Steve Sells

I thought there was a law about underage Bees and wasps consuming mass quantities... Nothing worse than drunken critters, haphazardly flying around while applying their stingers...

thats the first pic, that rock is it

I have pics, what ever made you think I forgot the camera just not a lot to show yet

Welcome, One word of caution, most the coal from a power plant is not clean enough to use in a blacksmith forge. most the time. The bituminous claol I am using is less than .75% sulfur 2.13% ash 13,800 BTUs. this is the extra clean Sewell seam coal. the key is low sulfur, as its not good for steel, the low ash means reduced clinkers. IF the coal your power plant has too high sulfur, as is the case for most as the cost of the low sulfur is much higher, ya can be a problem to work with, and Anthracite is very hard to keep burning, I wont even get into the problems of trying to use Lignite. Shop around for blacksmithing coal, aka Stoker, and using them side by side you will see a major difference.

O-1 forges fine, take care of the heat, if it gets too hot, it crumbles like Vegemite left out in the sun But smells better

I was advised to use a little borax by a member that can welds. This was a first for me, both meteor and the can weld, so I followed another makers advise. I used maybe 2 tbs of borax, I never use much flux, an this wrought iron had plenty of silicon.

Cant really title a blade type accurately because I have not decided yet. I finally got the courage to work out some Campo Del Cielo Meteorite into a usable form. These are about 7% Nickel plus about a total of 1% Cobalt, Iridium and Gallium, the remaining is pure Iron. I said I feared this because of the expense of these being from 50 cents to a few dollars a GRAM. And the fact that they have a habit to like to shatter when heated and hit with a hammer, so I choose to use the can welding process. I started by breaking up the space rock into small pieces, and cutting up some wrought iron rod and collecting the band saw powders from the cutting in a news paper. I know they sell steel powders, but I dont have any on hand, and the wrought made more sense. I added the pieces in the 1.5" square pipe than I had already I welded an end closed, and after the pieces were packed in place, I filled it with a mix of borax and wrought iron powder. then welded closed the opposite end then drilled a few 1/16" holes on both ends for gas release. Then into the fire. My coal forge was running hot with nice clean Coke, I took this slow and easy like with a motorcycle chain, to close it up so I did not break the outside of the can. This also allows heat to travel through this can better by reducing the voids. I watched the gasses escape with a little flame, and after a while I got a solid mass drawn out to 1/4 x 1.5 x 16 inches ready to fold. After a few folds this should become a homogeneous bar and then I can use it with high carbon layers for a pretty pattern welded billet for an as yet to be decided blade. and I still have enough left to make one more of these.

as a smith I would keep it and use as a collar swege. As an Electrician I have tools like this for crimping wire splices. the double is for a side tap splice. Want to triple your Money? I will send you $3 for it and pay the postage.:D

Yes I do , guilty as charged....

it has not been mentioned, but getting the correct size stock is a lot easier, and will cost less than the fuel for all the forging required on this one.

I don't think I understand the point of your post Hammernhand, it appears that you imply hammer control is not needed if one uses the horn ?

good start and I think you can salvage that basket . Remember the smaller the mass you are welding, the faster it looses the heat needs to get it to weld, simply 3/8 will be a lot harder than the 1/2 stock. You will have to move fast.

may as well chime in, I have a 3 gal wooden barrel I took one end off for my demo' and like Thomas I need to soak it a few days before I need it to get it to seal. and I am ashamed to say drywall bucket in the shop. easy to dump out or move between the grinder/forge areas.

read the sticky's and posts in the knife section, and stop in for the Friday night knife chat at 10 PM eastern time, in the chat room here. If you have not already, get $50 knife shop by Wayne Goddard, and the books by Jim Hrisoulas PhD. the Complete Bladesmith, the master bladesmith, and the Pattern welded blade, and he hasn't told me the name of his soon to be released 4th book yet...

Place a few hammer blows on edge, then a few in the face to flatten the lumps you just made on the face, then repeat. It will take a while but this will get you there. I have had to do the same when making damascus billets.

I agree they are a great resource! We are not trying to be armorers. Cold working metal is more than only armor. Some could assume this is for auto body work from the title, and I am sure some of that will find its way to this section sooner or later. We are not trying to push or create new topics as much as expand the filing system of the existing forum to make room for the non-standard smithing fields that are already being discussed. With separate sections they are easier to locate. Such as with the past additions of sections on copper smithing, blades, or even the power hammers. In essence, we are attempting to meet the perceived needs of the membership which is growing at a rapid rate. If Silver inlays gather a large enough volume of posts, I am sure that will be added to the metal specific section, currently addressing copper, tin and alloys.

nothing that I know of sorry. maybe an engraver.

Not a bad idea, I will bring up the idea of a "cold work" section at the next staff meeting. I would assume in the general section would be a good place? IF it happens I will see to it that this thread gets put there :)

on the other hand, restoring can also ruin the value of an antique, if not careful, as most are worth the most in the original condition.

there are dragons and mules all over this forum and our gallery. and you say that you cant see how to convert them to a chess knight? wow talk about tax time stress, OK here is the way... 1) You should take a day and step away from the forge, 2) grab your fishin pole. and leave the house and shop, for 1 day. 3) then tomorrow after you get all relaxed, you will be fine again, and ready to make that set, I cant wait to see pics :)

funny... as many braising fluxes are borax based.

It has been explained, both in these forums, and in Private. Its all up to you now.

Maybe because its hard to place the stock ON the burner? many burners heat the forge body from the inside, and radiate heat to the metal, not roast it like a steak. but there are designs that do just that, I think they are called a ribbon burner.

there will be a higher temp exposure to that igniter than would be in a normal gas BBQ grill. so consider the melting factor before mounting.

super cool, perfect for the wine loving RR lover both thumbs up