viktorkrupp

Thanks for the replies. The piece that is threaded has 3 shallow holes (non threaded) filled with grease. The opposite (threaded) side has a center drilled hole (non threaded) also filled with grease. Kingpin huh, interesting, I was puzzled because of the flats in the middle of the cylinder, you can see where it was worn in that area, almost like a slide stop on a pistol (same type of wear pattern). I looks like an enormous retainer pin.

Hi Guys, I found a couple items at the local scrap yard that i can't identify. I tested them for spark, and hardening, and they both look like tool steel. I have severl lists of what common scraps are composed of, but that assumes you know what you're holding. here are a couple pics. Thanks for the info. VK There are 2 different objects, anyone know what they are, if not the type of steel?

I use Norseman Ultra Lube Cutting and Drilling Oil. It is thick so it stays in place, it has the viscosity of liquid hand soap. Only downer is it is messy! This stuff is hard to clean up and tough to wash off of your hands. I use a drill press, and the lube also keeps the chips clumped together well. For wood, i use PAM. Easy application. Wood usually drills well without lube but the PAM keeps the wood from sticking in the bit when it gets too hot. One thing I learned the hard way was to buy good bits! And let the bits do the work. When i was building my grinder i used a had drill, pushed to hard and ruined 3 or 4 3/8 bits. I bought the drill press after completing the grinder, and it opened a whole new dimension to my projects. I love this thing!

Following Frosty's advice I removed the THICK layer of castable refractory, although I kept the refractory ceiling, since my burner flares are cast into it. It is also relatively thin at @1.5" going to about 2" at the front and back. I called my supplier and verified that the material I have is 2600HA Insboard. I cut the board to fit in the sides and floor of the forge, then placed soft firebrick over that. I will replace the floor with either hard brick or ceramic refractory when I decide to weld. It is really easy to reconfigure the interior. I also closed off the back of the forge with a removable piece of the Insboard, with small venting openings at the bottom to allow ventilation. I can close it completely if I want. The front of the forge has sufficient opening though, and I like to have a hotter zone in the back of the forge. I am wondering if I can coat the Insboard with a coating such as ITC of FiberFrax to improve the efficiency further? Now my forge gets hot MUCH faster, and reaches higher heat. I reached a bright glowing yellow. Looking into the forge, I cannot differentiate any of the lines between the bricks it is blinding! I checked the temps, and at 5psi I was at 2100 F and at 9psi I was at @2500 although I cannot be sure of the actual temp because my thermocouple only goes to 2500F. 2000F was about the high temp with the thick castable floor. Here are some pics of the new config.

That's quite the burner Dodge, good thing I didn't see that before I built mine or I'd have something else to troubleshoot! I have several burners in various stages of experimentation. Sometimes making your tools is half the fun. That's why I like smithing not gardening! I guess most of us were the kids who took apart their toys! Frosty, how would you test the board? Just try to heat it until it dissolves? I think I'm going to bite the bullet and buy some wool and a ceramic floorboard. Hate to waste all that castable. I might "repurpose" that forge into a heat treating furnace for knives and build another one. VK

Thanks for the replies. Found the camera cable, here is the inside of the forge i built using the castable refractory. Also attached is a picture of the ceiling of the forge. The last picture is from the back side of the forge. Not sure what the board IS since i got it free, but I'm thinking I might remove the castable at least from the floor and walls and reline using the board, then soft firebrick inside that. I like the square shape because i can make the chamber a variety of sizes.

Hi Guys been lurking for a while reading all the info I can get my hands on, as not to ask too dumb a question. I started out making a few knives, now I spend about all my free time building tools to build other stuff. I'm sure you can relate. Onto the ? I built a forge it is square 13"w x12d x9 h (ill attach a pic when I find my camera cord). I started out lining it with firebrick (soft) and with a hard firebrick floor. The burners come straight down. I was modeling it off of the diamondback ironworks forge. The dimensions were off slightly because I can't weld very well (1st welding project) and I didn't take the overlap of the metal into account when building the forge. Also I was having issues with my burners because I couldn't find the right pipe fittings for my sidearm burner (and didn't want to wait for an online order). I decided to cast the flares out of refractory cement, and as luck would have it, I talked the guy at the supplier out of a free bag of Harbison Walker castable refractory (and some refractory boards that look like wooly Styrofoam) and went apes**t lining the forge with it. I left the interior volume shaped lie a side view of a football. I used the whole bag! My burners are humming along now that I got all the right parts, but welding heat is hit or miss so I have TOO much refractory in the forge? Could I chip away some of the castable or use the board to make it more efficient? All in all I learned that it's best not to reinvent the wheel, but it was 140 bucks for a box of koawool and I got all this for free! Fosty, I read about your T burners and haven’t been able to find a drawing on the site I’d love to see how you build them! Sorry for the long post, but I’ve been building it up for a while! Vik