Elemental Metal Creations

On 1/29/2016 at 9:44 PM, Michael Cochran said:

A blacksmith uses all 4 known elements of the world, earth, wind, fire and water.

I wonder if anyone knows who said that.

Thats why I call my forge Elemetal Metal Creations.

1. Thanks for the info Frost and Spanky. I just this week built a 2 brick forge and used propane for the first time, I will be building a brick pile forge with a T burner shortly.

I got the torch set last weekend. everthing looks good, the torch is a craftsman. I called the local Airgas today, they said that I probably would not be able to get a propane tip for it. I told them what brand the tanks were and he said that they couldn't exchange them, then he told me that the local tool rental place could. he was very helpful and didn't try to convince me to go with his company.

Thanks for all the info.

I am going to pick up the torch set tomorrow. All I know is that it was her dads and has a cart, tanks, torch(s), hoses and regulators. I will get every thing checked out and proceed with caution.

Thanks John, thats what I thought, just wanted to make sure. I know about transporting tanks.

I wasn't sure where to put this so here it is.

 A friend offered me a welding/cutting torch set that has been in her garage for several years since her dad died. It consists of tanks, cart, hoses and torch.

 I haven't seen it yet. I know that I may not be able to get the tanks filled and will probably need new hoses. My question is what do I need to convert to propane? It is much cheaper and I have 100lb propane tanks.

I actually prefer soft coal over hard coal but for the price difference, $6 for 40lb vs $19 for 50lb I can suffer a bit. For me a mix of 2/3 rice and 1/3 nut size seems to work best. A couple of fire pics that my wife took, the flames didn't show in the pics.

How bificult is it to drill cast? I remember someone telling me years ago

not to use oil when drilling cast.

I know about the welding issues, the guy that I got it from said that he could weld or braze it for me but I am a bit leary. I am going to put a strap on the side of the crack that goes all the way to the edge.

  I picked up this Champion forge Wed. for $150. I hope i did good on the price, It is the only one I have found in my area, S.E. Mo. Could anyone give me an idea on when these were made or any outher info about this forge?

 The blower works great  but the pan is cracked. Should I have it welded or brazed? I will be lining it with a red clay and sand mix.

Also there are three holes in the side next to the blower, are these for mounting a wind screen?

Thanks.

Scored a champion forge Wed. from my mechanic, he was going to make a bbq grill out of it.

Thanks for the info. The web site says that my local TSC has it in stock, will be getting some this week.

Jacob, I like that!

Hinges are a good idea, all the log cabins have store bought hinges. I have not made any yet, will have to practice.

 I went to a campout at fort Du Bouis in Wood River Ill. last weekend. it is a recreation of Lewis and Clark's camp during the winter of 1906-07.  There is a blacksmith shop there with a 200lb anvil, coal forge, hand crank blower, tongs and other tools. i have been invited to demo at a homesdeading themed campout in 3 weeks and I can use all this equipment instead of having to haul all my gear! I just have to provide my coal and stock.

I am going to make some shelf hangers for them and see if there is anything else they need made. I will also be able to make anything else I want and set up a sales booth. I am thinking Nails, hooks, horseshoe hearts, cooking forks.

Does anyone have suggestions for other items? There will be pictures after.

The guy on the radio was talking about what would happen in the event of a massive e.m.p. like a solar storm or what not. How one could download this info if there is no electricity is beyond me. None the less, they made an awesome site. There's info on everything from meteorology to sewing. All tech up to the point of around 1920. My favorite thing smith wise are a few books on ornamental ironwork. Those have eluded me thus up to today.

Download, save, and print now while the grid is still there!

My 135lb mousehole is about 9" high and 3" wide. The tale is broken off so I have no idea how long it was. One the size you are looking at will weigh a lot mor.

When your helping a friend in his garden, he asks if you have a hammer and you get your small hammer out of the trunk. He says, you carry a 3lb hammer in your car?

Very nice, thanks for the idea.Looks like it would work better than a ballpein.

Lucky brother.

Do NOT use the anvilvice as an anvil, it is fairly thin cast iron and will break fairly easy. I don't believe that there are a lot of them aroud for that reason. Does that one say Miller Falls on it?

It is the St. louis Garlic Festival, I wish I gould go to Gilroy just to see the garlic fields. My friend that run the one in St.Louis only plants 1 acre, 18,000 plants, organic and harvested by hand.

Thanks for the ideas and I will post pics.

 My wife has signed me up to vend at a Garlic Festival in June and I would like to forge some garlic bulbs and maybe some garlic plants. I know I have seen something like this on here before but can"t find it. 

 Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas? I am thinking some iron pipe might be good to start with. Would solid stock be better to use? 

Any help will be appreciated.

I use charcoal a lot and the best thing I can say is with charcoal you need less air and a deeper fire, at least a couple of inches deeper. Also the fire will spread, keep your spare fuel away from the fire or you will have a very large fire.