ah1988

Thanks for the reponses, I am going to do some more research =) I am obviously new to this, so I didnt really know where to start to look but I have some good pointers now... time to do some reading ! I never scrolled down beyond the forge section, I didnnt realize how many catagories are on this site !

First question, do large old masonary drill bits make good tools, are they made of a good workable tool steel is what I am trying to ask I have spotted a few 1in x 12in ones at a cheap place idk what the guy wants for them, I was thinking along the ines of .75 a piece ?? Second question is, how was damascus steel made back in the medevil days. Was it just plain old mild steel folded 1000x or did they put a alloy into the steel to make it a higher carbon content ?

Thanks for the pics ! I never thought about using them for traction, even though I am in Fl lol. I think I will just use them to make a floor around my work area.

I have heard of several diffrent matirials that are used to line your forge with clay,cat litter and mud. What works the best and will make my forge last the longest or does it not matter what i use ?

Thanks for all the responses I think I have a good understanding on what a clinger is. I am sure I will find a use for them like I do everything else lol.

What are clinkers ? I hear people talking about them but I dont know what they are, and it seems like they are a bad thing to have ???

I get my coal from a pioneer settlement for $30 for 100lb and I am in Fl, it took me a while to find it but I did ! If I ever take a trip up north I will grab a couple tons with my truck and bring it back down here for thoes prices !

I am in Fl so I am one of thoes lucky 80F people =) I will just use some rotella 15w40 I have laying around for my old diesel. I have a second blower on a antique forge that I dont plan on using, it is made by buffulo do I need to fill this with oil too, it dosent say anything about filling it with oil like the other one does ?

Ok, plans have changed I called our local freightliner and they gave me a free brake drum to a big rig it weighs over 100lbs. And it it 19in wide, I think I will turn the drum into my forge and just cut a hole in some plate drop the drum in and weld it up ! When I get it done (eventually) I will post piccs. Thanks for all the input, I will probably end up making a smaller more portable one though,and I will use this info to help me.

I have picked up a blower off of craigslist and on the side it says to fill with oil before use. What type of oil should I fill it with I was thinking compressor oil ?

I plan on making a forge from either a brake rotor or brake drum, I just need advice on which one to use. I plan on getting a sheet of seel aproximatley 3ftx4ftx1/4in.and cutting a hole in the center for either a drum or rotor. I have seen that the brake drum forges are really popular but, I was thinking about the depth of the drum. The drums seem like they are excessivly deep to me, where you may burn up coal that you are not even using. The rotors seem like they are deep enough but not too deep, they just arent as popular as far as I have seen. i plan on making tools some decorative stuff like candle holders and eventually mabey some knives. So the question is drum vs. rotor, which is better ?