Jim Erickson

I dont have a jet in the burner, just a 3/4 Tee with the gas coming in one side and the air from the blower in the other. I would just fiddle with the blower speed and the ball valve on the gas side. I could adjust how hot it was that way. My thoughts are just barely turning the gas on until i get a flame similar to the natural gas.

I built a natural gas forge that runs off of the residential supply line that was ran to my garage. I used an old hair dryer for the blower, and I was able to forge weld and it performed everything I wanted it to do. But I am moving out of my house, and I wanted to bring my forge to work, and maybe use it there after hours. My question is can I use a 20lb propane tank as my fuel source, and still use the blower? I dont want to build another burner, just the same set up as before. Would I need a regulator that goes down to the 4-8psi range that was the same as my natural gas? Would an old grill regulator work for this purpose? Thanks guys.

I finished the second blade, hope you guys like it! Brass pins, aluminum bolster and butt. Forged 1095, some wood I got off eBay. I'm not sure what it is exactly.

At the end of the month, we are having a silent auction for my sister in law, she recently had some medical bills piling up due to cancer, so our community is raising some funds to help her family out. I have decided to donate two knives and a wine rack to add to the auction, this is the first knife Ive made that will hopefully be sold. I used a bit of etchant from my pattern welded steel to show the hamon, I'm not sure if this is the right way to highlight it, but I like how it turns out. The handle shape didnt come out quite how I wanted, but it feels good in the hand. Thanks for looking!

That box has been on the shelf since they opened the doors to that place. I always seems to wander over to that area whenever I'm in the store. That place is one notch up from Harbor Freight, a little better, but not much.

First off, thank you guys for the replies. I have about 25 feet of flexible pipe that I can roll my forge completely outside my walk in door or my roll ups. I got the knife pretty much finished, just need to put an edge on it and start using it.

I know how you guys all love pictures, so I snapped a few while I was working last night and this morning. This is pallet strapping and wire rope that are scraps from work. I like the idea of using things that are just going to get tossed instead of new. I know the wire rope is galvanized, but I rolled the forge near the door and let it burn off for awhile before I started hammering it. Just my forge, natural gas on a welding cart. Starting to hammer into shape. I had some inclusions I need to grind out a bit more, but I wanted to see the pattern I had so far. Ill post more when I get a bit further along. Any tips or comments would be greatly welcome. I read all of I can, but one the job training is the best for me, I learn more each time I fire up my forge.

The first knife is a 12 inch chef with a birds eye maple handle. I gave that one to my sister. The second is a 13 inch bowie with homemade denim micarta. This was also my first attempt at a hamon, it showed up pretty good on one side, but not so well on the other. Any questions or comments are greatly appreciated!

Fancy way of saying "Made in China?"

Yes, I did HT before I etched. The radio shack in the mall here isn't very well stocked, I will check out that website and get some ferric. I have one other piece of the billet left, gonna make a full tang next, Ill wait to etch until the ferric shows up. Thanks!

This is really the first success Ive had with damascus. The blade is 66 layers, with mokume and purpleheart handle. Had a hard time bringing out the pattern of the blade, but I just need to mess around with it a bit more. I used muriatic acid and a little bit of gun blue. Any comments or suggestions are always welcome! Thanks for looking!

I started with a stack of 8 quarters in 2 pieces of mild steel bolted together to squish them. It had some inclusions in it but what i ground down was the best part of what came out. Im still collecting tools I need to make knives. I figure one thing out and it turns out I need 4 different tools to do it how I want. Slowly but surely I guess. A drill press is next on the list I know that. The handle is maple with just some stain and a light wipe of linseed on it. Its all I had in the garage at 8pm on a Sunday night. I forged most of it, but I still do grinding after it is done. Grinding clean bevels is something Im having trouble with too. I made a jig, but my HF cheapo belt grinder didn't like it much. Needs a better porch for the jig to sit on. Now with my heat treat, I used clean motor oil that was heated to around 120 deg. I get the blade to past non magnetic, I'd say orange, not bright orange, but above red, and let it soak for about 5 minutes. I quench in the oil, pulling it out a couple times, and with up and down motion, not side to side. Wipe it off and into oven at 425 for an hour. It doesn't seem to be hard enough, but I just need to try more. This was the 3rd one Ive HT'ed. All this takes lots of practice. I'm just happy being out there working, even if things don't work right. Ill get a better pic of the tip for you Theo. Thanks!

So I put the nice steel I ordered online, and used my new anvil I purchased this weekend to work. Was my first try at mokume and still working out the kinks in my heat treat process. Overall I'm pretty happy with the results. I got a million questions, I just haven't ran across the answers in my reading of the knife making classes yet. I'll find them eventually. Hope you all like.

Wow, Thanks for the quick replies. It was advertised as 100 lbs, but I havent put it on a scale yet. I don't think it's quite that heavy, but we will see. Now that I know the maker, I'll do more research. Now for tomorrows project....a stand.

Just picked this baby up tonight, The seller told me it was a Williams Foster. The only markings I have found are the 2 logos on either side. I checked the bottom and under the horn for serial numbers, but haven't found any yet. Any info will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Thanks Frosty, moving it up worked great, the only thing I had to do was put an additional layer of insulation on the top to keep the flame inside the box. The steel I ordered should be here this week sometime, and the temps might actually be above zero for the first time this winter, the stars are aligning to get some time hammering!

The first pic is of the cool spot I have encountered in my new set up. It gets plenty hot all around it, but right below the nozzle seems to be cooler. I just fired it up tonight, but I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions or improvements I could make to make it better. I can post more pics if anyone needs to see more. The gas comes in through 12 pipe, then the hair dryer is 1 in, they combine and my nozzle down into the firebox is 3/4. I used a dimmer switch to control the speed of the blower. I'm thinking I just have the blower running to hard? It is not igniting until after it deflects off the firebrick? More testing is required, but I was hoping to have some suggestions before I start fiddling with it tomorrow. Thanks in advance for the help!

My second project from this weekend. I wasnt sure where I was going, I just kind of let it guide itself. It was a tap to start, fairly small and pretty easy to forge. After reading a bit about high speed steel, this must have hardened with just air. I learn more and more each time if forge, I cant get enough, I want to learn more!

Started life as a surplus drill bit, but I think it turned out pretty well I think. I haven't tried heat treating yet, I wanted to get a feel for most of the processes, from forging to grinding to making a handle. I enjoyed every part. Can't wait to start my next project. Any critiques or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for looking.

Hello everyone, just taking a minute to show a video of my natural gas forge and my rr track anvil that I have built. I just recently got the bug to start moving metal around and this is what I have came up with to start. I didnt want to drop alot of money to start with in case I didnt enjoy smithing, but even the process of building my equipment has been fun so far. Gonna start working on my first set of tongs if it ever warms up. It was -23 when I shot this video this morning here in Fargo, ND. Any comments on what I could do to improve my forge would be greatly appreciated. Im working on a door/porch for the front. Im not quite sure how to fit square fire bricks into a round hole, but Im sure I'll figure something out. This place has been a great resource for reading and getting ideas. Thank you everyone for all that you share and I hope to show some pictures of what I have made in the near future!