Latticino

Or you could always go the easy route and pick up a 1 1/2" short nipple (say 3" or so) and a Fernco fitting (rubber no-hub drainage fitting with two hose clamps) to suite the nipple and the blower outlet. A perfect connection doesn't need to be made and you get the added plus of vibration isolation. Of course you have to mount your blower, but I hope you were going to do that anyway. I plan to upgrade from my slip fitting to a 2" pipe on my next build to a Fernco style fitting for just that. Probably costs less than your time in fabricating a steel fitting to suite, though you certainly could if you already had a working forge (be pretty easy out of a 6" long similar pipe nipple. Note that a gate valve will not work as well as a butterfly valve: though the right type can be difficult to source.

I wouldn't do that. The whole reason for the needles is to hold the refractory together if/when it cracks due to thermal cycling. A separate layer would defeat that purpose.

Cute puppy. Ports look good, though you may find them a little long. The dragons breath coming out will heat them up and the door closures at the front will add their volume to your forge chamber (from a capacity standpoint). The extended shelf is nice for supporting stock, but you may find that you want to cut the other three sides down to a 2" length (or consider the cast burner port shown in another topic in this forum). Where is your burner port and burner support? Looks like you have plenty of space above your kitty litter layer and below the openings to put in the burner. I'm still not certain why Don designed this vertical forge with so much "unused" space, but am willing to be educated. Shorter needles look good to me, though I think the ones I used were somewhere in between the sizes you have. In my experience these needles are a real bear to mix into the refractory, but do help in strength and longevity. Strangely any left exposed on the surface burn away, so make sure that they are all well covered with refractory when you do your casting.

I'm not an electrician, but here are a couple of things I would do to this one. First I would attempt to determine whether the switch had failed or the motor. That should be as easy as getting a power cord wired directly to the motor, plugging it into one of the ubiquitous switched power strips we all have around these days, keeping all body parts far away from the fan in case there is a short, and turning the power strip on. If the fan spins, replace the switch. Of course you could just also test the switch with a continuity tester, but based on your previous questions I'm not sure you would have one. If the fan spins rewire same through a new toggle switch switching the hot lead (hopefully you know how to identify the hot and neutral leads of an AC circuit, if not get a basic wiring manual and learn this before going any further). Make sure before use to check the metal fan casing and ensure that it isn't shorted to power to avoid future shocks. If the motor doesn't spin in the previous test, then it needs to be repaired or replaced. A Volt Ohm meter might help in determining if the motor wiring has shorted (a distinct possibility given the signs of burning insulation you noted and the gradual slowing down the previous owner mentioned). I'm not sure if these old motors had starter capacitors like newer ones. If it does a simple capacitor replacement might do it. I assume that you have already checked to see that the fan blades rotate smoothly without being powered to eliminate the chance that the bearing are seized? That is all I got. Hopefully a real electrician like Steve can chime in and assist.

Someone at Quad State was selling old wooden bobbins to use as file handles. Thought it was an elegant solution myself, but for some reason didn't buy any. They looked just like these:

Not familiar with the "red" power hammer, though it does appear to be a version of an Oliver style to me. Can't watch the video at this point, but from the photo the anvil section looks pretty light duty (unless solidly steel stock which the exposed bolt heads appear to contradict) and the head weight is light as well. Certainly would still be better for drawing out than by hand (though it won't compare to even a 25# Little Giant in my opinion), but I'd be very sure of my welding abilities before I stood in front of that hammer head. The other hammer is more properly termed a treadle hammer, not a power hammer. These are more typically used for punching, chasing, chiseling and the like than drawing out. That being said, I have a 4-bar one like the one pictured and love it. Have used it for some limited forging as well as the specific techniques listed above. Works well in combination with flatter and fullering tools, but again won't perform up to a true power hammer for drawing operations IMHO.

I was one of those guys. Ran into Tom on the last day, but he was being pulled along by someone and seemed to be on a mission, so I didn't get to chat. Many good deals also went with the auction (very nice, large, CI forge table with extremely smooth functioning Champion 400 hand blower for around $350, and another one in less good condition, but with two loose blowers for under $150). Weather was hot, but at least no rain. Along with a large range of anvils there were expensive swage blocks, both mechanical and air operated power hammers (one needing extensive repair went for around $500), a nice hydraulic press, gas forges, post drills, solid fuel forges, a huge array of both new and old hand tools, high carbon steel stock, knife making materials, books and belt grinders. I filled my car...

Hope I was clear with that comment. It is hard to describe in text, but a picture would do much better. I meant that the material should touch down initially in the center of the width of the billet, then be worked towards the outer edges. Some folks slightly crown their layers to assist with this. I was not referring to where to start welding along the length of the billet. The key is to get any flux or slag to migrate to the outside before the outer edges are welded. Good luck.

In a vertical forge the top of the forge will be the hottest location, needing the most insulation. Normally I would recommend (2) layers of your 1" board and at least an inch of cast refractory insulation. I'm a big fan of over-insulating my chambers to cut down on heat loss, but structurally the 2" isn't too far out of line depending on the eventual design of the keeper ring. However it will certainly add mass, so if you want a faster to heat forge I would go with the 2" of board, or 1" of board with 1" of blanket behind it, and 1" of castable insulation. Might want to consider adding some stainless needles to the latter for extra strength. If you are encapsulating the board with castable refractory insulation you should not need to also stiffen it. It comes pretty stiff from the factory. The water is to keep the board from sucking the moisture out of the cast insulation during the drying. A better method might be to use a layer of consumable wax paper between the layers and let it burn off during use. This is just theoretical though, I've never done it that way.

Personally I would fab up an inner ring of say 1/4" square stock, and weld it on the inside edge of the top of the lid. Then I'd put the cut board section, dampened, into the upside down lid and press it into place. I'd make a outer form around the upside down lid with sheet vinyl flooring material taped into a cylinder with duct tape. Then I'd cast the refractory insulation into the top section with it projecting out of the top at least 2". The refractory will hold the board in place since the fabricated ring will make a shelf to hold the refractory, and the slight overlap will protect the steel can. Remember the insulation of the forge interior will hold up the lid, and you should have ports in the side and not remove the lid unless relining the forge interior or replacing the kitty litter. Guess you could also use it for a casting forge, but I'd be careful with that.

Sounds like the OP has already made a couple of knives, so I certainly don't see why he shouldn't try for a forge welded patterned blade. Takes some boldness, but others have succeeded with forging up a successful billet the first time. Keeping clean surfaces, forge temperature and atmosphere control, and careful tacking before any major deformation is the key in my book. I know some don't use flux, but for a first billet I would recommend using it. Weld from the center section of the billet to the outside though to try to push the flux out and avoid inclusions. Before you go for a large billet it might be prudent to test your materials on a smaller one, with relatively low layering, just to see how hard they are to weld together and whether the stack hardens successfully. I would expect decent saws-all blades to be high carbon steel, but avoid any that have imbedded carbide teeth. In fact you might want to grind the teeth off altogether. For patterning you may want to include something with a bit of nickel in it as well as the saw blades, to get contrast. I think folks who are trying pattern welding on a budget often mix saw blades with pallet strapping material and truck leaf spring to get some nice contrast. Good luck

Don't have time right now for a full response, but here are a few notes: electronic control valves for piping certainly exist. Pneumatic to electric conversion is not essential, and even a bit out of date, though reaction times may be faster. Modulating control valves rated for gas service may be expensive though. I am more familiar with those for hydronics. Usually they use a 4-20 MA signal or a 0-10 VDC signal for control. Control authority is necessary to approximate the linear response you are looking for in the action to valve feedback loop. This linear response is not critical (see below), but it does make things easier. Typically this is done by reducing the valve diameter one pipe size relative to the supply line (i.e. if you are supplying at 3/4" your control valve is 1/2"). For gas it may be easier to have an "idle" circuit with a low level bleed serving your burner (manual valve and needle valve) and a "power" circuit with a high level bleed. Both go into your single burner and the controller modulates between high and low fire rates based on feedback. Actually I would recommend use of a proportional "zero pressure" regulator that keeps the gas and air mixture in the same proportion regardless of combined flow rate (within reasonable ranges). Then you modulate the air to low and high flow rates and the gas follows suit. Modulating air valves are much easier to acquire (and safer to use). If you are only using a linear response feedback loop from a PID controller you have it configured incorrectly. Do some reading on Proportional/Integral/Derivative feedback control. Sounds to me like you have your constants set incorrectly and are experiencing overshoot. Setting constants up correctly is something of an art, but newer controllers have autotune capabilities that may make this easier. Unless you are trying to reinvent the wheel programming your own controller sounds like a waste of time to me. Programmable PID controllers for temperature control with ramp and soak functions are pretty available and cheap these days. Thermal mass in the object to be controlled will make the response slower and more stable. Generally speaking you need to have the heat source well sized for the volume and mass being heated to permit accurate and converging control strategies.

As another data point, and not to minimize the importance of Frosty's testing in any way, Ransome style NA burners have been used with multi port burner heads for many years . Please see Dudley Gibberson's site for more detail.

This sounds like a medical issue, and I'm not going to touch that with a 10' pole. However there is a chance that you may have irritated your throat when relining the forge if proper PPE was not worn during the operation. Also, as far as I know ITC does not act as a fiber sealant, you should have used rigidizer first. If your forge is getting hotter, there may be more friable glass fibers in the air, these should be avoided. Get a CO monitor before doing any more forging!

Speculation as well, but how about painting...Could have just been painted below the waist.

No idea on brand, sorry, but that sure is a big one in what appears to be excellent condition. The cast stand is particularly nice as well. Good luck

Bubble alumina is expensive per unit volume in my opinion. As previously stated, many times, there are a number of ways to line a forge, compromises with each. My current favorite, for a conventional hobby forge, is : 2" 2600 deg blanket, skim coat of rigidizer, 1/2" - 3/4" of high alumina refractory insulation (kastolite 3000 or equal), loose casting of high alumina refractory (or Mizzou) in the major flux areas and for flame impingement (or split high alumina brick or high alumina kiln shelf. The bubble alumina can be used for the last coating indicated. Then if desired a final coating of some kind of IR reflecting material (not completely sure of the utility of the IR material, but folks I respect swear by it). As regards the non-toxic thing; must be a matter of fine definition. I certainly would wear a respirator and gloves when installing and up till full rigidizer coating. I have lung damage from not taking these precautions with high temperature blanket and urge everyone else to avoid this at all costs.

I may be totally off base, as I haven't seen the video, but from the photos I'm seeing a couple of questionable things: Looks like your flame is detaching from the front of your burner. As I understand it that means the gas/air mixture is moving too fast for the size of your burner outlet. If the mixture has the correct proportion, and I can't tell that from the photo, then you need less of each. If not enough air is being induced and mixed with the gas then you most likely need to increase the gas velocity with a smaller diameter orifice and position it properly. I'mnot that familiar with the burner design you are using. Perhaps you should contact the designer for advice? It takes a lot of time and experimentation to get a well tuned NA burner to work well. If this is your own design, be prepared to put in the work to get it right. How thick and what insulation have you used for your forge? Looks thin to me, but hard to tell I sure hope you removed the doors to show us the flame. Otherwise you are fighting a losing battle with those huge openings

Unless you plan on spending a fortune in fuel you need insulation in any case. You have a lot of options, all have their benefits and drawbacks. I'm certainly not going to catalog them all for you. A kiln shelf forge without additional insulation would be arguably worse than a hard brick forge. You would be better off with a torch.

Kiln shelf is pretty useless as an insulator. I'm also uncertain whether silicon carbide shelves will stand up to Flux. High alumina shelves are the recommendation. In any case if you use that much Flux I would cast a Mizzou inner floor liner and fill it with cheap kitty litter. Then make a second opening, could be the removable top, and clean it out periodically.

For those who are interested in learning more about sophisticated blown burner design there is a great free resource I just found: http://www.eclipsenet.com/products/eclipse_engineering_guide/ Eclipse does lean towards nozzle mix burners (which we typically don't use, they are efficient, but extremely loud) with all kinds of safety equipment, but there is still a wealth of info on everthing from controls to material selection for forge liners. Enjoy.

First, Don't be disappointed about a blown burner, they certainly aren't that hard to construct or use. I wouldn't write off your NA burner just yet either. The vertical forges I've seen have the openings at the approximate 2/3 point in the height of the forge. Really they didn't seem all that different from a horizontal forge, just with a deep well below the opening. Not 100 sure on the logic behind a preference for a forge like that, though I do remember reading something about it on the Don Fogg site back before I lost the connection there (as an aside, is there still some way of accessing that info, there was some great knifemaking info on the site). Anyway, I would certainly try your NA burner placed low, like Mikey has suggested, before switching to a blown burner. With a pass thru door at the 2/3 height, and a lid without a door in it (think in terms of a crown construction for that if possible), I don't see why the door openings would be that different from a conventional horizontal forge. Admittedly virtually all of the vertical forges I've seen use blown burners, but that doesn't mean you can't be the first to get a NA to work. Here is a picture of a particularly nice one (not mine): As regards the variable height baffle plate. I think that Mikey is considering someone using a casting melter , not a vertical forge, though I may be wrong. In any case, there is no way that threaded rod will hold up to the temperatures inside a forge (unless you are just using it for heat treating) if it is directly supporting the kiln shelf. If you have to have a variable height baffle, and I still don't understand the reason for that, I would support it from below with ceramic kiln stands. These can be stacked to make more or less height and will withstand the temperatures involved.

No I mean that the blower is connected to the steel pipe in an inefficient fashion. It should be rotated 180 degrees about the axis of the pipe at the connection point for best effect. I have posted an earlier photo of my forge, while it was still in development. Am in process of setting up a new one and will post when done. Probably won't help you through as I use industrial burner parts.

I have heard his theory before regarding the 1 inch thickness being better, but respectfully disagree. The portion of the lining that would reflect the heat is the inner surface. If the forge reaches say welding temperature, the inner surface of either a 1 inch or 2 inch thickness will be essentially the same temperature. The only difference is that the 1 inch thickness will lose more of that heat through the skin. Logically if the inner thickness reflects any of the heat, the more of that thickness you have the more heat reflected. Oh and his blower is 180 degrees rotated out of position. Set that way he loses close to 25 percent of capacity. A perfect example of "breaking the back" of the blower.

I prefer a regulator to control gas, with additional 1/4 turn ball valve for isolation. From what ive read, Ed seems to know his stuff, but don't know where he gets the 1 inch of blanket insulation is superior to two inches of thickness. That runs counter to my understanding of thermodynamic heat transfer and my interpretation of the manufacturer's published material specifications. Burner outlet design is critical to good stable performance. Please consider a ribbon burner. I can hook you up with a guy who sells them for around 70 bucks. If you don't know what or where to weld the gas connection, then you shouldn't be building a burner. Look at the link to the Fogg burner. It should be obvious from that. Note that your weld must be gas tight!