FredW

I have given a lot of thought to going to the local plumbing shop or salvage yard and scrounge up a small, apartment size water heater. As long as the controls work it should make a great quench tank. Fred

Where are the bluprints numbered over 200? I see references to them on occassion in IFI but cannot link to them. Fred

There is also the Artist/Blacksmith Quarterly. I don't know the website right at the moment. I used to ahve a subscription. It's not bad, has a lot of good information in it, tutorials and such. Fred

Here is a source of coal in Camden Point, Mo., about 15 minutes south of St. Joe. $15 a 50# bag. 816-992-3352 It's only a couple hour drive from you. Fred

A bit off topic aren't we. Dad was a sailor, WWII, and he gave me the same explanaition of freezing the balls off a brass monkey. He was not infalable and I am sure we will really never no the truth. Now lets hear some more on tenons and other joinery. Fred

Rigidizer and ITC 100 are 2 different things. The rigidizer is for making the liner stiff so it is easier to form and shape. I don't think it will effect the thermal properties of the liner. ITC 100 is a refratory coating that has a reflective quality. It helps to contain more heat by reflecting back rather than letting the heat move through the liner. Makes the forge more efficient. They havn't heard of it because there isn't much use for it in their buisness. Not sure if $18 per gallon is a good price because I have never bought rigidizer. If your planning on building a propane forge it might be useful. You don't have to have it though. Fred

You could try these guys. ANH Refractories Fred

I have lined my forge with fire clay, 35 mesh Hawthorn bond, and did not like it at all. It works but doesn't seem to last and it shrunk a lot. I went ahead and bought allumina (Mizzou) and love it. It,s a lot more expensive but worth it. I got Mizzou for the floor of my gasser because it takes flux a lot better and found that it does not shrink much at all. FYI on charcoal briquettes, when watching one of my favorite T.V. shows (How Its Made) they showed how the briquettes are made. This manufacturer did not use a binder, the pressure from forming the briquettes was all it needed and it had 2 ingredients, charcoal dust and anthricite coal dust. Aint them burgers tasty? Fred

I have done the same with bandsaw blade and pallet strapping. I have had some nice damascus from it. A little more difficult to work with because of it being thin but can be done fairly easily (lots of borax). Bandsaw blade material (for sawmills) can be L6 steel, a very good nickel steel.

Make good weights for trot lines. Tie line to bicycle innertube and wrap around a large rock. Put several large hooks on the line and tie the window weight at the end and throw it in and get ready for some flatheads. Fred

Blacksmith Association of Missouri sells coal at various locations throughout the state. Blacksmiths Association of Missouri Fred

I' be there Wednesday morning. Just about an hour and half drive for me.

I have 3, 2 were free and the 3rd was 12 dollars, and it was attatched to a welding table with a pipe vise attatched to it. I also bought a Columbian 5" for $35 and an older one of unknown lineage for $25, it looks more like a leg vise that mounts on a bench.

I have 2, one is a 75lbs. the other is 125lbs. both were free and neither have any kind of markings on them.

I just talked with a guy the other day who asked if I wanted some cable. I said sure. He asked how much and I said, "How much you got?" He said about 3 miles. It is 3/4" but it is galvanized. I would have to get the galvanizing off it before it's useful. Have you tried that before? I would make him a knife or two and could probabl get all I could stand. Fred

A couple of years ago I bought a Johnson natural gas forge from the local school. It was in pretty good shape because the 2nd year they had it a student lost an eye from throwing hot iron in cold water. The bell just rang and he was ready to go. The board then decided to no longer offer the class. I bought the forge and a johnson melting furnace for $350 then sold them for about $750 a piece. Made over a thousand on the deal and got some nice tongs out of it. They also had a 75# and a 20# anvil but they would not throw them in. The school here saw fit to buy the Johnson but I checked out the price of that paticular model and new it is over $4,000. Surely there is something out there cheaper, however Johnson is very high quality. It had the safety features on it, just watch out no one loses an eye. I wish now I would have kept it with propane prices so high.

This place has some really good prices on wheels. Urethane Products Manufacturer

I'm a social worker. I work for the state of Missouri Department of Social Services; Children's Division. I work with families that have had their children removed from the home for various reasons, some because of honest mistakes, others for much more horrid reasons. Hard to keep an upbeat view of mankind from here but hangin in. When I find the time I heat some iron and reshape it, though, lately it seems I just dream about it. Buisness has been good for the Children's Division in North Missouri sad to say. Fred

According to code (years ago) if you have to run exhaust pipe horizontally you must have a 1/4" rise. 1/4" per running foot of horizontal pipe. Of course the more the better. So if the horizontal run is 4' then the pipe must rise 1" from the start of the run to the end where it turns vertical. That will help the draft, the corrosion would be something different. The acid created would then run down to the elbow or whatever the lowest point is and you would still have the corrosion problem. You can slow the corrosion if you have an efficient fire. One that is hot enough to burn clean. Fred

2 years ago, my wife and I went to a garage sale. The best garage sale I have ever been to. There was a forge bellow there that was approximatle 5' in diameter. All of it was there, it just needed put back together. The guy started to restore it and I guess he lost interest. I would have it now if my wife were not with me. She just said where would you put it? I hung my head and walked away. I would also have a 15" craftsman planer. They were asking $50 each. She just didn't understand. Instead we left with a couple of antique chairs and a bunch of hangers for peg boards. Oh, and an old cast iron door from a boiler. My wife thought it was neat. Oh well. I guess I'm a bit whipped. I did leave with a couple of ladles. She hung them on the wall in the house. Fred

I was told once (several years ago) that you could score it and break the track clean. Never tried so don't know for sure. I just may have to ask my brother in-law who works for Burlington Northern.

I've never bought one but I have seen a lot at auctions around here. They generally go for 1 to 2 dollars a pound. Last weekend I went to an auction and they had a small Fisher. I didn't look too close but was going to to bid any way. It went for about $90. It was about 50 lbs. judging from the size of it. I did not buy it. I didn't need one so I would have only bought it if it were dirt cheap, (Next to nothin for me). I have seen much larger anvils go for less than a dollar a lb. but was never in the market when they sold. I have two now. One is 75 lb. no name and the other is about 125. Some day I would like to get a 200 plus lb. anvil but it isn't necessary so other things are bought first. Fred

Xxxx Xxxx! No wait, that's what my wife calls me. My dad had a quail huntin buddy with an English Setter named damnit. Clinker works for me though. Fred

Use this link also. The ones I contacted in the Kansas City area were pretty resonable. ANH Refractories Fred

I spent about 10 years as a union sheet metal worker and we thought there were no other tools than those made in the USA. I Remember bumper stickers that said You can't eat your import. We were always pro USA. Now if I want to buy an American car I buy a Toyota. We would only buy made in the USA sheets of steel at first then eventually buy Japanese because the quality was as good or better and at a much lower cost. We bought som Mexican steel once and it was the worst stuff we ever used. That was also the last time we bought it. Most of my fovorite tools are USA, but I have a lot of tools made all over the world. Very few Snap-on as I can only afford Craftsman some of the time (most are garage sale and auction tools). I have Hitachi, Dewalt, Black and Decker, Skil, Milwakee, and Makita power tools, oh, and some Chicago Electric (HF) and by far the best I have are the Hitachi, Milwakee, Makita followed closely by the Dewalt. Chicago Electric are pretty much throw aways. Fred