Latticino

I suspect the multiport openings, abrupt change in direction at the connection to the burner head, and potential baffle inside the burner head will also contribute to friction losses and loss of induction as well. There should be a bit of turbulence in that head which will help with mixing, so experimenting with a shorter mixing tube might be worth consideration.

Actually Frosty, my multi-port burners have all been made for forced air burners, not naturally aspirated. I think you must be remembering someone else. I recall that someone was trying one of those "shower head" style burner outlets with countless small outlets, and it worked fairly well, but haven't heard anything regarding it recently. As Frosty says, it does look a bit rich. Might still be volatiles burning off from the refractory, sometimes that takes a while. If not, you may have to go through the experimentation stage to properly tune your burner to the multiport outlet. I can't be too much help there as most of my design experience is with forced air burners (though I certainly have used plenty of the latter type).

It was just a little laugh at something that obviously somehow made it past the editors. The balance of the article was written pretty well for someone who only has a passing understanding of black and bladesmithing. I read it all, and am a fan of Mr. Kramer's as well (have his book). I've never touched one of his knives, but expect they are quite good. I agree that there are certainly others that make extremely good knives as well, and get a fraction of the credit. Thanks for sharing the article.

Well, I got up to this line so far and was a bit confused: "The standard blacksmithing image has the smith beating the red metal with a hammer at this point; while many still do this, to eliminate bubbles and other irregularities, it’s seldom necessary with today’s industrially rolled steel". Instead the author notes that Kramer does an initial normalizing heat and drops his sawed out blank on the floor... I think he needs an editor, but maybe I just haven't been at this long enough to experience bubbles in my steel that can be removed by pounding on them.

I think it is "Thank You Very Much"

I met Anna quite a few years ago now when I took my first sword making class at Peter's Valley. We were both students there at the time, but she has been more full time involved with smithing than I (not to mention much younger) and I've been very impressed to follow her progress over the years. She is certainly a welcome addition to the shop there. Very hands-on and supportive. Since you haven't been to the shop I'll give you some of my impressions from when I was last there (I think it was 2 years ago now, so some things may have changed): The shop itself is fairly well setup with coal forges, but the one pretty rudimentary gas forge is adequate at best. They have pretty low ceilings and kind of cramped conditions if you are used to Touchstone, NESM, or Arc and Flame, but it is certainly workable. With all forges going it gets quite hot in the shop, so setting up cross ventilation with pedestal fans is a must, and the working window locations are prime real estate. Green coal is delivered in a large pile outside the shop and is typically at least damp, but that isn't a big deal really. One sizable power hammer in the main shop and a smaller mechanical one in the front room that is rarely used. Probably a non-issue for a beginner class. There is a pair of treadle hammers that work well (I think one inline and one swing arm) as well as a fair assortment of hand tools, post vises, swage blocks... Anna is a good tong maker, so I suspect she has continued to add to their stock there. The valley itself is quite lovely (bring water shoes and have Anna show you to the swimming hole), food served for lunch pretty good, and comradery with other shops great as well (though I have to admit I rarely left the blacksmith shop). Accommodations are in a number of older houses scattered through the valley that might be seen by some to be a little rustic, but I found them fine. Some of the rooms have a through window air conditioner, which can be welcome at the end of a long day forging. Kitchens are adequate and many attendees cook breakfast and dinner. There is a town a drive away with some restaurants if you want a treat. They usually have a fund raising auction at the end of the session, and most instructors and assistants contribute something. Last time I was there I contributed a forged and hafted hawk which went for around $100, so folks usually pay fair prices. Typically instructor pieces bring a premium, as the attendees like a souvenir.

Very nice, as usual. You will love teaching at Peter's Valley, and the students will be lucky to have you. I assume you have been there before, as you know about their tong limitations. Hope you don't get much rain and the consequent rivers running right through the middle of the shop. Seems to always happen when I go there for a class. Also typically end up losing a day due to power outages. I keep thinking I should bring down a hand crank blower with me to be able to keep working. Is Anna still the blacksmith shop director?

Looked a lot like a home-made plaster/sand mix refractory to me, glad you dodged that bullet. As noted the hard cast refractory is not a particularly good insulator, so your forge may not be extremely efficient, but it is a small forge, so may not be a big deal. Just be careful the galvanized can forge skin does not get heated to the point where it begins to smoke, particularly at the open end where there is no refractory. I'm sure you are aware already of the poisonous gas that will be released. Also, I would lean towards using a barbeque grille size tank and adjustable regulator if possible. You will likely get tired of replacing the smaller propane cans, and the tanks are more cost effective. Aside from that, Mike and the rest of the group have laid it out pretty effectively, so I don't have a lot to add. However, the one thing that you should consider is that the burner flame temperature isn't nearly as important as its heat output over time (typically rated in BTUH or MBH here in the states). Flame temperatures are typically a bunch hotter than the temperature of the forge interior. For the latter you should be aiming at least to get to a yellow orange color. Yellow-white is even better if you plan on forge welding, but you certainly won't need that for basic forging of "simple" steels.

Options in order of relative cost: Cheapest (and potentially good quality if you know what to look for): Garage Sales and Flea Markets Harbor Freight: only have crosspeens at 3 LBS, which is a bit much for a beginner and the head attachments and steel quality/heat treatment are questionable (I use mine for driving punches so I don't ruin the face of one of my good forging hammers) Big Box Hardware stores; Typically only have hammers with either integral steel handles (Estwing style) or fiberglass (I would avoid these) Blacksmith supply houses (Blacksmith Depot has a wide variety of forging hammers from $35 French hammers to custom forged hammers at over $175) Forge your own (not really a beginner project, but with guidance from a mentor...). Nothing beats using tools you make yourself IMHO.

OK, as you appear to be fishing for constructive criticism, here goes: Things I like: General fit and finish (Liners, pins, handle surface finish...) Well blended grind with no plunge line or riccasso (my aesthetic preference for kitchen knives, but can be a challenge to execute well) Material selection for blade and handle Bevel at front of handle Knife profile (but see below) Things I think could use further refinement (hard to tell from photos in some cases, but I'm making assumptions): Brut de Forge section at top of blade is irregular and doesn't look intentional Jimping on spine is well executed, but I can't see the purpose it serves on a blade of this type. The balance of the design is aggressively functional, so all elements should match IMHO Handle could be a slight bit more ovoid for improved indexing I think adding distal taper for the tang is a nice touch for both aesthetics and balance in hand. YMMV Hard to tell from photos, but could be a "knuckle-bumper" when using to cut on a board.

I would assume the main drawback would be cost. I suspect if you factor in the minimum 25% material loss that will be required to machine an anvil shape out of a steel block, the wear and tear on the equipment and tooling, labor cost, shipping and the cost to heat treat, a cast H-13 anvil from Holland will start to look pretty attractive. If you are just doing heavy work, you might want to consider just getting a block anvil and grinding some radiuses on the top (ala Brian Brazeal).

Never really got to meet him in person (only saw him from afar at the one Quad-State I attended), but have enjoyed corresponding with him over the years here on IFI. I will miss his wit and wisdom.

Looks like a French "pig" style anvil to me. Unfortunately these anvils weren't made exclusively in France, so unless someone else can decrypt the logo or manufacturer's name you may be in trouble there. There are a number of anvil groups on Facebook that may be helpful. Went to the Canary Islands for the first leg of my honeymoon over 30 years ago. Beautiful place, fantastic seafood.

I have used Super Quench on "HC" rail spike knives and picked up a little bit of surface hardness. It is not very deep, and you certainly can't temper. You have to be pretty much to final crossection before you quench. Any surface grinding after that will get rid of that hard layer, so it really isn't of much use to make a high quality knife. Nice gimmick though, and those I've given blades to seem to appreciate them. I batoned a recent one into a random piece of 1/4" mild stock and cut into it a couple of hammer blows with relatively minor glinting on the edge.

I'm with Steve on this one not being optimized for blade grinding. Quick impressions: 1/2 HP motor is too small (even 1 HP is a bit underpowered IMHO) Drive wheel is too small diameter for a 1,750 RPM motor and effective steel grinding Vinyl faced particle board wooden table it is affixed to is not ideal for grinding metal where you get both sparks and cooling water. If it is actually holding the drive and tension wheels and they go out of alignment a little, tracking becomes difficult. No info in the photo on how the sanding belt gets tensioned or tracking adjustments. Good systems for these are critical for a belt grinder. Wood platten won't last long aggressively grinding blades. Flat plattens are critical Horizontal belt configuration has limited use in blade making Aluminum wheels shouldn't be used as contact wheels, so less useful for grinding curves Better than nothing, but expect to do a lot of modification. Personally I would pass.

One version of an ambidextrous anvil:

It isn't really supposed to stick as much as provide a self supporting inner liner that the refractory blanket is packed around. Just read up a little on how to install it. The quantity of water needed is pretty critical, and a lot less than you would expect. It also needs to dry slowly, over days, so wrap the entire assembly in plastic after the casting is tamped down into place.

Kastolite is a significantly better forge lining than any of the others you are listing. I sincerely doubt that mixing satanite with it will give it any additional bonding capability. The key is learning how to install the Kastolite correctly. As stated many times before, it is best cast as a monolithic shell into a form (not troweled or painted on in thin layers). In my experience you should avoid any rapid transitions of crossection and stick to minimum thickness of around 3/4" for ease of construction. I would be sure to properly rigidize the existing ceramic blanket, which will help keep it from getting compressed too much during the casting. Then you just have to build an inner form to cast against. I've even made these out of cardboard taped together. It doesn't have to be amazing, just strong enough to hold up till the castable sets. I would build an inner form and cast it on end (vertically). Don't forget to leave a port for your burner. Note that while kastolite will add to the forge's insulation layer, it will also add thermal mass, so the forge will heat up more slowly (but likely to a higher final temperature, if all is done properly).

Sorry, that is easiest figuring from testing. A lot would depend on your burner configuration, gas port size, location of your pressure gauge, mixing tube size and length... Then I'd have to do the combustion calculations, and that is too much like work. I'm afraid when you build a custom burner a certain amount of personal experimentation is required.

Start by heat curing the refractory. In that size forge outgassing during curing can be a problem (particularly in your burner block). Variable speed can be a little difficult to achieve depending on motor type. Waste gates are easier. Still you definitely need a method of modulating both the gas and propane flowrates. Another potential problem is if you don't have enough of a door opening to exhaust the fumes (combustion products). I don't think this is an issue for you, but it is hard to tell. How does the burner operate outside the forge?

Afraid I must respectfully disagree with my colleagues on this one. Looking at the video it appears you are running a blown burner with a multi-port burner block. I do agree that the burner may be overkill for the size of the forge interior (as I have posted before, there is a minimum forge volume that burners can tolerate for full development and effectiveness of flame), but I'm not certain that is what is going on here. The flame with the forge quite cold looks like it may be already lifting off the face of the burner block. This is an unstable burn condition. I recommend starting heating your forge at a much lower air/gas mixture flowrate (choke the air and reduce the gas pressure with your adjustable regulator) where the bottom of the flame stays properly attached. Try turning it up only after the forge begins to glow. This may not solve the issue, but it will at least give you more data points. You may also want to tweak your air/gas mixture proportion. At least worth a try before you give up on the forge. Also, are you certain the refractory is fully cured? If it is still outgassing you could still have a problem related to that.

Just make sure your new motor has a TEFC or Washdown enclosure to keep out the grinder dust. Be a shame to spend $ on the modification to end up with a fried motor after some use. If I were spending to replace a 2 x 72 grinder motor I wouldn't settle for less than 1.5 HP, and might even prefer going up to 2 HP. Also be sure to check the motor RPM on the current unit to be sure you match that as closely as possible (1,750, 3,600...). When you contact Bader, you might also want to see if they have a drive wheel for sale that will fit on the new motor (or you may also be able to source one as an aftermarket purchase that could be less than the cost of the materials and your time to manufacture). You could even consider a larger diameter, which would give you more belt speed at the top end. Bushings are certainly an alternative as well, depending on the relative shaft size.

Older anvil, most likely the numbers are the anvil weight in the "English Hundredweight" system 1-0-16 = 128 lbs. Would be pretty hard to determine a manufacturer, but it certainly has some characteristics of a Mousehole - which are typically thought of a good quality for that time. I expect it is a wrought iron body with a forge welded on top plate of high carbon steel. Typically these plates on older anvils are pretty thin, and the very top surface has been work hardened by a century of hammering. It appears to be in usable condition as is, so I would avoid any surface grinding which will likely remove this hardened layer and lessen the value and usability of the anvil. As for price, that is a tough one. From what I'm seeing the anvil "bubble" has slowed down a bit, but some areas still have crazy prices. If you want to sell quickly, 2 to 3 $/lb should find a buyer pretty quickly. Under ideal conditions you might get 4 to 5 $/lb, but you will likely have to be patient. You say you recently bought it. What did you pay?

You know, I looked at the one I have and I can just about see some artifacts that look like they may be from small fill welds. I think I'll still keep it and see how it performs. I've worked on some anvils in the past with minor plug welds, and never really noticed any problems. I've been wanting to try a double horn for a while, and where else can you get one for $150?

I recently picked one up as a cheap, light, anvil to take to hammer-ins. Now I'll have to inspect it more carefully. Looked OK when I unboxed it, but I didn't study it in detail under good lighting. I'll be pretty disappointed if it has the same defects.