Zsartell

This is pretty much how I have done my billets before, except in a coal forge. I'm not sure I understand why you turn your forge off to let the heat soak in, but if it works for you that's great. I have not bothered to put a choke on the burners because I had planned on building a heat exchanger system and adding the choke to the end of that. Since it might be a while before I build that, perhaps I'll come up with a quick and dirty alternative to test my theory. Thanks all for the insight....

I have thought about changing my flux ( and we have used a boric acid mix with my friends forge that is acting just like mine), but I have never had a problem with it when forging in my coal forge.

I have never really had any problems forge welding in my coal forge, but I am determined for different reasons to forge weld in my newly built gas forge. I really like the idea of an even heat of a gas forge. This is something not easily obtainable in a coal forge. Also I want the ability to heat up larger billets with an even heat and be able to let it soak without having to worry about the ends getting too hot and burning off. I built a 7" x 12" round venturi gas forge with two sidearm burners just so I could forge damascus. I really didn't want to go with a blown style burner because I like the idea of not having to use electricity and it just seems safer to me. Ok, lets get to the problem. I have been unsuccessful at forge welding a 1/2" square bar to itself. I turn up the gas pressure so that flames bellow out and my flux (normal 20 mule team) indicates it's ready to weld. One thing I noticed the last time I tried is that my test piece got stuck to a scrap piece of 3/8" square that I had recently put in there to assist in propping pieces up. I had to do some twisting and banging inside the forge to get the thing to snap off my test piece. This made me sure that it was at welding heat. I took it out of the fire and gave it a few modest hits to set the weld. Then I welded it again just for kicks and when I tested it, it hadn't even come close to sticking together. Since I know it is getting hot enough, I must have a problem with scale forming inside the forge even though I have flames bellowing out. This is something my smithing friends and I have been pondering over for the past couple of months (we have been concentrating more on getting over 2400 degrees). I did notice that I actually was getting more scale buildup inside the forge at a higher pressure than with a lower pressure. What I haven't tried is using a larger mig tip to supply the same amount of gas at a lower pressure and therefore a slower speed. This slower speed should reduce the amount of air being sucked into the burner. Also I plan on placing the mig tip lower into the tube, closer to the bottom of the venturi to see if helps draw less air. At this time I am running the venturi openings wide open for testing purposes (and because I haven't made a choke for them yet) and my pressure settings are not very accurate and have had to rely more on what the forge sounds like than the pressure. Has anyone else come to this conclusion or am I making this much more difficult than I need to? BTW: My forge is made with 2"s of Kaowool, a lining of Santinite and a lining of ITC-100. I'll post pictures later when I get a chance.

I agree, a registry here on IFI would be great.

I've built more than a few Pulse Jets and have found that even a poorly designed venturi can make or break an engines ability to even run. The better the venturi, the better the flow and the better the engine will run. It's the same basic idea. You might get a kick out of this: Large Pulse Jet Engine Attached To Go-Kart = Crazy Video - Metacafe

I had the opportunity to visit Mankel's shop a few years ago and saw his heat treat setup for his anvils. It was very intriguing to say the least. He is a very accomplished man. I wouldn't hesitate to purchase any of his anvils.

I understand that it can be frustrating, but I try not to blame someone for not knowing, but instead I tech them the truth. Most of the time when I tell people I am a Blacksmith they think I am a farrier and it takes a while for them to understand what I really do. Next time I am going to use the idea of a Blacksmith being the Home Depot of a hundred years ago. If a Farrier was demonstrating ANYTHING, I would be there in a heartbeat with eyes and ears open. One thing that does push my buttons is when kids want to learn how to make a sword to run around in the woods and hack up trees, but refuse to learn the basics like drawing a taper. Last time a checked, drawing was fairly important when forging a blade - not to mention just good hammer control. A few months ago some younger (maybe 19) kids came to our Tuesday night open forge and immediately asked about making swords. I was forging something and he said "Are you any good at making swords?" and I said with a grin on my face "well, I'm not sure since I have never made one, but I'm going to say that if I were to make one I'd make a good one." Well, that's not the answer he was looking for. He was looking to have a custom one made or forge one himself. I told him that he should try and get some basic hammer control down if he wanted to make swords and that custom swords are not cheap. He then turned and talked to one of the other guys there that had made some weapons for a rather popular Pirate movie. We did get them to forge a simple leaf before they left but I think they lost interest completely somewhere between when we told them the sword they wanted to buy from a swordsmith to hack trees in the woods would cost over $2000 and when Steve (he owns the shop) told them that nobody was allowed to make knives and blades in his shop for a few different reasons (well, we were allowed but rarely ever did) Needless to say, they have not been back since and we were as understanding and polite as possible. I have no problem with kids wanting to make swords, but find it rather pathetic or maybe just sad when they give up after finding out how much work is really involved in making their fantasy weapon with gold inlay and embedded jewels (just to hack up some trees). I know a lot of bladesmiths that know very little or nothing about blacksmithing, but they do know the basics and have learned good hammer control.

I made one a while back. I used my mini lathe to cut out the master and smashed it between two pieces of mild steel. I then opened it up and used a die grinder to take down the sharp edges. I also drilled a hole the size of the nipple I wanted down the center of the tip of the swage. When done forging an acorn I usually had a nipple that was 2" or longer sticking out the end. I just cut the off and quickly shape just the nipple up on the belt sander. When I get a chance I'll post some pictures. After the swage is made the key is to round the tip of the starting piece so you minimize the amount of material that has to be squeezed out both ends. When we first built it it took about 5 or 6 heats to get it to look somewhat decent. After some fiddling with how far we put the initial piece in and how we ground the sharp edges off the inside of the swage we got it to look really nice after 1 or 2 heats. I have to give credit to Steve Alling with helping me make this swage and the use of his tools. Gotta love that KA75 for those big hits.

I have had luck with a slurry of graphite and dish soap as a lubricant. It's not a miracle worker, but it does help.

What purity of nickel do you purchase for your damascus? I have seen pure nickel and nickel silver for sale. Does anyone have a good supplier they use? Thanks Zach

That is great. That is one heck of a hook for a youngster like that. I can't wait to have kids so I can show them things like this.

Desktop administrator - aka, I fix computers and networks. (it's a curse and I'd rather be smithing!)

Paragon, If you are just starting out, don't worry too much about using wrought iron. Just get yourself some steel. There are a lot of steel yards around, I personally go to Pontiac Steel. They are in Pontiac on University. What part of Michigan are you from. If you are close you should join us at Pleasant Street Forge for Steve Allings open forge night every Tuesday at 6:00 PM. If you're interested e-mail me and I will get you directions to both. Zach

Yes, I have seen these before. They are really cool. It is too bad that there is not something regular on TV for Blacksmiths. Maybe someday.... I have actually been to the smithy in the video with the copper rose. But unfortunately when I was there the place was closed and all I got was a snapshot of the outside. I forget what town and maybe the video says it, but it is in the NW Michigan area.

MichaelKane, I am a member of MABA and I do know that there is a group of smiths in the U.P. that used to meet on a regular basis, I can't remember where. Unfortunately being a yooper you might have to travel a ways to meet up with any other smiths. But since Marquette is one of the larger cities up there, you might get lucky. Contact Steve Alling, he might know who you need to contact. I know Steve personally and spend nearly every Tuesday in his shop. He is a great guy and is extremely interested in helping anyone that wants to learn more about Blacksmithing. Also I would suggest joining MABA and ABANA. You will get their magazines full of ideas and tutorials. That will help get you started. Good luck Zach