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I Forge Iron

dennis_hl

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Posts posted by dennis_hl

  1. Hey thanks for the replies. I picked up a squirrel cage blower and am making a valve so I can fine tune the fire. I fired up my old coke forge the other night with the anthracite and I sure liked the results, I used a bit of charcoal to get the fire going. I did notice with the handcranked blower I did need to keep on top of the fire. Happy to hear not too much diff in coke and seems to work a bit like charcoal--if I squint really hard ;)

    Happy smithin'

  2. So, a local stove dealer is selling 40# bags of anthracite for $5.75. I've been a die hard charcoal user with brief periods of experimentation. I've used coke and smithing coal from centaur forge, but shipping costs have kept me from fully switching over, I can get lump wood charcoal at a reasonable cost from a local hardware store when wally world runs out for the season. However, at roughly $6 for 40 lbs of anthracite I can't resist giving 'er a go. Any considerations for burning anthracite, I'm a dedicated sideblast user, and am gonna play around with that, but are there any other thoughts on using anthracite and forge design? In general does the fire pot need to be deeper than what I'm used to when working with coke? My coke pots are pertty shallow. Charcoal requires a firepot nearly as deep or as deep as it is wide. My "smithing" coal experience has been in a riveter's forge so I can't judge too much one way or the other in that regard.

  3. Bellow is an image of my first knife ever and the latest one that I have sold. I made the first one out of rebar and hardened it in super quench. I had lost it and at the time didn't much care, but recently I was really wishing that I had the thing, I found it when I cleaned out the car (it was in the back window behind the seat back). There is about two or so years between the two. I'm sorry 'bout the low picture quality. I need a better camera!

    3214.attach

  4. I'm entertaining the thought of accepting an offer to help set up a blacksmith shop at a local museum. This is separate from my shop at the Quincy Mine (if you recall my posts from last year). If we do this we will be building from the ground up and are considering space enough for three work stations: forge, anvil, vise, etc. The other idea is one large forge centrally located with four stations located around it (one drawback that I can foresee is fire needs of the working smiths). I'm not sure about space requirements, I think my current space is about 8' square forge space, less bench and storage. What would you do different if you could do it over again? Its fun to dream, we may not get beyond the planning stage. Who knows...
    Dennis

  5. I have relied on my work as a blacksmith as my sole source of income for a while now. I think for me learning how to be a businessman is more difficult than learning how to pattern weld. Its tough, but I'm still hanging in there.

  6. Sorry Dennis
    dont take me wrong Im just tring to help.
    I had a heck of a time with the torch until I got a neutral flame
    Be Safe
    Ron


    No offense taken! Nuetral flame is the ticket. I got a pretty good weld on 1/8" plate today. I had to worry the joint apart with a hammer and a vise.
  7. Well, today I got a very nice weld on 16ga plate and learned that the tip to do that is not the same tip to weld 1/8" plate which was explained above. That tip oxidized the plates together and it broke apart with a tap from the pliers. Is it a practicle thought to use gas to weld branches together for the tree and to fill the gaps?

    I see the links, checking them out now.

  8. I have a set of oxy/acetylene torches, and it has been ages since I used gas to weld, highschool 15+ years ago. I can stick things together, but nothing that can withstand worrying them apart (bend back and forth). I get tons of slag build up too. I've tried knocking back the oxy. for a more gas rich flame but that doesn't seem to help either, thinking that I was oxydizing the iron before it had a chance to mix (heh, forge welding seems a lot easier at this point). I've also tried a hotter flame as well. This is for the tree/bed project so forge welding the branches is not a practicle option. Any pointers for welding with torches?

  9. I've used borax in the slack tub for larger pieces. How much to add, couldn't tell ya. Keep adding til it works? I heat the iron to a hot red heat and quench. The scale pops right off, of course don't do this with high carbon steel. However, I preffer vinegar as most of my work that needs de-scaling is small enough to fit in a 5 quart icecream pail.

  10. My shop is a two story stone stone structure with a timber frame roof built in 1893, origanily it was a bulk oil warehouse for the mine (there's pictures somewhere here in the forum). The ground floor is set into the hillside and is my shop space (modern bathrooms for the museum above me :} It has a dirt floor and is quite cool in the summer and is easy to heat in the winter. But, as was said above, every thing rusts quickly, perhaps due to condensation. My floor is dry but there is a lot of moisture comming in through the walls. So I guess that means don't burry yours!?!? I'd build a rock shop and timber frame the roof, I think if you know your layout and what works for you, you shouldn't have any problems. The only obsticle that I foresee for myself is cost.

  11. Could you tell us a bit more about it? Did you forge it out of steel or grind it out of steel? How did you heat treat it? Steps/processes? It looks great, I'm working on my first gladius, before it I made a greek something or another and before that a seax (18"). There are others on here who have more experience than I, but if we don't hear from them I'll offer advice per my own experiences.

  12. Looks great! I love lookinng at progress pictures of peoples work. Thanks for posting. I need to do more. If I may offer a suggestion, soak your blades in vinegar overnight before filing, it removes the mill scale and will prolong the life of you file.

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