Justin Keller

I did use kiln wash, it is a high alumina kiln wash from a pottery supply store. The rear opening is blocked with a hard firebrick that is cut to fit loosely inside the opening. I am reading up on the thermal baffles right now and will change my system based on Mike's advice. Thanks again, Frosty. I will adjust my baffle as you recommend, do you put baffle walls on both openings of the forge? How far away from the openings would you recommend putting them? I put high alumina kiln wash on the interior of the forge, I do not have Plistix but I do have ITC100 that I could put on, my understanding is that it wouldn't be useful after the kiln wash. Thank you for the advice! Justin

I haven't been able to get to forge welding temperatures with it yet, despite running two T burners. So too rich? I should try trimming back the MIG tips to induce more air then?

Hi all, I built two T burners and they seem to be working pretty well, but I'm not sure if my tuning is as good as it should be. Here's the album of my forge photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZY9SWdsHJQPRrUpa8, I'd appreciate input. Thanks in advance, Justin

Hi Frosty, I will be contacting them tomorrow and I'll see what I can discover. Justin

One suggested a product called "Heat Stop" or "Sairset", which seem to be much more available in Canada. The Heat Stop website says "Good for applications well over 2,000°F.", which makes me wonder how much over 2000F it is good for.

Hi Frosty, I am not able to find Plistix 900f in Canada, looks like it will cost me about $55 for 2 lbs of it with shipping from the US. I did find a couple of products that seem to be used the same way, do they look like they would work? [commercial link removed] or possibly this one [commercial link removed]? I have been researching kiln washes and I can get one locally for a pretty reasonable price. It is called "Hi-Alumina kiln wash" and is made up of 60% Alumina Oxide and 40% Kaolin clay, does that sound like it would be a good replacement for the ITC? Thanks again, Justin

Hi Frosty, I did already purchase the ITC-100, it was the only one of the recommended kiln finishes my local supplier had. However, I will look into getting some Plistix instead. It doesn't seem to be very readily available in Canada, so I'm hoping shipping from the US won't be too bad. Justin

Thank you, Frosty. I will follow your advice and patch the spots that need it. I have not painted it with ITC yet, so I will do a few layers and just get to using it. By the way, I am using your burner design and they sure work like a charm!

I'm hoping to get some advice from the knowledgable folks here. I lined my new forge with two layers of number eight Kaowool and rigidized then fired it. I have mixed and applied Kast O Lite 30 to the forge, but I had a somewhat difficult time getting it to "stick". I kept it in a gabage bag with a sopping wet towel for four days before slowly heating it up and driving out the moisture. It turned out pretty well I think, but there are a couple of spots that the Kast O Lite just fell off of after I dried the forge out. Can I just wet the area again and patch the spots it fell off of? Does it look okay otherwise? How big of a deal are the cracks? Thanks in advance!

I've only ever seen one in person, it was bolted to a large chunk of steel and missing most of the heel.

I have one of these plates as well, I have been planning on normalizing it and using it as a cutting plate flipped upside-down on my anvil.

My local hardware store had a "garage sale" out front on some trailers, and I picked up a bucket full of 7/16" x 9 1/2" black bolts, looks like at least 100 of them. Also had about 3 lbs of 2" screws on the bottom for $10.

I'm looking for some blacksmithing and metalworking posters to put on my shop walls, anyone have any suggestions of handy or interesting posters? One thing I thought of specifically was an old blacksmith shop price list from about 1900, anyone have one or know of one I could copy? Thanks, Justin

Thanks for the suggestions guys, I've decided to make my own out of some mild steel that I have handy. I don't need anything too special right now, and the price is right. I'll post some pictures once I have them made.

A while ago I was given an old 6" mechanics vise that was pretty beat up. One of the things wrong with it is that the jaw inserts are missing. I'm planning on making my own, but I'm not sure what type of steel to use. Any suggestions for something that will do the job and isn't really difficult to work with? Also does anyone know what material the original jaws would have been or what the ideal material would be, in case I decide to get a machine shop to make me a set? Thanks, Justin