MotoMike

GBiker, looks very nice. waiting to see the finished product with scales. Bobnick, coat rack looks robust. nice job. Das, great scorpion. your monsters give me the willys. I have found that my gallon pain can is lacking in depth for some of the things I want to quench. So today I wandered over to the scrap yard. since I'm with cane and amulatorily challaned, I took my two wheel cart. I was quite a site. but I hauled 50 pounds of steel including a few coil spring, a rail plate and about 4 foot of 3inch id fairly heavy walled pipe. Cut the pipe and dressed it in prep for making a deeper quench tank. The pipe even came with a knurled aluminum cap for some purpose unknown to me. her it is ready to be welded to the plate.

I'm sure you'll do fine 671, guessing from your research and drafting of they burner, you love the research as much as getting it done. That's me. Frosty, thanks for setting me straight, for what, the 10th or so time? I do appreciate that you provide knowledge and do it in such a way that the recipient remains receptive. It is a fine line to walk.

It is a sad story, but dang it Frosty, I enjoyed your write up.

That anvil must feel very special. what a great stand

so sad. in this day and age of information, a little research would have gone a long way.

I could be wrong. the Trex is a proprietary reducer and mixing tube. not off the shelf plumbing parts, so does not lend itself to home brewing. Trex shown on Ron's page you linked has a forged flare where the ones on the hybred burner page have a machined flare. If I were buying, Id look at performance vs price. the Trex cost 192, plus 14 to deliver. so for $206 you can have a very nice burner that they claim puts out 40kbtu at 10 psi. If I moseyed over to Zoeller forge and inked the deal on a modified side arm burner which is $60 plus shipping (not specified, say $14) You'd be in for $74 and have a burner that the university of Kentucky says is rated at 63kbtu at 10 psi. but if I was building I'd probably try the Z burner as the reducer is probably more available than the ward reducer in the side arm. That or an original Reil burner with the Bordeaux modification (probably the simplest and cheapest to build) which would meet your requirement in a properly insulated forge of less than 350 cubic inches, or a Frosty T. But I would not alter the design. I have a Reil built exactly to his specs and it works like the proverbial champ. Good luck. as a post script, I know enough to be dangerous. ,

671, what is it about the Trex that makes it the top dawg? the btu charts on their site and the ones for the Zoeller Z burner put the Z burner well ahead of the Trex in output. At 10 psi the Trex is at around 39 to 40k and the z burner or the modified side arm burner is around 63k at 10psi. Just wondering. I think the Z burner is probably easier to build too.

I see what you mean Das. nice pics

nice profile. interesting. I think rebar is usually considered a mystery steel that very rarely has enough carbon in it to harden, but just like railroad spikes you'll have those who say they've done it. so who knows. others will know for sure, but if I were going to try, I'd probably treat it like 1045. good luck

I tried to get a couple shots but failed. Hey, did you guys know that dragon's breath smells like burnt nose hair?

OH man, I could sure get used to having one of those bad boys in the smithy.

Papy This is my second replacement. the other one was done 7 years ago. I did a lot of research back then including the videos. rather gruesome. I did not do it this time. but the images were still in my head. I can walk farther now while still hurting a bit in recovery than I could before the procedure.

Thanks for the support. Aus the story was that it like many bridges had not been maintained (Illinois) and had reached the point it was not economically feasible to keep it there. I should have posted here as it was approaching it's demise as the bridge could be had for free for someone who wanted to set it up somewhere. But sadly there were no takers. Das you are right it appears JAV I like those ideas as well. hoping not to get too carried away. Iron Dragon. I'll walk the area for sure. Three local brothers who are iron workers and pipe fitters have volunteered to make something for the park just south of the bridge and they were given a great deal of the wreckage, so will visit and see about getting some bottle opener sized pieces Steve thanks for that info.

I'm guessing that substantial stand comes with it for that price? looks to be welded of heavy weight plate and tube. possibly filled with sand.

That is a commendable first knife for your first go. almost a year and I've not forged one yet. The common wisdom is that spikes are mild steel. even those called HC are mild and generally not hardenable.

Steve if you were to speak on this subject in more detail, I'd appreciate it

Iron Dragon, I know that is true. Pappy, I know. I am now almost off the cane. I can do all my PT and have started the stationary bicycle for two sessions a day. Went for a short hike with my 3 year old grandson yesterday. off the pain meds for a couple weeks now and have done my last anti clotting med as well. Charles, I know it's true about the modern materials. no plastic in my appliance. also true about the cutting and stretching. one of the nurses told me it was her job to hold my ankle by my ear. my two week check up has removed my restrictions with the exception of running and jumping. there was no danger of those violations I can assure you. I can do what I can tolerate. But a week ago, I waited until the wife was away for the day to work on my lawn tractor which had developed an electric problem. why they felt it nessessary to hide the fuse on the frame rail under the battery box below the fenders is beyond me. It involved a lot of crawling around to find and fix. She would not have been happy, but I got er done. Thomas you make me sound like a wimp. Thanks for all the well wishes guys. much appreciated.

That is a possibility but I'm so cynical after 22 years as a copper that I'd not be willing to invite young heavy lifters into my smithy to case the joint help out. My son in law helps when needed though.

well, the Acetylene doesn't work and two repair places advise it is obsolete though allow someone might have rebuild parts in stock. Airco. tag shows it to be an 806 9102. looking at the Airco prints, it seems to be an 8100 series. So I have acquired a new set.

w'd certainly concur that there is not best forge. I built mine and at my first maintenance to the forge enlarged the opening to accept bigger pieces. now even with the interior width and height, anything larger will need a bigger forge. Anything larger will need more burners. now that I've seen many decorative things I'd like to make that I was forge limited on, my next one will be bigger. of course when in use it will be consuming more fuel and if the piece could be worked in the first one, that will be the way to go. I know there are a bunch of good us makers out there.

I do a fair amount of upsetting in the vice.

Thanks for the ideas everyone. Ohio, not yet. quality work takes time. (that's what I always tell my wife). I feel a part of me wanting to retain the existing patina, but wish it were more interesting, you know retaining more color and some burn marks. unfortunately, it was in the water all this time since June and probably has been well scrubbed by nature. My initial idea was to give it a blacksmith finish with linseed oil, mount it on a thick piece of round stock from a substantial piece of timber stained a complementary color. I like Marc's idea as well with a section of I beam acting as a column maybe with a thick piece of plate as the capitol and the artifact mounted atop that. There is a scrap yard right near by that would be a target rich environment for some sort of industrial mount. I've got plenty of time to think about it.(god willing) Frosty I too think imploded seems to be an odd description of what they did, but all the news stories of the time with interviews of those concerned made that distinction. definitely some sort of plodin goin on. The piers were quickly plod'ed as well.

very picturesque

thanks Das

Ben, I'll let you know. I think that after I assemble a few more things of known hardness, I'll be able to get the hang of it pretty good.