $35 and $40 since it was the last day of the sale.

Walker, If you weld the holes closed on that cap and fill it with sand it will be a lot quieter and noise frindler on the neighborhood. If you look on the auto restoration sites you will see a lot more ideas for stakes and forming tools. I like your hammer and stake.

I went to an estate sale today and let two new young smiths buy all of the good stuff. I had my hand truck loaded up with two small anvils and about a ton of misc tools and we ended up dividing it up. The anvils are on the small side for real heavy forging but it's a start for them. Their wives are going to kill them when they get home though:D Except for a forge they will be able to make something. I hooked them up with contact information for the local ABANA club and gave them web sites for single burner forges.

The Orchid web site has a recipe for pickle using swimming pool acid. I know jewelers that use all different types of acid ranging from vinegar to battery acid. I guess it all depends on the amount of risk that you want to take but the swimming pool acid it about the same a the commercial jewelers pickle. I have made most of my own stakes from junk yard finds and polished them up and being able to forge iron I have formed my own when necessary. There is another web site, metalmeet.com, that has a very nice tinsmith work station that has all homemade stakes and stake holder. It is very impressive. I have never done very well at repousse so I can't give you any advice there but I think that Orchid has a formula for the pitch too.

I got into blacksmithing through casting. Gotta do something with all that spare heat while the bronze melts. Anyway for melting brass and bronze you need to have a graphite crucible for aluminum you can get away with a section of steel pipe. It is a good idea to have some heavy leather boots, gaiters, aprons and gloves. A face shield is must for splashes. It is good to uses welding goggles as the inside of the furnace is at around 2,900F. I pour bronze at 2450F on the pyrometer or when the inside of the furnace is a steady white color. I never liked casting aluminum because if you get it to hot it just sort of goes away so you need to watch it very close. Casting is fun but not a s fun as banging iron.

I like the little helve a lot. I have had to down size because of age and health. So the big hammers are out. Do you have any more pics of the running gear? This would fit on the back patio real fine.

I have found that the dolly at Harbor Freight is a bargain at around $10 and a trip to the salvage yard will yield several other interesting shapes that can be turned into stakes.