Dodge

I was going to amend another thread but I simply couldn't find it soooo

I built this forge a couple years ago or 3 and I guessed then it would weld but never really tried til today. The pic shows the burner with a diferent T but I found I didn't need so much air so I went with a same-size T. Yeah I know 1" is overkill but I wanted to ensure it would weld.

The billet started with 17 pieces of banding and 17 pieces of band saw.

I still need to draw it out but ran out of time (and steam ;) ) did some other forging prior to the billet and first forging I've done for some time. My arm and related muscle groups are going to be sore tomorrow LOL

Scott

Edit: I rotated the last pic in my files every direction and it still won't post right. Mods; any help here?

Yes its standard in household ovens; Top element for broiling, bottom for baking. IMO best practice is to follow the laws of physics; heat rises. YMMV but using the 'Bake" setting should give more even heat. As the "Broil' setting is generally used with the food or what ever being broiled as close as possible without catching fire i.e. steaks and such, you aren't as concerned with overall oven temps as you are when you bake a cake (or temper a piece of steel ;) ) The temperature of an oven on broil (I'm guessing;never tested) could vary 100º from top to bottom due to that physics law thingy. I doubt the variance would be so great on bake. Hope this helps.

Scott

It's in the book, so it must be true; Do Not Wear Gloves

 

"Blacksmithing Basics for the Homestead"

 

He states why; you loose tactical (??) feeling in your hand(s) and, at the same time, you would also be likely to become less careful a round hot objects. When you are least expecting it, you will reach for and grab a hot object and reralize too late that you had taken your gloves OFF!!!

It's in the book so it must be true?!?!?! That is a scary thought...

Gloves or no, I treat every piece of steel as if it might be hot. Besides not wanting to burn my skin, I also don't want to burn my good leather up either :D

Brick are not necessary. Just a cookie sheet or even tin foil on the bottom rack to block the elements  However, I should first ask, how close to the elements was the blade and are you sure your oven temps are accurate? I use an independent thermometer as well as the oven's setting. My garage sale toaster is off by about 40º. A household oven can vary from one rack to the next. Middle is about average but you want to put thermometer on that rack to get a more accurate temp. Make sure oven is not on broil setting so top elements stay off

A sword has what I believe is called a hidden tang or through tang in knife terms. I'm talking European style swords here not Japanese Chinese or others. the tang is narrower than the blade. the guard is pierced, punched, drilled or milled to have a slot in it as close to the tang size as possible. I think there are a few historical swords that had guards soldered in place but I can't think of any specifically. generally they were held in place by compressing the tang (making the slot in the guard slightly smaller than tang) or simply held in place by compression from the wood grip and pommel assembly that were slid on the tang behind the guard. sometimes wedges were used too. I can't think of any medieval swords that had guards or hilt integral to the whole. that did happen with older broze age swords a lot though.

Mameluke? Really, not sure how its guard is held on but appears it may have a full tang with pinned scales

How's this: All farriers are blacksmiths but not all blacksmiths are farriers. :mellow:

I can't believe this poor dead horse has been flogged for 4 pages already (this time ^_^ ) My stand on the glove question remains as it has always; unchanged B)

I haven't seen it done with felt, but I like it!! It looks as if it gives some nice thick layers :)

Not sure about "alternative to...". By definition, it IS home made micarta :) HMM can be made from any fabric, or textile and epoxy, acrylic resin, or other "thermosetting" plastic. I have even seen a former member here experiment with non-textile type stuff; seeds, even old coffee grounds :D

Scott

LOL, John. Yeah, not many waves here. Not even on the Mighty Mo on a rough day. T'was in another life, many years ago, when I lived in North Carolina :) Actually I (we) are coming out to the coast in a few weeks but unfortunately not that far north this time. Just north of Frisco and points south, but another smith near Jenner Ca has promised to put me to work as well :D

Nice machine. However, the shoulder high grinding looks kinda scary. One slip grinding a blade and you'll be chewing it or worse; trying to breathe around it :o

So, I googled it and it is described as exactly that; woven fiberglass with an epoxy resin binder. Yeah that's nasty stuff. Not much different than what they coat surfboards with. I used to have to repair mine from time to time. Probaby should have been wearing a repirator, but hey! I was a surfer B). But I usually sanded boards ouside and up wind of dust. Anyway I hate working with glass. From what I've read, it's simply a specific form of micarta. Micarta is so easy to make and with virtually infinite options for materials; albeit you still need to be cautious whenever sanding on plastics of any kind regardless of what your binding. But I digress. Nice knife :)

Scott

Interesting. Sounds like more than a couple companies used the Phoenix name :)

Someone was indiscriminate with a cutting torch. Otherwise it wouldn't be bad. I'm betting its a Columbus Forge and Iron sold as a Phoenix. Postman describes the Phoenix Hardware anvils as "bench or crafts" anvils; I'm guessing, 10 - 15 #. That one looks more like a small but "real blacksmith" anvil. Basically a small Trenton. ;)

Hello all, I am very new here and very new to forging/black smithing/blade smithing. I made a quick and cheap gas forge from an tin bucket plaster of paris and sand mixture with a home made venturi burner. It was on the fly cheap and works ok for what me and my son are doing now but the plaster is breaking up after 4 or 5 months of hard use and i finally gathered proper insulation materials. Soooo i have a copper cylinder that is just about 1/8" thick give or take and is 22"diameter and 32" long. Will this melt at forge welding temps? Im thinking it would but figured id ask around. Id hate to waste my blanket and coating. Oh yeah im looking to do forced air this time around and see if i can get less fuel consumption. Im currently burning a 5 gal tank every 6-8 hours of forging.

Thanks in advance.

That copper pipe seems like an awful burden to have around. Piece of junk, really. Send it to me and I will dispose of it properly :ph34r: Seriously, as others have said, properly insulated, it should be fine. I don't think I have ever seen copper pipe that big. Actually, polish it up, put some bands attached with some chrome acorn nuts on and a few random levers, dials, gears or pairs there of, tubes in and around the burners and and I can picture it as really neat "steampunk" style forge :) Welcome aboard!

Scott

Richard Postman says that "Phoenix Hardware Manufacturing Company of Buffalo NY produced cast iron bench or crafts anvils." He also says, That the Columbus Forge and Iron Company (maker of Trenton anvils) had several names of anvils sold to places such as Montgomery Ward, Sears and Roebuck etc. One of them was Phoenix. So Your question begs the question, Which Phoenix is it? Phoenix Hardware Manufacturing Company of Buffalo NY or Phoenix by Columbus Forge and Iron Company. Postman also goes on to say that the Trenton name can often be seen as well as the other "Brand X" name like Acme, Ajax, Derby, Indian Chief and many more.

Please forgive my ignorance, but what is G10 made from? Assuming the binder is an acrylic but what is the material being bound?

At the risk of sounding gross, more particles get trapped in your snots while breathing through nose than goes down your throat and you probably swallow that without even knowing. So, if you aren't going to wear a respirator, best practice is to keep mouth shut. Blew out lots and lots of black boogers from welding smoke over the years and no lung problems to my knowledge. YMMV ;)

^_^ I feel your pain!

................... I know you want to temper immediately after hardening so would washing even in hot water hinder the HT process? My apologies if anyone tried this with poor results.........................

Scott

Sooooooo, would it??

You cannot have too many tongs and you learn a lot of different techniques making them, Even if you first project is tongs, they make a great second, third, forth(?) project, Besides the good practice, they increase your arsenal of smithing tools

I believe I first met him on af many years ago, My condolences to his family

I love it!!

Now why didn't I think of that? :P

I cant explain it in metallurgical terms but I believe its the carbon itself that allows iron/steel to be cast. Wrought iron won't cast BECAUSE of its low carbon content. Confirmations / oppositions?

I weld only the handle/tong end then wrap the rest of the billet with tie wire (black annealed wire for rebar ) Using mig wire doesn't offer the flex and twistability as well as being more expensive. Then, as I weld from the handle end, flux can be forced out of the non-welded edges as its hammered