hill.josh

thanks ALOT for all the info Woody and Ted. This probably kept me from getting some lung disease or breathing disorder.. I was wondering if i were to set up something kinda like a scuba system just drawing air from the outside and pushing the contaminated air out the other direction. Any ideas about that? in case I were to need to weld in a closed space. And as well I live in the middle of suburbia so is there any risk of messing other people up? cause that would suck.

So far as i know its possible to get a gas forge as hot as a charcoal forge with atmospheric.. never been able to do that but my gasser is not exactly well built either, I can get a yellow color from it though. Heres the link to the site I used to build mine. the burner is a little past midway down, under "homebuilt propane burners". I think if you put a little effort into this it would be more than sufficient. melting metal in a home foundry, backyard metalcasting, metal casting

Does anyone know which type of welding respirator to use? I'm not a heavy welder obviously.. if that helps. Just figured breathing in the fumes isn't a great idea haha. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

yea that answers it. thanks for the help

ok I got a question. What about standard welding helmets in terms of protection? i use a shade 10 I think? but I have slightly dry itchy feeling eyes after welding and couldn't exactly understand what the article was saying about that. Is it caused by the UV? and is it bad?

keep an eye on it.. or don't let it heat for long. you can use a dull red heat to remove marks and other small screwups. just lightly hammer it, all your doing is moving the face of the metal not really forging even black usually has enough heat for this

If you ever find an aluminum "blade" keep it for a cutting plate so you don't mess your anvil face up with chisels

no problem man. check out metalsupermarkets.com its where i get alot of steel.. and they are everywhere other than that its rebar from homedepot.. or whenever i see somethin laying around on the road... or if someones throwing away an old bed frame or somethin. but probably wanna ask first on that

what materials are you talking about? the refractorys? you can use what they were saying in the link.. or you can use a mix thats 3 parts sand to 1 part portland cement which can take more knocks when you accidentally hit the side of the forge or stab it too deep into the fire. And I know people say it will "blow up" or spall, Ive never had the problem though and its been used right after it was rained on. Maybe its God's protection? I don't know. Just make sure there arn't any pockets of air in it when you make it and you should be covered.

ok since no ones given a step by step.. first prepare the scarf and sometimes i grind the piece clean if it has alot of scale but thats not a normal step for me. I stick it in the fire bring it to an orange heat and put on the flux. (i use brazing borax that isn't anyhydrous) not to much though just enough to cover the metal then bring it up to welding temp which for me isn't based on color but when i see sparks dancing on the metal. Then i take it out quickly but don't rest the steel on your anvil until you are goin to hit it otherwise the heat will be sucked out of it.. and tap it lightly with my normal forging hammer. after the welding heat is gone i lightly hammer it reaches dull red because the welding distorts the grain of the steel and the hammering restores it, making it stronger. I was told by a blacksmith of 17 years not to go on to the next step until the first is perfect. I think it applies here too.

the wok is a great idea.. but the fire will eventually burn through it so you might wanna cover it with some mud, and make a smaller bowl out of it. somethin like 6-8in. dia. if you find you need a bigger firepot just get rid of some of the mud and might want a valve of some sorts to control air flow. i'll try and get some pictures up of one ive got but other than that you look like your good to go. you could shorten the pipe alot and use pvc if you haven't bought it yet too.

Avadon, I just use brazing borax from home depot in the soldering section.. it works pretty good for me. Or at least i think so, I get about a 95% sucess rate with it. Only thing I've ever used though..

The only problem I've ever had with forge welding is not getting it hot enough on the inside because if it doesn't soak long enough it loses it's heat to fast just moving from the forge to the anvil.. and thats what it sounds like to me. There might be something in the steel (im not an expert but) i do have alot more trouble welding rebar than higher quality steels...

what do you mean by loading the cutting edges?.. keeping them covered in the oil?

thanks alot for the info.. i probably would've screwed up alot of drill bits without it. actually i definatly would've

I'm drilling with a drill press.. and they're metal/wood bits i think? and im also probably only gonna be drilling lower carbon steels and structural aluminum thanks for all the replys guys

I wanted to know what was the best lube for drilling? and if i should use different ones for different speeds

id sell it or if its in bad condition.. cast it into something, given you have a strong forge and at least get a lil experience and maybe somethin usable

you could just use your vise to hold the hardie tools... until you get a "real" anvil if thats what your planning. or you can take a piece of square tube for whatever size you choose and set in a piece of 12x12 reinforced concrete also with a sheet steel box and use that for awhile but thats only temporary with heavy hammering. not sure if thats what you wanted to know but no one seems to have mentioned it

ok that sounds kinda familiar.. i might come up there sometime but i would definatly pay you. i'm in johns creek... which is a suburb north of atlanta and i will check out the abs stuff.

count me as one.. I'm 15and been at it seriously for about a year and Larry where is your shop/classes at?

Its 1/2in. But i was thinking about not using one and just building up a "firepot" with whatever insulation since the iron firepot would suck up alot of heat

I'm building my first coal/charcoal forge and wanted to know how i should line it? i read the other forum posts about the fireplace mix and sawdust/clay mix but figured if i knew more it wouldn't hurt. Any help would be greatly appreciated.