senator

very nice!

Hello Everyone. I am wondering what everyone uses to cut out knife blanks. I currently have a huge pile of leaf springs and when cutting out blanks 1) it takes entirely too long 2) makes a huge mess when using a cutoff wheel 3) is very labor intensive. I am thinking of either buying a plasma cutter or taking my design someplace to have a water jet cut it out. I will be forging the blade section of the knife and doing as little stock removal as possible. I really don't see myself cranking out more than 4 knives per month....so I am unsure if it makes sense financially to have blanks cut on a water jet. I am interested in what you guys are currently doing and what advice you may be able to give. Respect, Senator

I have been thinking of ways to utilize the large amount of waste oil my business creates each month. Instead of me paying for 20 pound tanks of propane every now and then - I have been trying to come up with a safe and economical way to utilize the waste oil. My plan would be to use a 12 volt 40 PSI agricultural diaphragm pump and have it pressurize the oil via a ag. sprayer tip and atomize it into the same venturi as my propane burner. I have a small squirrel cage fan to add in additional air if need be. The pressurized line could easily have a regulator and a return line to the holding tank. I can also adjust air flow by putting a simple boiler valve at the junction to spill excess air. This all seems very doable. My only concern would be contamination of my refractory material. I think this could be limited if the forge was started with propane and run until good heat was established. This thread; BTW, is very entertaining to read. I thank each of you who have contributed. Senator

Having been in the place where you are currently at - let me add a few comments. 1) Read everything 2)Gather as much insight as possible from people who have done what you are doing. This will save you $$$ in the future. I realize this isn't overly helpful at the moment. I made my first anvil; which I still use, out of rail road track for $100.00. You have paid good money for your HF. People love/hate them whatever...use it until is brakes into two halves. Seriously, if your using it that much its shortcoming will become clear to you over time. Take this info and file it away until its time to buy another one. Until that happens beat the xxxx out of it and get your money's worth. I had a gas forge based on a small burnz-o-matic hand held torch, not ideal but again functional for small items. I used this until I could gather enough info to be confident in building my own forge. I built that for about $50.00 and 40 of that was refactory product. With where you are located, I would strongly suggest a gas forge. Easy on easy off no smell...your neighbors will be xxxxxx off enough from the loud banging. We all started with meager means; just keep going, learning, and building the tools you will need. Respect, Senator

Hello all. I currently have a gas forge set up with a 5/16's steel brake line with a .35 MIG tip that I soldered into place. Although this seems to work just fine I am looking at switching to a 1/8 pipe nipple that I will be brazing a MIG tip into as it seems a bit more heavy duty and will tolerate being moved around much better than the brake line. My question is I am looking for a low temp Brazing rod that can be utilized with a propane torch as I do not have a O/A set up. Does such a rod exist? I've been looking on google and most all were unclear if I could use a simple propane torch. All help would be greatly appreciated. Senator

Glumpy, Thank you for your input. I had not thought of the fuel injector being pressurized by an ABS driver. I have found a power steering pump from a Mitsubishi has a remote reservoir. I will continue down that path and see where it leads me. I was intending to use some sort of pressure regulator with a return line to bleed off the excess fuel. The system I am drawing up will still use some sort of low CFM fan (ie hairdryer or small squirrel cage fan) while the nozzle will atomize the oil at around 40 PSI. They have a host of different nozzles at www.Mcmastercarr.com . Seems like it should work....Ill post up pictures if I can get it to work. Heading into the holiday season I am not sure how much time I will have until January. Respect, Senator

Thank you timgunn1962 for your insight. Another low buck alternative I was looking at would be pressurizing waste oil via a power steering pump and injecting it thru an atomizing nozzle designed for spraying lubricants. The PSI generated by the pump would off set a lot of the issues experienced by lower PSI systems. I would draw the waste oil into the system once it passes thru a remote oil filter system. Finally, I just finished up looking at how a kerosene torpedo heater works. I would think that type of system could easily work to burn waste oil. There is a million different ways to skin the same cat. What is current burner type that people are using? All I've seen so far is the Babington type with compressed air. Respect, Senator

I have been lurking here for some time with out posting anything. I've read through numerous threads on a Waste Oil Forge / Burners etc and have not found any of the answers I am searching for. I have a nearly inexhaustible amount of waste oil and was looking to see what everyone uses to build their burners. Has anyone tried using diesel engine parts or automotive parts in order to atomize and pressurize the waste oil? The idea of having my compressor run for 2 hours at a time doesn't appeal to me as it would add undo stress on my compressor. I was thinking of using a small fuel injector or perhaps a diesel injector of some sort with the waste oil being pushed by a simple after market high PSI fuel pump. This set up when coupled with a small squirrel cage fan for induction should work? Has anyone attempted this before? I currently use a brick pile style forge with propane and my projects all have been smaller knives and bottle openers. I hope to move into larger projects if/when I get a bigger more efficient forge figured out. Respect, Senator South Bend, In.