Latticino

I was talking about ribbons. I've used multiport burners (ribbon or similar) on blown systems in the past and can certify that they are typically quieter than single port systems. Haven't used a multiport burner tip on an NA system yet, but know that Dudley Giberson has one and expect that it would be quieter as well. The back pressure of the multiport head may change the induction capacity of the NA burner, so further design development may be required. Don't get me wrong. I like the convenience of a NA burner, but I like the ease of not having to fill propane tanks and the relative cost differential of natural gas even more. I also had a propane tank regulator failure in my gas grille the other week with flames shooting out of the top of the regulator (no idea how that happened, but the plug looked like it blew right off) that scared me silly. Fortunately I was able to spray it down to keep it cool and get a high temp glove to shut off the main tap. Each to his own.

Or noise, or gas line pressure (say if you are running low pressure natural gas instead of bottled propane), or if your local requires a safety system with a purge function...

Couple of scratches here and there, but they are not obtrusive. Nice form, pattern and burl. Bet it sells for you.

Sounds like a great candidate for a low carbon body hammer with forge welded tool steel facing. Grab some truck leaf spring and go to town.

Unfortunately both have been used as a standard abbreviation. However, these days (as counterintuitive as it seems) MBTU typically refers to thousands of BTU and MMBTU refers to millions. Also I believe that typically burner ratings are in BTUH (BTU per hour) or MBH (thousand BTU per hour). If you are in contact with the company, I would ask them for clarification.

Alan, Actually I was quite impressed with the design and analysis you have come up with. I am also not a huge fan of in flue extractors (as you can see if you read my posts). I've been forced to employ them for some large boiler room systems I've designed and typically find them finicky, difficult to tune properly, prone to failure and sensitive to control drift. I try to avoid them whenever I can, and that is when they are expensive industrial systems with unitary computer controls. It appears that you also understand the different challenges for a smith as regards solid fuel fired forges (which typically include some sort of capture hood) and gas forges (which often do not). With a properly designed hood and stack I'm definitely in favor of the natural chimney exhaust and directed makeup air that you advocate (as noted in my fist response to the OP). However with forges that don't include decent capture hoods I think that powered exhaust is the best choice, at least for the budget hobby smiths that appear to be the bulk of the members online here. Of course you can still direct your makeup air to advantage. In my old glass studio I built an insulated enclosure that confined my furnace and glory hole with reasonably small door openings to access the working ports. That entire enclosure was exhausted and the makeup air for the shop came in from a window and cooler parts of the facility. The only studio I've been in that was more comfortable is the one down at Corning that is air conditioned. Proper location of makeup air openings can make your life a lot easier, and a fan to direct that air where it serves best certainly helps as well. I'm flirting with the idea of designing a combination door system and slot extractor hood for a typical gas forge. Just a pipe dream right now, but I think it could be an interesting option.

Well, I am a ventilation professional, for what that is worth. The positive pressure system has both benefits and drawbacks. The former you have described well. Note however, that overall facility smoke or fume purge is not the target use of a blacksmith shop ventilation system. If you get contaminated that far you presumably have other problems. The more standard exhaust system (which incidentally is also used for atrium smoke control, a similar high ceiling space) is designed to extract fumes before they reach the breathing zone. The air replacement is still with clean air (provided your air inlets are not set adjacent to your exhaust), as all the air exhausted must be replaced by something. The key advantage for an exhaust system is that you can target the location of the air being exhausted. This isn't as much an issue if your only building opening is the hood above your forge (where positive pressure will work as you have described), but if you have a gas forge (as the OP indicated) you may not have a hood at all. In that case I still recommend that the smithy be exhausted from a high point (the roof fan selected is a good option) and ventilation openings be brought in at the code required high and low position. Note that some engineers even have high and low fume extraction systems (common for car maintenance shops for instance), but in this case your fumes should all be hot and rise up to the smithy peak. Please note that in my original post I indicated that the exhaust fan system can interfere with the chimney effect in a hooded forge and needs to be used with care primarily as a supplement for heat control. In this case the building openings need to be large enough to ensure that the makeup air preferentially enters via these openings (low static loss across the openings) and the stack should be drawing strongly before the exhaust is turned on. Also note that the 10 ACH is a good rule of thumb for the minimum to provide adequate ventilation. It is not a caveat and the code minimums for your area as regards combustion equipment ratings and occupied space ventilation requirements should still be followed. I personally have on the order of 30 ACH in my shop, utilize a passive turbine vent year round and keep a CO monitor in my working area. For a sidewall exhaust there is minimal cost in adding excess ventilation, and plenty of side benefit. As far as being concerned about the quantity of air for a fan, they are sized with two parameters: airflow and external static pressure (i.e. 1,000 CFM at 0.25 inches WG). These are available in a fan chart or table for a specified fan. For a sidewall fan the static losses are minimal, and provided you have large unobstructed openings for makeup air (or can make them by opening windows and doors) you should be fine with something on the order of 0.15 to 0.3 inches of WG external static at the fan.

Nice art project. As a forging hammer I'd take a 2 lb. Harbor Freight drilling hammer or 3 lb. crosspeen with a wooden handle, 32 oz. ball peen or even a decent carpenter's framing hammer over that any day. Not completely sure where you got the idea that solid steel rod makes a good forging hammer handle. Perhaps you have put this in the wrong section of the forum and it belongs in the "Metal Sculpture" section. If so I think the second version that you have a photo of is headed more in the direction of the comic book version of the Mjolnir, if that is what you are after. As far as phone camera tech, some older phones need to be put into USB sharing mode (and the photos typically come up in a windows folder titled DCIM)

Personally for a very functional mini forge I used a standard 1 gallon paint can and lined it with 2" of high temperature ceramic blanket, rigidizer and a final inner layer of high temperature refractory cement (applied in several very thin layers). I then cobbled together a 1/2" Frosty T and it appears to work pretty well. Haven't got enough miles on it to be able to talk about longevity or ultimate temperature, as it is just prototyped at this point (need to finalize a stand, doors and burner support), but the whole thing must have run me under $30 as I had the scraps of wool, a regulator and hose laying around from another project. So far I think I have about 2 hrs. worth of assembly time in, so not sure if you could make a 2-brick faster (but if you do be sure to buy extra bricks).

IMHO forge efficiency is related to several variables: interior volume, insulation quality and door design. The first is a function of the size of work you want to do. The second is an interesting variable as better insulating quality (lower thermal conductivity) is often indirectly related to material density, but some material density is helpful if you are going to be working up to a significant thickness (as the mass of cold metal will significantly cool the forge interior every time you put it in). It becomes a trade off on whether you go with light weight high temperature insulating blanket material, medium weight insulating fire brick, or relatively heavy weight insulating castable material (not castable refractory, castable insulation). In my experience it is a good idea to combine these materials and use the appropriate ones for appropriate parts of the forge. I have found that insulating fire bricks don't hold up for me (my gas forge made with 2300 deg. F insulating bricks only lasted (4) firings). The surface doesn't do well with direct flame impingement, and they don't handle thermal shock well either. Perhaps on a smaller scale they would do better, or maybe the Atlas forge uses better bricks. I don't have the data handy right now, but if I recall correctly insulating brick doesn't have as low a thermal conductivity per inch thickness as blanket, though likely slightly better than most high temperature insulating castable. As far as door design, it doesn't look like the Atlas forge has any at all. Needless to say, door design can vary quite a bit if you have a NA or blown burner. The former doesn't use electricity, so you don't have energy loss there, but the latter can have a much smaller door opening, so you lose less heat. An idler circuit, or some kind of forge temperature control, will also save you gas, if that is your key criteria. Personally I think the time you use doing the forging is the most expensive commodity you spend, so I would say an efficient forge is one that allows you to work most effectively. If you get one of the Atlas forges I'd be interested in hearing your experience with it.

Wayne, Very curious why someone from NM would have any interest in a Mexican restaurant in middle Ohio... isn't that kind of like someone from Japan going into a sushi restaurant in North Dakota?

Heavy, yes. Potentially an interesting art piece, sure. Hand hammer??? There I have my doubts. What happened to the picture of your rebar hammer? Would love to see one of it on a scale with the weight showing as well as one showing you using it for forging.

Unfortunately this is an awful option. This same question has been asked many times. I urge youto read through the anvil forum to find much better alternatives.

Take care moving the rolled socket back out. Work at tool steel temperatures, just in case. Keep the blade side cool, if possible, re heat treat if not. Don't water quench, just in case is all high carbon. That's all I got, good luck.

Wet tile saw (diamond wheel) works great also if you have access.

Glad to help. Please post photo of repair when done.

OK, been to your website and also appreciate your work. What rockstar mentioned earlier about the economy is an important point and one worth understanding and preparing for. Not sure how to pivot to be able to make a living in harsh times like these. I myself got out of the fine craft world and back into engineering during just such a time as I couldn't take the uncertainty. Going to give you a bit of what I hope will come across as constructive criticism now, and not just trying to be harsh (remember this is just my opinion, you are welcome to disregard): In tough economic times the general populace buys necessities, not indulgences. Craft these days is seen as the latter. Your high end work is capable, you have the "art speak" narrative to attract potential collectors, but that is a tough market to get into. In my experience you have to either be validated by being carried by an important gallery, or appeal viscerally to an art appreciator who can afford your prices. I suggest that you, at minimum, enter your work in as many quality juried shows (art shows in galleries, not retail craft shows) as you can to try to get your name out there. They used to be advertised in magazines. I hope you are already a member of ABANA. Also you need to work a bit harder on developing a visual language for your sculpture. Currently you are going in a number of different directions. In my experience galleries are looking for a more cohesive body of work, especially from an unknown artist. A sense of scale for your sculpture is needed on the website (at least in the descriptive passages). Typically an artist would put something like the following on their page: Momentous (forged and fabricated steel and copper (?), 11" x 16" H (unless it is really 3' x 5' high). Some of this sculptural work does look like maquettes for larger pieces (check out some of AL Paley's, Henry Moore's or David Smith's for example). You might try to go big for one of those juried shows. The low end craft pieces don't have any relationship to the sculptures other than material and to some extent process. They look so dissimilar that I would recommend that you don't feature them on the same site at all (possibly even two different sites with different studio names). Fine art collectors don't really want to know that the artist they are trying to patronize also makes $7 bottle openers, unless there is a direct relationship between the work (i.e. corkscrews they can give their friends that replicate a portion of the massive sculpture they have just purchased to show off in their foyer.) Your hammers look cool. Its a good business to be in these days, but there are others going that route because of that. Go to places where there are a lot of blacksmiths (SOFA, ABANA...) and try to sell them directly to build clientele and find what sells. Just be aware that you have competition at the same price point from established hammer makers (so you need to find something that sets you apart). Oh, and as far as time, it took me 3 years of attending a high end ACE Wholesale show before the galleries started to take my sculptural work seriously.

As regards the description of your larger forge: Make sure you have a thermal break between the forge interior lining material and the forge casing. By thermal break in this case I mean a layer of high temperature insulating material. If you have either hard fire brick or castable refractory (not castable insulation) touching both the forge interior and the forge casing you make a thermal bridge between the two locations and the heat you are trying to keep inside the forge will conduct out to the forge casing where it will be lost to the atmosphere. Please note that the insulating value of castable insulation can be determined from the manufacturer's data on the material ("k" value for thermal conductivity, lower is better). Most castable insulation is not as good an insulator as high temperature blanket or board. It can be used, of course, but you need to use a greater thickness to achieve the same level of insulation and the forge will likely heat up more slowly because it has a greater thermal mass. Note that this extra thermal mass can be useful, but that is a lecture for another time. For your smaller forge, are you sure that all the flame from the burner outlet is making it's way into the forge interior? If you have a gap between the forge insulation and the liner, and the burner head is too far out of the forge some of the flame can get directed to the gap, and not in the forge (and the forge casing will get hot). Look carefully when you light up, a full developed blue flame should show inside the forge past the insulation. Also, on installing blanket it is certainly possible to crush it down too far when applying satinite, which lessens its insulating value. Go gentle next time and consider spraying a colloidal silica layer on the exposed blanket first to stiffen it before the refractory coating.

I'd be tempted to just forge it over a bull pin, as Frosty has suggested, and leave the split sections unwelded. A brass or bronze wire wrap around that area would look pretty classy and there would be less chance of a catastrophic heating trying for a forge weld. Of course that all depends on how good you are at forge welding. Kind of tricky there as it isn't certain whether the socket is mild of high carbon steel and, as I'm sure you know, the former welds at a higher temperature.

Really nice lines on the belt axe. Your stamp looks classy as well. Where did you get your wrought iron stock? Must be pretty refined, can't see a trace of "grain".

Know what you mean. Did the same at a recent blacksmith gathering when a guy drove up with an anvil in his truck bed and I was the first one over to check out his tailgate sales items. He had a Fisher ~125# farrier pattern with some rough edges and top surface damage, but still quite usable for around $120. I was going to grab it, just to use either as an upsetting block or for the hardy hole, but a young man stepped up and I could see the anvil lust in his eyes, so I let him have it with the proviso that he wasn't just going to just try to offload it on e-bay, but actually use it to set up his shop.

I have a friend who made an excellent Mjolnir replica out of solid 4" x 4" stock. I believe it weighed just over 30 lbs. Choking up almost right to the head I was able to lift it and flip it into forging position one handed, but I'm pretty sure my wrist would give out if I swung it a couple of times. If you can easily hammer one-handed using a 20 lb. sledge I won't get in your way. I'm a pretty big guy, though no body builder, and a 4.5 lb. hammer is about my limit for any useful forging one handed. I can choke up on my 15 lb. sledge and make a couple of one handed strikes, but I usually only do that for driving punches or drifts, and only a couple of times a session under duress at that.

Cross-post with Buzzkill: Frosty and Mike will probably have good suggestions for you, as they are vastly more familiar with the operation of propane NA burners. I have a couple of recommendations for you though: Tune your burner operation inside the forge and make sure that the outlet is not too close to the opposite wall or floor and you have reasonable door openings (personally I don't like to put burners pointing down to avoid the chimney effect and side-fire, but YMMV) You may want to play with the length of your mixing tube (downstream of your reducer fitting). I think the typical rule of thumb is around 8 pipe diameters in length Include a cast burner block in your forge to set the mixing tube against instead of the flare (12 degree angle of expansion is usually a good rule of thumb for that).

I'm in the keep them both group as well. If I had to sell one it would be the Hay Budden for two reasons. First I like the Peddinghaus configuration better for the type of forging I do, and second because it appears that right now Hay Budden's are the current "fad" anvil and their prices seem to be disproportionately high.

I'm with Michael on this one. Using approximately 500 lbs./cubic foot for the average steel density I get around 15.2 lbs./ linear foot for (4) bars of 30 mm rebar. Not including any losses to scale when forge welding, or the hammer eye opening, a 20-30 lb. hammer head would have to be between one and a half feet and two feet long (unless the billet was upset quite a bit after forge welding). I think a trip to your local post office to weigh your forged head is in order. However, if you can "one hand" forge with a 30 lb. sledge (which you would most likely be doing with only a 12" handle) I certainly won't argue with you...