Warren Nakkela

Ironrose I don't see any problem with burning biodiesel it should burn just fine once the forge/firebox is heated. Vegetable is the source for biodiesel. In producing biodiesel from veg oil the glycerol Is extracted. There should be no problem in burning raw veg oil. Some people thin it with some diesel oil. Warren

Ditto here too. Thank you.

Thank you for the comments. Isn't this a great site? I am sure learning here. So calcium chloride is a quite common salt but I am learning hear can break down the salt molecule, therefor any salt that is chlorine based is dangerous, I guess that would include calcium chloride, still, I suppose it would be OK if done outside and you don't get your nose too close as I have done with NaCl. There is calcium carbonate which has carbonation properties and may add carbon to the surface. (?) How about calcium nitrate? Calcium sulfate and calcium phosphate could/would be damaging to steel. I think that some of this stuff won't melt. Of course there are other salts beside sodium and calcium based salts which I know little about. There many risks in life that we are exposed to daily. One just needs to understand the risks and take appropriate precautions. Warren

I am starting this new thread on pyrometers as I believe that there is much interest in accurate temperature measurement in heat treating. I have a thermocouple pyrometer which reads to 2000 degrees F. which I have used in a brick pile forge. I have very successfully used this pyrometer in heat treating some pipe notching dies which I machined out of O6. I heated the dies in molten salt (common rock salt). I inserted the thermocouple probe into the molten salt along with the suspended die and when the temperature rose to the desired hardening point I reduced the flame and let the steed die soal a little toallow the die to come up to the temperature of the salt bath. Just make sure that you preheat your steel as the salt bath will heat your steel very quickly. The advantage is that no part of your steel can get no hotter than the temp. of the salt bath. Great for thin edges and safer than molten lead. Be ready to hear a pop when you quench as there is a skin of selt on the steel. There are other pyrometers that work on an optical principal which I know little about but would like to hear more as they will read higher temps. If you think that this is a worthwhile topic please add what you know about temperature measurement. Warren

Archie, Thank you for the positive comments. Air atomized burners don't use pressurized oil. They don't even use gravity pressure but rather the atomizing air causes a vacuum which draws the oil into the burner tip. The fuel oil is finely atomized which should result in hot and rapid combustion. Another plus is that one can burn heaver oils with no burner tip clogging. The only downside which I see is that you need some air at 20 to 25 psi. Warren

Be careful of mixing volatile fuels such as gasoline with your oil. In a heated environment the easily evaporated gasoline will cause an explosive hazard. It will be much safer to use diesel fuel as a thinning agent. Warren

Heating iron in oil fired furnaces is nothing new. Large forging plants commonly used large dual purpose forges/boilers to heat iron and provide steam for the steam hammers. All the gasses went up the stack. My Dad had a boiler that burned heavy black oil to run his still. The oil was preheated and atomized with a steam jet burner which he made. This was over a hundred horse power boiler. What is needed to successfully burn heavy oil is a large firebox. From what I have seen, the smaller the firebox, the lighter the oil. The question is how large (or small) does one need to burn motor oil which is much lighter than the oil my Dad burned in his still. There are quite a bit more heat units in heavier fuels as opposed to propane and successfully burning these should be an advantage. One could design an end fired forge with a stack at the rear instead of a tangiently fired forge. This may allow heavier oil fuels. Warren More thoughts to come on Oil smoke toxisity

Yes, I read through hiis stuff and that is when I thought I would explore waste oil forges. He, however does not have anything new. C.W. Ammen describes and illustrates such burners in his metalcasting books. Warren

That's what the wheels are for so that I can roll it into the doorway. If that is not enough I will make a vent system to suck out the products of combustion. Waren

Diesel costs $. Waste oil is free but I don't see why it will not burn diesel as well as waste oil and propane also. Warren

I am in the conceptual stage of designing an waste oil forge since good coal is difficult to come by. I have some 16 inch 1/8 inch wall stainless tube. How long (deep) do I want the forge to be? How many burners do I need for say 24 inch deep or say from 24 inch to 48 inch deep? I want to make a sliding back wall for longer work. Is this a good idea? I am leaning to use air atomized burners as I believe they will provide the best combustion. The front wall will be a brick pile with supporting framework. I may use propane injection for fire starting. Should I use low density castable refractory as a liner with a firebrick floor? What about kaowool, isn't it a little flimsy? I want to mount the whole forge on steel implement wheels. Am I on the right track? Warren

There sure is. If manganese is, say around 4% it causes the steel to be brittle but around 12% the steel becomes austinetic (like stainless) and is true manganese steel. It is used where extreme toughness is required. Like in boom point sheaves, for example Warren

Blessings for the coming year, This about knife blade steels. Suppose that you procured some austenitic 12% manganese steel and laminated these together with a core of, say D2 as a cutting edge. Since quenching manganese steel does not cause hardening but rather toughen the steel, would this result in toughness with a hard core? This likely has been tried as have been most things. Warren

Sorry for jumping in here. Are we talking about common salt (NaCl)? There are carburizing salts that contain cyanide and these are very dangerous to breathe. These salts are heated under a ventilation hood and are used in manufacturing. There are neutral salts that do not case harden but are used for controlled heating and preventing exposure to oxygen. Does heating in common salt decarburize the steel? Are there any chlorine emissions from disassociation of the NaCl molecule? Happy New Year all Warren

Thank you Phil, The pads are apparently hot rolled with pad and grouser as it comes off the rolls and then sheared to length and then holes punched. Warren

Yeah, when I was twenty I got a case of zinc chills, didn't know what it was, sure caused a lit of shivering and me hugging the oil stove. At the time I was drinking a lot of milk here on the farm (made me fat too). Let me tell you, these milk stories, ain't nothin' to them. You get the dreaded zinc chills You also get a short term immunity towards zinc. Couple of other times I got zinc chills, knew what it was then. Ain't hurt, ME NONE, me none, me none. Waren]

Might be hard on the mouse once you start banging it on the desk! Warren

The steel that is used in crawler tractor track pads must be pretty good stuff, the beating they take. Wonder what it is. Tough and quite hard, What do you suppose could be made out of cat treads? I have some of the stuff, maybe eighty feet of track. Has anybody out there used this kind of steel and what for. And what is it? Straight carbon or any alloying? Warren

Hello Kieth, Merry CHRISTmass, The idler should be on the slack side of the belt and if possible close to the smaller drive pulley. Warren

No it is mechanical. And quite heavy I may add. It sitting outside now but when I move it I will take some pictures. Warren

Hello all and Merry CHRISTmas from Northwest Oregon, I have had this ironworker for some time now and I want to set it up. I will have to get three phase power but that can be done ($). Besides the normal ironworker capabilities (punching, notching and shearing) has anyone used such a machine for stamping and embossing? It is a Pendinghaus and is rated to punch 3/4 inch holes into 3/4 inch mild steel. I can see that one would need to set the punch/stamp to only enter the hot iron perhaps 1/4 inch or less. I would be interested to hear from anyone with experience using ironworkers as such. Warren

Most larger metal fab shops now have flame cutting machines. Six inches are quit a lot to pierce, but it can be done. It will need a lot less preheat if you drill a starting hole. You may need a carbide drill. Good luck. Warren Don't fall in love with your first idea.

Now, now ,now---Here you you go making this deluxe hat hanger upper and these folks who should know better are telling you to use GLUE. Now any traditional cowboy might get his hat stuck on his head when the glue gets soft from the heat. Just take a leather punch and perforate the leather along the edge and lace it on with some leather or rawhide strips. Glue, what are you guys thinking. Or you could use baling wire. Warren (How did I get on this page?) I will try harder the next time! Never fall in love with your first idea.

Some time ago I made some pipe notching dies from a 2 1/2inch cylinder rod from a dump truck that had been bent. I am pretty sure that it was 4140 chrome moly steel. The job turned out well and have since learned that this steel is commonly used in cylinder where compressive strength is important. Warren

Thank you Jimbob, This should be of help. Will this work punching through an inch and a half tool steel? Warren