Daswulf

Lump charcoal would be the way to go. Most big home improvements carry it, but you could burn down wood to get the coals you need as well, if not even build a charcoal retort. I had built a 55 gallon drum to make charcoal but only had used it once, then found a source for coal. Yes please direct them here and tell them to pack a lunch since there is a Lot of good info here to read through.

Thanks for sharing. I'm sure that will help someone out in the future.

That turned out great Brian. It was some good fun and I'm glad to share what I know. Maybe next time your over we can make some dagger bottle openers. Hmm.. Don't know if I ever posted those.

ASO. anvil shaped object. It looks like a cast iron part of an old anvil vise combination and not good for forging on. you could use the horn part for small stuff. keep looking and when you get a fire going use that rail on end as an anvil.

Really cool Theo! it's sort of funny that they are legos, with the blue under the wrap looks at first glance to be gemstones or something Man would a nicely laid out feather look great in one of those handles.

Mitch, one day at work I needed an 18mm crows foot line wrench to replace a power steering line on a vehicle. The " reputable" tool dealer didn't have one on the truck. ( and I had one at home! ) but it was a rush job so I went to harbor freight. They Had crows foot line wrenches. But no 18mm! They skipped it and only had off the wall sizes when that One is common. Ugh! I bought both metric and sae sets. I was despirate. Nothing worked so I ground the closest size under with a 3inch cut off wheel to fit and got the job done. Moral of the story is sure, some tools at harbor freight are great while others will only get you by if they can be modified to work with knowledge or some just don't do the job right. It takes knowledge or experience to know that too. But you know that since you are learning and doing your research. Good luck on your build. Sorry I can't help on that one with zero experience with gas forges. Just tossing out some experiences and hope it helps. I'll keep watching tho.

Cleaning the edges a bit is ok. it Is Your anvil. And you need it to do what you need. I just hate hearing of people grinding on the faces of anvils.

Don't do much at all to the face of the anvil. The steel plates they used on older anvils are generally not thick and you would be taking usable life away from it. Best way to clean the face of an anvil is to just hammer hot steel on it.

Wrought iron with a steel face plate. Wire wheel it good and dust with flour. It will remain more in any indents and give better visibility of any stampings. Whats the rebound like on it?

In general and in the automotive field I have bought 2 larger tap and die sets that have worked well for me. One is Vermont America, and the other is an Irwin set. I like both. I am also no machinist so there are probably better ones out there. I have used both sets quite a bit. Just hope you don't have to buy the broken tap extractor set it's expensive.

I see a Wm. something. Second letter looks like an A for the last name. So Taylor, Parker? Just two names I found in a quick google search.

Wow. Nice gift indeed. Like others said, you should be very kind to them.

Very nice work. Well... Sleep enough, but just enough.

Beautiful work JPH!

I was quite surprised it didn't hurt more being in there. It was more irritating. Just one of many stories tho. More painful was the time a long jagged burr from the spatter of a resistance weld on the back edge of a car door pinned two of my fingers together from feeling it to see if I got it straight. Oh, that one had me sweating pulling it out. Many people have worse stories tho. Live, learn, try to prevent it in the future. Oh, since you mentioned welding. Invest in a good leather welding jacket. They are also good to wear while using a wire wheel. Keeps you from finding those wires that stick in your shirt later. And for my wire wheel on a 1hp buffer/grinder I wear the leather welding jacket, safety glasses and a face shield, and leather gloves. Let alone being very careful at that.

I once had what I thought was a pimple or something on my knee. It was itchy and irritated. After a long while of it not going away I cut it open and pulled out a 3/8" long piece of .025 welding wire. guess when I knelt on it at work I thought it was a little stone or something. Went in the meat beside the bone. That was a strange one.

I have done the same thing as Slag with the external light source to help. Also I don't know how old your helmet is but I was really surprised how much clearer mine was after changing the inner and outer lense covers. If it's older and they are cruddy you might want to look for replacements.

I wear ear muffs as well when working with loud equipment. Same ones I wear for shooting. Ear plugs work too if your muffs don't fit under the welding helmet. Almost nothing like the discomfort of getting a little spatter from welding in your ear, aside from getting something in your eye... I use a 3M 6000 series respirator with P100 filters for welding and other dusty situations. We use them at work for dust and I liked them so I use the same at home. For other chemical/ paint fumes we use the 3M 7500 kits and replace filters as needed. Check the chemical you are using for proper ppe. The filters only last so many hours and less under heavier use! If I remember correctly it may have been about 8 hours? I will have to double check. Also when not in use you should seal your respirator in an air tight container. Most respirators come in sizes as well. You need fitted, or at least to find the right size for you. Also if you are serious about it fitting properly you have to be pretty clean shaven around where it fits. ( probably why beards disappear when OSHA comes through the body shop once a year to check us ) one check is cover the air inlets with your hands and suck in. You should not get air in. Other is to cover the outlet and blow. Since you are basically holding the mask to your face, the mask should puff up and not let the air out. This also tests the mask. If the mask isn't functioning properly you could be wearing it but it isn't doing the job intended.

What Thomas said, and you may want to extend the ash dump. I would be a little concerned having the plastic pipe right at the T connector. A little further back isn't a concern since that doesn't get hot there but Hot ashes find their way on the inner ledge of the T connector. If im seeing it right I like the butterfly valve in the pipe idea.

I never heard anyone here say they hate new guys making new threads. Welcome aboard. I can't help you much on the info on the anvil info other then it looks perfectly usable as is. The only thing it needs is the top polished by hammering hot steel on it As to if you over paid, I don't know the market in Oregon. Looks like a good tool that will last you a lifetime and then someone else's lifetime if not abused. Use it and get good then sell what you make using it and it will pay for itself.

Is the bottom of your ash dump capped off or open?

Looking at your setup the only thing that stands out to me as a bit of an issue is that you may not be getting depth in your fire. I'm wondering if you are putting enough fuel in there over the rotor to get a good "fire ball".

sounds like the roses that I make. if I post any on FB I need to make a ton more. I cant keep up. If it's worth it Great!

What is you're forge and blower setup? Like Thomas points to, That is a very open ended question with little detail. Pictures? a bit more explanation? Details! we need details to help! it is like asking, " help, I have a car that runs on gasoline and it wont start.".... spark, air, fuel? we don't have a clue without details.

looks like a great class. um.. did they have any tape left? haha