Ark

Thanks for the help guys. About over heating the pewter, is the forge too hot for the job or should I use a different heat source?

Today I made my first attempt at metal casting. I was attempting to cast some scales for a straight razor out of pewter. Sounds pretty simple right? I made a mold out of plaster of paris and melted an old pewter statue I found in an old skillet with good pour spouts on my forge. Everything was going ok until i poured the molten pewter into the mold and it exploded everywhere. Luckily I walked away from the incident unscathed exept for my feelings. I let the plaster dry for 24 hrs, am I supposed to bake it? Also the pewter produced a lot of slag, can I fix that by coating the metal in borax? I did consult the magic search bar at the top of the screen before posting but turned up nothing so far. I appreciate your help fellas. Thanks

I use a straight every day and I'm about to start making some.

i'm just three counties over in butler. about an hour & a half drive. schedule a hammer-in and I'm there!!

I decided to call mine "Youngblood Forge" because I'm the new Smith in the neighborhood. Seriously, there are already four balcksmiths in my county one of which has achieved master status. I kinda feel like the 'kid'.

twenty miles North of Bowling Green can't miss it. were's Greenup co?

Hey yall,
My name is Zach Daugherty friends call me Ark. i live in Morgantown Ky and am 21 years old. I don't know what came over me but one day I woke up and just wanted to be a blacksmith. I did some research , bought some books and ended up building a 55 forge. 4 S-hooks and 2 dinner bells later I was hooked. now I can't drive down the road without scanning the ditches for scrap steel. I'll probably be flooding the forum with elementary questions since i'm an apprentice w/o a teacher. gimme a shout!