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

Thought I'd show you all what I came up with, it'll do pretty well for now I think. I'm planning on using the back part for lumber storage for now, possibly adding more shelving on the sides later. Forgot to mention my materials, it's all 4x4 or 2x4 lag or carriage bolted together with 1/2 inch plywood for the shelves and a sheet of 1/4 inch pegboard.

I recently moved onto an acreage that had a 40'x60' all steel shop on it (commonly used for farm machinery storage). I'm looking at ways to maximize my storage space in the building, but I'm not sure the best way to make use of the wall space, since the walls are not vertical or easy to attach hooks or anything to. Any suggestions for me?

Mark, The mandrel and the swage are nice finds, I'd love to find myself a set like that! The local high school got a new building, and they left a bunch of old equipment that I was able to salvage from their old shop.

Here's the backside of the frame, it's just threaded for the bolt. Also, I've attached a picture of the other gear, which turned out by hand. I'm taking it apart to clean it up and paint it before re-assembling it for use.

The backside is drilled through and threaded, the bolt runs through the gear and screws into the frame. I'll try and get a picture, but that's basically it. I just don't have a way to grip the bolt to remove it.

Hi folks, I'm having some trouble figuring out how to disassemble my hand crank drill press. Specifically, the one gear that is still attached. The other gear was attached the same way, but after I soaked it in kerosene it turned out by hand. There isn't a head or slot on it to use a wrench or screwdriver, but there is a hole in the edge of the gear which looks like it might be for this purpose, except it's not threaded or anything. Is there a special tool for this, or am I just missing something simple?

Dave, I was forwarded your video by another member of my local blacksmith guild. The detailed explanations and parts listings were great, and I am getting the parts together to build one of these burners for myself. Since I will have to buy a tap set, I'm wondering what type of threads would the mig tip have? NPT or NC?

Well, I was thinking about building a brick pile forge to start with and then upgrading once I figured out exactly what size and configuration works best for me. I wouldn't be doing anything vey heavy duty, probably nothing bigger than 3/4 inch stock to begin with. I'd love to be able to weld in it, but it isn't really a necessity at this point. It would be used random evenings and weekends whenever I get the chance to fire up for an hour or two.

I want to make my own gas forge, but I am not sure about the insulation. There is a guy selling firebrick and castable but I'm not sure if what he has will work for a forge or not. Looks like some of the firebricks he has are Kruzite-70. Here's his ad: http://saskatoon.kij...QAdIdZ349510997 I emailed him and he is asking $2.00 per brick and $25.00 per bag of castable, he also has ceramic fiber at $100 per box. Are these prices reasonable? If so, are there any other questions I should be asking him before I buy some firebrick and possibly ceramic fiber? Are there brand names or anything that I should avoid? Thanks, Justin

I don't have a beard any more, but when I started blacksmithing I had a full beard.