C.D. Mitchell

If you're wanting to burn solid fuel, look into charcoal or pure coke. Both of those burn very clean with almost no smoke or smell. Charcoal is especially easy to get away with because it will smell like you're just having a cookout. If you wanted to be really covert you could make a forge out of an old grill, that way no one would suspect anything. If you can't find any pure coke, look into building a charcoal retort and making your own charcoal. The retort method is also very clean and doesn't require anything more than a standard firepit to make your own solid fuel. Either way, be sure to respect your neighbors.

Welcome to the world of blacksmithing Daryn. Here on this site you have acess to thousands of pages of information and thousands of years of combined experience...needless to say it's an excellent resource. I'm also from the Cincinnati/Dayton area. PM me and I might be able to give you a few pointers on how to get started.

I'm about to do an experiment on a 20" section of railroad track. I'll be using it in the "post anvil" position, and my goal is to incorporate as many useful surfaces into the track as I can. Ex. grind a hot cutting edge and cold cutting edge into the web, turning the base of the track into tapered fullers, etc. The point of the experiment to prove that you can have a single, portable tool that is commonly scrounged for little to no money, but is still versatile enough to do almost anything a smith could want to do. Working on a real anvil is great, but learning how to maximize the potential of something cheap and easy to find is a valuable thing, especially for folks that are just getting started.

I've found everything I've ever needed just by scrounging, dumpster diving, asking around, etc. When you have more time than money, learning to scrounge is a necessity, and I would also say it's part of being a blacksmith these days. Sometimes you get to the point where you just need to buy something...but a lot of times if you look hard enough in the right places you'll find what you're looking for.

There's not doubt you built a nice forge, especially for the first go round. Once you learn how to tune the burners it'll be smooth sailing. Glad that explanation was helpful, it's just what I've learned from experience.

Don't make that thing look to pretty or you'll have a lot of blacksmiths on this site asking you to make them one. Your welds look great, I don't think you have anything to worry about.

The flame coming out of the mouth of the forge is normal, it's called dragon's breath, and it will take all the hair off your arm in a hurry. In regards to your burners fluttering, it could be a combination of things. Let me try to break down the key factors that make an atmospheric burner work, then you may be able to diagnose your problem: 1. Gas volume/velocity/pressure 2. air intake volume 3. mixing 4. combustion Now don't treat this like it's out of a textbook...these are just very basic descriptions of what make an atmospheric burner work. If #1 isn't correct, then #2 most likely won't be correct either, which means #3 won't work as it should, and #4 won't be successful. In an atmospheric burner, the propane regulator and orifice size are the two main things that control your gas flow. If there's too much pressure and not enough volume, there won't be a proper mixture which will result in a less than desirable combustion as you have found. This means the regulator needs to be turned down to slow velocity and pressure, or the orifice needs to be increased to allow more volume and decrease the velocity and pressure. For a 3/4 inch burner, I've found an orifice of .030" to be the most effective. I've run them with .023" and .035" but they do not run as well. In regards to air, you must be able to take in enough air to get a proper mixture which will then result in a neutral and complete combustion. If your air intake is too small, you will always be running rich with too much fuel in your mixture. If your intake is too large, you will always be running lean, meaning too little fuel in your mixture. Because of the venturi effect of an atmospheric burner, the intake of the air is directly proportional to the flow of the gas. When the pressure of the gas flow increases, the volume of air it sucks in also increases. However, the volume of air that the venturi can take in at one time is dependent on the size of your intake. For example, no matter how how hard you try you can only pull in so much air through a straw. The easiest way to tune the air intake of an atmospheric burner is to make the air intake larger than it needs to be, then find a way to restrict it to the point where you have the proper mixture. When you have the gas flow correct and the air intake correct, the mixing takes care of itself as long as your burner tube is long enough. For an EZ burner 8-9 inches works well. If you go through factors #1, #2, and #3, #4 will be a success. You will have a neutral flame, complete combustion of the air/fuel mixture, and lots of heat. Again, there's a lot of physics that goes on with a burner like this, but hopefully this simplified it enough to make sense and allow you to diagnose and tune your burner. Once you know what the key components of these burners are and how to adjust them, you will be able to figure out just about anything on your own.

After building three gas forges, my recommendation would be to design and build them in such a way that modifications or repairs are made easily. For example, you want to be able to easily replace the lining, bricks, or other parts of the forge when the need arises. Your design plan sounds good, but I would recommend finding the thickest sheet metal you can for the sides of the forge. I wouldn't go any less than 1/16 unless that's all you have. The heat from the forge, even with the insulating firebrick, could be enough to warp a thin piece of sheet metal on the outside. I've built both square and round body forges, and I personally prefer the square body. I've found them to be a little easier to build and a little more versatile to use. I would definitely incorporate some sort of pass through in the back of your forge so you can heat longer stock. That one feature can allow you to work any part of a long piece of steel in a small one burner forge. In regards to burners, I would definitely try to make your own if you have the tools for it. I've made two different types of atmospheric burners, the Reil EZ burner and a mini-mongo burner. I prefer the mini mongo as it's easier and cheaper to make, but also offers more control over the flame. If you are interested in building one I can give you a more detailed list of the exact parts, tools, and procedures you need to make one. Good luck as you move forward with your forge build, you'll learn a lot as you go.

I'm in Ohio and I've seen recent CL adds for post vises at $90, $150, and $250. Ohio probably has a few more post vises than California, but the prices still vary greatly. I was looking for a post vise about a month ago and ran into a guy who sold me three 100% complete post vises for $120...two 5's and one 5.5 incher. That was an unusual blessing for sure, but I still wouldn't be too hesitant to pay $100 for a post vise in complete working condition. I got a great deal on mine by asking around, not off of craigslist. Most people who are taking the time to post something like that on CL are wanting to get as much money as they can out of it. It's best to ask around, spread the word that you're looking for one, you never know what might turn up.

Welcome to IFI, there's lots of good folks here. I'm impressed by your work, but I'm even more impressed that you've only made one post and you've already figured out how to upload pictures! What kind of a smithy setup are you working with?

You could also go the other direction and aim it more towards the floor. This would give you more of a hot spot where is hitting the floor, but the flame would also bounce off and circulate around the rounded top of the chamber. I position my work in that "hot spot" directly under the flame quite a bit because I can get a more localized higher heat in that area.

You got a heck of a deal on that anvil! That's a good weight too, heavy enough to do anything you'd want but light enough to be able to move by yourself. It's definitely not a cast anvil though...that anvil has a forged wrought iron body with a plate of tool steel forge welded to the top. If you look closely you should be able to see a seam line where the two were joined. The other way you can tell it is a forged anvil is because the writing is stamped into the side of the anvil. If it was cast the writing would be raised above the surface of the metal. Sheffield is a common English anvil manufacturer, but there are others on this site who can tell you much more about them than I could. Great deal on a great anvil!

Congrats on your first forge build! That's a big first step into blacksmithing. You're fortunate to have welding skills and equipment, that'll make the project a lot easier. I wasn't able to open your pictures, but it sounds like you have a pretty decent plan of attack for this thing. I would encourage you to reconsider the 24" length of your forge. That is A LOT of space to heat up, even with two burners. Two burners in a chamber that long will probably not give you an even heat on your metal, and you will go through a lot of fuel trying to get the heat you want. The other reason why such a long forge chamber is usually unnecessary is because you can only work so much metal at one time. On average a smith can only work on 4-6 inches at a time before losing heat. Even my biggest forge only has a 10 inch long chamber, and my smallest is 8 inches long. I can forge anything from tongs to tomahawks to hammers. Remember, the shorter your chamber is, the less time and fuel it will take to heat up your steel, which means more time forging for you.

Rub some chalk, flour, or soapstone over the stamping. The white powder will fill the low spots of the stamp and when you brush away the high spots you'll be left with a more clear outline of the stamp. You could also try to transfer the stamp onto paper by holding the paper of the emblem and rubbing a crayon over the stamped area, but I've found the the surface around the emblem is often too rough to get a good visual. Using a wire brush, either by hand or on an angle grinder, is also a good way to clean it up and make it a little more visible. Nice job getting something like this for your son. You're giving him a tool that he can use to create things with his own two hands, and learning how to do that is invaluable for a young man. You never know, blacksmithing could turn into some great father-son bonding time, and you can't put a price on that.

I've never dressed the face of a rounding hammer, but I use varying grits of flap discs in an angle grinder to finish my hammer faces. I lock the hammer in a vise and use the flap disc to shape and polish whatever kind of face profile I'm going for. Making the hammer stationary allows you to see all parts of the face as you're working it with the flap disc, which I've found makes it a little easier to get a more even and accurate finish. I had to dress about 30 hammer faces one day for a group of students, and I was able to dress and polish all the faces within half an hour.

I chisel whatever notches I need into the jaws as the first step of making a pair of tongs. That allows me to put the notches exactly where I want, and it is much easier to do it at the beginning of the process than it is at the end. Once my tongs are riveted, I'll heat up the jaws and grab a piece of square stock on the diagonal, then hammer on top of the jaws to refine the notches and create a perfect hold on the stock.

tomhaw couldn't have said it better. The key to learning how to be a blacksmith is not researching it to death on the computer. It's lighting a forge, heating some metal, and beating it with a hammer. The forge, hammer, and anvil will often answer many of your questions, and that's how you learn. There's nothing wrong with learning everything you can from people who have more experience than you, but the only way to gain your own experience is by doing it yourself.

I would shoot for some hard firebrick splits or kiln shelves. Those can be found at pottery suppliers, some brick and block suppliers, and maybe a fireplace/boiler company. You can also order them online easily, but they're rather heavy so shipping could cost a fair amount. You'll want something hard and durable for the floor of your firebox, if you will actually be resting metal on it. If that's what you're aiming for then some hard firebrick or kiln shelf would be the way to go.

Looks like a serviceable vise to me. No need to get picky about having the original screw, box, spring, mount etc. If it loosens, tightens, and holds whatever you want to hold, then you have everything you need in a vise, enjoy it!

The part of me that doesn't like feeling defeated would have a hard time walking away from that one. After not being able to move it, I probably would have grabbed a sledge or jackhammer and busted it apart rather than letting a block of concrete get the best of me. I guess that's why patience often leads to better decisions, nice job figuring how to re-use it.

It's hard to tell the composition just by looking at it. The hardy and pritchel look correct, which is a good sign, but not a guaruntee that it's not cast iron. The 1st test should always be for rebound....if your hammer or a steel ball bearing bounces back, then you know you have a good anvil. The 2nd test should be the ring...if tapped with a hammer a steel or wrought iron anvil will ring if not clamped down. The reason this is the second test is because some anvils such as fishers do not ring, but that doesn't mean they aren't a quality anvil. These are tests you can do yourself and will give you a much better conclusion as to wether or not that is an anvil worth using.

I've been playing with tools and building things since I was able to pick something up with my hands. Anytime I needed to fix or make something, I would always try to do it myself. When my truck broke down, I'd figure out how to fix it. When a house needed construction done, I'd figure out how to build it. When I needed a hammer handle, I'd figure out how to make a new one. I've always had a desire to be as self-sufficient as possible, and therefore I take every opportunity to learn or sharpen my skill sets. The main reason I got into blacksmithing was to have the ability to make my own tools, which means I can supply the tools or custom parts for whatever I may be working on. Most of my skills have been built out of necessity, and every time a new skill needs to be learned I research it and practice it until I feel I have mastered it to a satisfactory level. This has led me into many of the old trades, blacksmithing being one of them. In some ways I consider myself a "jack of all trades", simply because I've done such a wide variety of things, but I also strive to be a true craftsman in all of those skills. Creating and building things with my hands is a part of who I am, and I plan on building those skills and passing them on to others for the rest of my life.

I'll echo those last few remarks. A project this size requires some guts...not only to begin it but to follow through and bring it to completion. That halfway mark is always tough, when you're not sure if it's going to turn out how you want but you're too far in to turn back. So you keep pushing forward and eventually you get to look at the finished product and say "I did it". No matter what anyone says about it that's something that you'll remember forever, and chances are it probably built on the "never give up" attitude that every man should have. Way to go, and keep it up.

The fact that one of your anvils doesn't have a pritchel hole makes leads me to believe that would be a very old anvil. There's others on this site who know more accurately what age it might be judging by that feature, but I would guess nearly a couple centuries old. It's pretty cool to know it's still around and in service.

Nice find. The good thing about an anvil like that is you don't have to feel to bad about learning on it...you can get right to work and not be nervous about dinging it up. You probably won't do any more damage than what's already been done, so start pounding worry free!