Trollhammer

According to my step-father, he has first hand knowledge of a tank exploding. At one of the plants he used to call on(Amoco, Nutrasweet, ADM, International Paper...one of those) a guy was in the shop straddling a tank with a torch. He's not sure what the guy was attempting, but he and the crew he was with heard an explosion, and the tank was gone, and the guy was falling back to the floor...dead before he hit apparently. The tank went through the ceiling, the guy did not. He swears up and down this is true, and judging by his reaction to catching me cutting the top off of a 55gal steel drum with previously unidentifiable contents, I'd be apt to believe him. Either way, even if it is simply a myth, the possible risk is enough to keep me from doing that again unless absolutely neccessary...with proper precautions. I've gotten away with far too much that could've/should've killed me, I don't need to tempt fate any further. Mickey

My bernzomatic mapp/oxy did that when I ran out of mapp gas and attempted to use propane. It runs perfect with a bottle of mapp, but for some reason the propane misbehaved horribly. I finally gave up and got some more mapp gas. I heard somewhere that with propane, its difficult to get a consistant flame until the torch is heated up a bit. I've never seen this myself though. I think it was on Lionel Oliver's site. I'll post a link if I find it. Mickey

I wondered how I could get that yellowness out of it other than through wear and sweat! I too use the HF weldor's apron. I paid $10 and it came with the apron, elbow length gloves, and a leather pouch for holding rods. I haven't found a use for the pouch yet. NOS is right though, that yellow dye will ruin clothing and the leather also leaves little leather fuzz balls all over everything. I never thought to wash it. (slaps forehead) Mickey

I've always just used eye-bolts screwed into the over head joists. I did this in an apartment I lived in in Orlando, and it did manage to shake the whole apartment. It was a three story apartment, and I was on the second floor. The upstairs neighbors claimed that I was knocking stuff off of walls and shelves. I wonder if brackets rather than eye-bolts would have eliminated that...given it a better anchor. Mickey

Has anyone on here tried using those little 'wood pellets'? I've seen 'em in the Northern Tool catalog with alternate energy furnace type deals. I seem to remember a bag of 'em was pretty cheap. Mickey

I built mine using a 24"x36" service cart from Harbour Freight. I cut a hole in it for the fire pot, then lined it with 2" of homemade refractory. The blower is an a giant industrial 4-speed squirrel cage. It had far too much blast, so when my little brother was on leave from Iraq, he built an airgate for it. It works pretty good. I didn't buy the fire pot; I welded it up from 1/4" mild plate from Home Depot. The cart came with a push handle on one end, and I use that as a tool rack for the hammers, tongs, etc. that I'm using at the time. There are a couple of things that I'll do differently on the next one, but overall, it turned out pretty well. It was definitely an educational experience, and its very functional. Mickey

Quenchcrack, you're right , that stuff is really expensive. I hadn't ordered anything from them for a couple of years, and looked 'em up last night. Geez! Especially for the novelty rounds. I guess I won't be gettting anymore of those, since any extra cash I have is being funneled directly back into my addiction...er I mean blacksmithing. Mickey

I don't have much of a problem with people snooping about my place after the last kid I caught in the yard. Apparently he warned his buddies and they keep a wide berth of my little kingdom. I'm carry a concealed weapon at all times, have a .45 on my truck seat, a 9mm in my desk drawer at work, and a pile for rifles and shotguns in easy access. I've never had to actually fire any of them in self-defense, but my .45LC sure put the fear in some hood rats downtown once or twice. I guess staring down a barrel that's almost as big as your thumb isn't much fun. There are alternitives to regular ammo. There's a company that sells 'less than lethal' ammo. Bean bags, rubber bullets, rubber shot, etc. The catalog I have is from Firequest, I think, and they have 12gauge, 45, and 9mm...I think. I can't remember all the details. They also have the oddball rounds for 12gauge, such as: flechette, bolos, flamethrower, capsicum, etc. The flamethrowers and exploding rounds are loads of fun at BBQ's. Mickey

A multi-meter with a Type K Thermocouple. Just check the temperature range and make sure it'll cover what you want. Also, check to see if its Fahrenheit or Celsius...the ones that I've found did one or the other but not both. Mickey

My day job provides me with plastic 55, 30, 25, 15, and 5 gallon barrels/buckets. I just cut the tops off and rinse 'em out. They're easy to move in and outside, and keeps my shop partner from throwing a fit about the stuff laying around the shop or the yard. Mickey

Take a piece of copper water pipe, cut down one side, and unroll it flat. Door plates work pretty good too. The ones I've found are usually brass, and a bit thicker than water pipe. I believe there's an online site that sells sheet brass and copper too. I can't remember the name right off hand though. You could probably get away doing it with a hole saw and file the pilot hole square. Or punch the center out rather than filing it square. Mickey

I used some 1/4" brass rods from Home Depot to make wings for a mild steel bodied dragonfly. I took multiple attempts to avoid blobs of molten brass on the floor of the brickpile, but I did eventually get it to work. I had to pay real close attention to the colour and how the stock started sagging. In my attempts, if it started sagging and acting like play-dough, it was too late. I finished the charcoal forge a couple of weeks ago, and tried the same process...very unsuccessfully. I lost a lot of brass and didn't get anything done. I shut everything down early and in complete disgust and decided that brass was better done in a gasser, with vigilant observation...at least with my limited experience and skill. Mickey

If you're using propane for home heat and have a large tank in the yard, would it be possible to hard pipe it to your forge? My shop has a LPG furnace with a big tank in the yard. I've been considering running a line to my regulator, and then using a 12ft hose from there to the burner. I'm assuming that you won't have the same issues with natural gas(incoming pressure being too low) that you would using the same tank as your furnace. Can anyone correct me on this? Mickey

Keykeeper, I didn't intend to try calling you out. I 'm in total agreement with you on the courtesy aspect. I'll drop a skater behaving badly in a second and not feel bad about it in the slightest. I was too quick to rise up in defense. In my area, skating is pretty much criminalized, no matter where you skate. I do like the idea of changing shapes and profiles. That was kind of where I was going with a loosely wrapped coil around the hand rail...it would provide more grip, look good, be low profile, and keep skaters from even attempting to use it. Mickey

I've skated for close on to 18 years, and always found a way and a place to skate if I really wanted to. I also respected other folks property. I asked before I skated on private property, and would leave with no hard feelings when asked to stop skating on sidewalks and curbs in front of businesses. I'm probably not the norm when it comes to skaters, but there are others like me out there. I don't really see it as succumbing to the trespass of skaters. The church wants something and the skaters want something. The inability of all groups to work together for a better solution or compromise is why our society is going down the tubes, not a single group on either side of the table. There are some really shady folks in the skating community; I'll be the first to admit that, but that goes to both sides as well. Anyways, as to the original question...nubs work really well to stop skaters. Another option would be to take some round stock and make a coil the length of the rail. Space the coils out about the width of the deck and the edges of the board will hit this when they try to grind, effectively stopping the board, skater and all. Mickey

I would think that no matter what your fuel is, you don't want to forge in an enclosed space. If I'm off on that, please let me know. You could build a stationary hood that is vented to the outside. Build your forges on wheels and you can roll the one you're using under the hood, whether it's propane or coal/charcoal. Mickey

I'm still pretty new to this, but here are my methods. I wonder around antique stores, knick-knack stores, craft stores, etc. If I see something I like, or looks interesting, I'll take a pic of it with my cell phone. When I get to the house, I'll draw up my own sketch of the piece and try to formulate a plan to get from bar stock to finished product. I use modeling clay alot! Then, and only then, after I've looked at it from the perspective of someone who is a complete infant in the world of metalwork(and completely ignorant of it as well) I'll go through the Blue Prints section on here and the Iforge pages on anvilefire.com to get more ideas. I try to do this so that I'm looking at the process without the prejudices that sometimes arise from knowing what you're doing. Everynow and then I succeed; more often, I fail...miserably. But my failures are also really good reminders of what not to do. Mickey

I just finished my coal forge the other day, and I tried a bag of generic briquettes from Publix for my first lighting. I pushed a 1/4" rod in the fire just to see how hot it would get after it had a good bed. After 6 minutes, most of the bar that was in the fire was gone. The second light was with Royal Oak Charcoal, and I didn't really notice a difference, except that the Royal Oak burned a whole lot faster than the Publix brand briquettes. Mickey

So far, I've been pretty lucky. My shop is zoned commercial and butts up on two sides to residences, the back side is to another commercial property, and across the street is the local high school. The folks that actually live around my shop are elderly, and from the day I got my building, I've been running over to cut trees for them, carry groceries, plumbing work, etc. I had the property for over a year before I ever did any forging, so I figured I'd go ahead and build up some credit and let them get to know me before I did anything questionable. As it turns out, the business that was here before me was a cabinet shop that ran 3 shifts a day. So far, all my neighbors are simply happy that the cabinet shop is gone. I'm not sure that they're even aware of what goes on over the fence. There really wouldn't be much that they could do if they did get irritated by it, but I always figure that its less of a hassle to keep the peace than rock the boat. Mickey

Wow, that's ridiculous. I was just having a conversation with my step-father about how it seems that you almost have to be crooked and shady to make money anymore. The conversation was in regards to credit card processing companies, but I notice the same trend with a whole lot of other businesses. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of honesty and dignity left with a lot of business owners. Mickey

On the way back from Indiana this weekend, I stopped by an antique store somewhere in KY to see if they had anything lying around. When the proprietor asked me what I was looking for, I told him old tools and such. As he led me back to his tool section, he informed me that all tools at auctions are going up in cost, so its costing him more to keep them in stock. He presented me with a barrel of old tongs that were mangled and rusted beyond use and told me that each set was $22. I then noticed an anvil sitting on the floor, it was about 50 pounds. It was steel, but had no markings on it, and I could pick it up with one arm. He claimed that it was especially rare and wouldn't take less than $250 for it. The edges looked like they were chewed upon by a psychotic terrier. All in all, it may have been usable, but it seems to me that the price was a bit high. Is this pretty common with antique dealers? Are they actually failed car salesmen that couldn't find a job anywhere else? No offense to any car salesmen on here! ;)

Looks like a lot of fun! Wish I could've scheduled the next Indiana trip a little earlier and made it to that. Mickey

Mike BR: No, you're not the only one that's happened to. My wire wheel on the bench grinder unleases the fury on my and if I'm not wearing leather from head to toe, I'll be pulling little wires out of all kinds of uncomfortable places. Once had one stuck in the webbing where the top of the ear meets the head. I thought it was a splinter and pulled out a quarter inch long wire right out of the skin. My girlfriend got sick watching me do it. Mickey

JNixon1108: I use that same recipe for all of my refractory, and it works really well. I made a brick mold and used it to make all the bricks for my brick-pile gasser. Its also the table top for my coal forge that I'm making now. Its an amazing recipe...cheap too! Mickey

I don't want to hijack this thread, but was Lord Haw Haw where Kurt Vonnegut got the idea for his book "Mother Night" and the main character of Howard W. Campbell, The Last Free American? Mickey