FredW

I've been following this thread with great interest and I finally have decided to chime in. There are theories of how the Native Americans got here, including walking across a land mass or frozen glacier over the Bearing Straits and there is a theory that they came from Asian explorers who sailed across the ocean. The latter is starting to gain in favor. The Clovis theory I guess you would call it, says they came here around 16,000 years ago. The clovis, by the way, is an eliptical or cigar shaped stone spear point. The theory about the Asians coming over in a boat, I think says they came here about 30,000 years ago. But if you ask a Native American they will tell they have always been here. Being a decendent of Native Americans and German I prefer to think they have always been here. There are probably as many theories to why the Native Americans did not take up forging and smelting as there are archaeoligists, however the Central and South Americans did forge and work precious metals such as gold and silver. Shoot that's why the Europeans tried to kill them off at first (got xxxx close in the West Indies), later it was because of fear and ignorance. To answer your question, and I am not an expert, I would say they didn't forge iron or copper because it wasn't necessary. They were flourishing without it. Wants some information on Native Americans. Google "Wounded Knee" and "Trail of Tears." Fred

How about working the brass? What temps does it work at best? I have an old brass sign that sat on an old cash register and the owner wants me to straighten it out. It is very twisted and bent. Does it work well say around 750F or is it best to work cold then anneal? This stuff seems kind of brittle soI would imagine it would have to be heated first and I know brass has a fairly low melting temp. Fred

The cost would be a lot cheaper if you used homemade bio-diesel. I'd like to try that one day. Fred

The best advice I ever got was when coming home from a job out of town I asked why everybody was calling home to tell their wives they were coming home. My foreman said, "we'd rather not surprise our wives and her boyfriend. Sometimes it's best to not know everything." Fred

I think Charles McRaven did. I'll have to get my book out. I don't have his blacksmithing book but I have his book "Stonework" and I think he mentions it in there. I kinda like the idea of building a hewn log shop also. 3 Phase is very expensive, the power company here told me $58 per foot but if the lines run by the property they said they would just put transformers on the poles, no charge. Of course, you would still have to run it to your shop then buy all the necessary equipment to get it into and throughout your shop. Fred Warner

Harbison Walker in Lenexa Kansas is where I get mine. I do still get some things from Darrin Ellis but I get refractory from these guys cause it's cheaper. I did a local search for refractory products and got Harbison Walker. The dealer dosen't have a web page but they do have email. They may be able to find a dealer closer to you. Fred Warner

I am considering building a new forge shop of post and beam construction and stone. It is a lot of work but since I have access to timber and stone the material will be same as free. I've got three phase running next to the property so I am buying those cheap 3 phase tools. Already got a Baldor 10" pedistal grinder, 2hp, for $50. I like the stone because it is available and it looks great. It also is very strong and fire proof. I also got a friend with a sawmill, so the timber is a lot easier to make. It's very expensive if bought but you save in time to construct. If you got the resources available for any of these I'd go for as big as you can get it. Even if you move it will just add value to the property.

I made some refractory for a small foundry using sillica sand, fireclay (Hawthorn bond), Mizzou, perlite, and sawdust. The sawdust will burn out making the mix more insulating. Any kind of fireclay will work. I let it set up for a month befor firing. I then fire it as if it were ready to go. I melted some brass and had no cracks when done. Fred

Great book. I found it more helpful than "A Blacksmith Primer." I got mine on Amazon.com. Fred

I've been a member for a while. I am new to blacksmithing and am having a lot of fun, well my wife says I'm ate up. Anyway I just thought I would say hello from north crentral Missouri. Fred

I am willing to bet that the induction forge would cause less polution than a propane forge. It does use electricity and high frequency but it can run off a 220v circuit and since it would run just a few minutes a day compared to a few hours to a coal or propane forge it would be a lot cleaner and cheaper to run once you got past the cost of buying or building one. Here is a web page of a guy who has been working with induction melting, http://www.abymc.com/tmoranwms/Metal_Casting.html it also has some good links and other info. Fred

Induction forge. They get the metal to forge temp in less than a minute. They are a bit pricey but you could build one. Though they are also a bit complicated but doable. Fred