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I Forge Iron

Elvirth

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Everything posted by Elvirth

  1. My buddy that is in on this is sourcing a nice log round for me, as well as some rebar for simple crappy tongs. I'm not expecting my first set to look too pretty. As for a forge stand, I'm not actually sure what to use.
  2. Hey fellas. Sooooo I got my propane regulator in the mail today, went down to the hardware store and bought a few parts to go on it and hooked everything up for a test burn. Now, before you all start pounding me over the head with crosspeins for using a five gallon bucket as a forge stand, I know it's not great or smart, this was just a short test, pounded out a little piece of angle iron (at least I think it was angle iron- might have been steel. It was welded onto one of the blocks I purchased with holes drilled in it), just for fun and personal satisfaction. Nothing caught fire, and I was grinning like a madman the whole time. I'm wondering if I ended up setting my burner a little too high in the holder, or maybe even too low. I had a bit of a hard time judging the tuning of the flame. The light outside was probably a factor as well. I might pull the burner out and see if I have an easier time that way. I wasn't originally planning to hammer anything today, which was why my (very temporary) anvil setup looked like this. Not exactly ergonomic working conditions. This pic was taken after I took all my gloves and tools inside and stuff. I'm just letting that piece of metal air-cool. Hand for scale. It got kind of mangled, but since this was literally my first time hammering hot metal, I wasn't particularly bothered that it still just kind of looks like random scrap. I have much to learn and I'm not going to rush into any particularly ambitious projects until I feel like I at least know a little more about what I'm doing. Anyhoo, just excited to share this with you guys. My buddy might be coming up next week and then we can get properly set up and maybe start making some actual tongs to use; those vise-grip pliers are short and really annoying. Cheers fellas.
  3. I was aware, yes. This was just the most affordable option I could find that suited my needs, roughly 100-200 dollars cheaper than any other ready-made forge I could find. I'm not really that concerned about the regulator situation, it's just a slight delay. These guys are a pretty small outfit out of some little town in Lithuania, I can't say I blame them; They barely speak English. I realized when i decided to buy this that it would be a bit more inconvenient, what with the language barrier and foreign shipping and all that, but I'm going to make it work. I've dug my hole, and now I'll line the sides to my liking and make myself comfortable while sitting in it.
  4. Well, the parts I need are a certain type and size of pipe nipple that I'll have to drill out a bit (finally bought a power drill, OH JOY), and then a large ring/nut thing to screw it onto the tank. Other than that, I can work everything else. Devil Forge has a video guide on how to convert their regulator, as well as the part numbers, but I am also a little hesitant because they appear to have changed their regulator design since then and have not told me if it's now US compatible. I have no problem with going out and buying a different regulator at this point.
  5. Hey guys. Sooooo I decided to just go ahead and buy a ready-made forge to speed the learning process along. Got it in the mail today. It seems pretty sturdy, the main tube did get a little bent in transit, but nothing I couldn't mostly fix or deal with. The burner it comes with seems pretty straightforward, not sure what design it's based off of, but it looks serviceable. The major issue I have at the moment is that, while it does come with a regulator and hose for connecting a propane tank, the regulator is designed for some strange European standard and I need two absurdly specific little components to make it compatible. Also, the measurements on the gauge are in Russian, and I don't recognize the symbols. I think I might just end up going downtown tomorrow and buying a Bayou Classic or something close, just because I hate having to change things I don't particularly understand. I already coated the kaowool with some ITC-100, spritzed the wool down with some water first and then mixed and painted it on. Tried to cover any and all exposed wool. Not entirely sure I did it completely right, and I would have liked to add more kaowool, but I'm working with what I have at the moment. A couple pictures: They were also nice enough to include a pre-cut firebrick for the forge floor. I have a couple as well, so I'll probably be able to use those for closing up the back end a bit. I'm very excited, Now I have some very visual progress towards being able to hammer some metal out. I just wish all the provided instructions for the regulator weren't in Russian. Ah well. So, there you have it. I'll probably update this once I can get some gas and a regulator.
  6. Yeah, the hardy hole is really the reason I'd be interested, figured that sort of thing would come in handy eventually.
  7. Hey fellas. So my friend and co-conspirator on this project managed to source a "proper" anvil somewhere local to him. It's about 100# or so, estimated, and has no markings which I could see in the pictures he sent me. I was wondering if maybe someone here was familiar enough with anvil design to perhaps tell me if we purchased a dud. It was only 75 bucks, so no horrible loss, but still, nice to now if it's worth swapping with my metal block. As you can see the edges and face are pretty beat up but I think with a little professional help I could get it serviceable again, provided it's of a suitable material. Here are the images I have:
  8. Well, I might give that a try then. I ended up buying a Lithuanian ready-made forge roughly the same size as the coffee can design when i tallied everything up and realized it was roughly the same price as all the parts I needed. Should be here in a few weeks. Thing is, they only use 1 inch of thermal blanket and no interior refractory coating, so I do have some ITC-100 coming my way as well as hard firebricks for forge floors, but I do need a bit of extra wool to insulate it a bit better if I so choose. Hopefully my social skills are up to it; some guy called me some nasty names on a youtube comment thread yesterday when I was complaining about people displaying useable anvils as a lawn ornaments, so apparently I'm kind of mean or something.
  9. Exactly what am I looking for in the yellow pages as far as professions and supply houses that would sell such things?
  10. Ok, more questions. I'm not trying to be annoying, I just keep stumbling across concepts that I need to know that seem to already be known to many members of the forum and thus explanations are necessary for the uninitiated, like me. I've seen a few references to "buttering" the kaowool liner before applying compounds like ITC-100, and while the concept was vaguely expanded upon by Frosty in one thread I didn't really find it clear enough to understand exactly what's going on and how to do it. I got my #10 can from work today and popped a little window hole in the back in prep for lining it once I find a suitable ceramic blanket supplier (ebay is looking best right now at around 25 for a 1x12x24 chunk). Right now I just would like to get all the steps I need to take to be safe in lining it and avoid silicosis and the like down on paper so I can do it as safely and correctly as possible the first time around. So basically, my question is, how do you "butter" kaowool to prep it for compound? It seemed like it involved wetting the wool and possibly any firebricks that are getting a coat, but I'm not really clear on whether it's like, damp, or soaked, or what. Also do I apply the refractory while the materials are wet, or do I wait for them to dry out a bit? (On a side note, I am still looking for soft firebricks, I would like to put one on the bottom of my forge for a nice flat surface and can't seem to find a supplier who lists the brick specs and also takes non-bulk orders, so suggestions would be great). Thanks fellas. I'm really getting excited to start putting all this together.
  11. I was thinking about just wedging the block into the log round with shims, but do you think it would be alright with just a fairly tightly measured mortise?
  12. Like I said previously, I'm also trying to keep weight just below a certain threshold. This is meant as a temporary solution for my living situation until such time as I can actually have a larger shop-like space in which to set up my stuff. Thus, I'll probably opt for wood just because I can probably get a log round with a nice square mortise for cheap or possibly nothing at all. Well, I ground some basic radius shapes on two opposite edges of the anvil tonight. I think I might just leave the other two edges as they are, just in case I need a specific shaping method using a sharper edge.
  13. This might be a little OCD but the orifice in his "best" burner is noticeably off-center...
  14. I would use a steel stand, but I'm not equipped to make one. That picture of my workbench shows every tool I own. I'm not set up for welding or anything. I will try the chamfer technique with my grinder and file later, see where that gets me. I'm not in a really big hurry, since my log round for mounting might not show up for a while. My friend is sourcing that and he's a very busy contractor, so hopefully he can get up here with some stuff that we split the cost on soon. I'm not really interested in stacking these up for a really heavy anvil, mainly because I need to be able to move it without using a hydraulic jack or something. I'm limited on space and I live in a duplex so I need to be able to stow my whole setup if the weather gets bad enough.
  15. I consider myself lucky to have found these for so cheap, 30 bucks for this much steel, I could make two other anvils and sell them to pay for other supplies, or experiment with making the second one better. I sort of started doing a radius on two opposite edges. Like I said before, I have very little experience with the flap disk on my grinder so getting a rounded shape is a little difficult. I might try tackling part of it with my bastard file tomorrow evening, just so I can take it slow and get it looking even. I forgot to mention how I wanted to mount it- my initial plan that I've been toying with is to get a nice log round slice, cut a square hole out dead center about 8 by 8 or a bit bigger, pour a bit of concrete in, then set the block in the concrete. That way it's got weight, but not so much weight that I can't throw it on a heavy duty hand truck and move it if I so desire. These blocks weigh probably close to 70 lbs apiece, by my gasping, grunting lift estimate. Don't have a scale, otherwise I would weigh it.
  16. Hello again peoples. So, I picked up my theoretical future starter anvil today. A local guy sold me three 7x7" blocks of some unidentified steel. I have a few spark pictures so I'm hoping someone can give me a bit of input on that as to the carbon content of the metal, roughly speaking anyway. They also came with another chunk that is about 2x9, estimated. Didn't bother to measure since I'm not actually sure what I want to do with that piece yet. Ok, so here are the three as I bought them. The guy who sold them said he got them from a local machine shop. I think he might have had them cut to dimension. I apologize for crappy quality, my phone camera only does so much. Anyway, onward. I ended up working on the far left block. This is how it looked when I started. The rebound in this state using a 2 1/2 lb cross pein is... well, pretty minimal. My workbench probably didn't help but the hammer only bounced back about an inch and a half, maybe two inches. Didn't bounce more than twice with a loose grip. Anyway, took an angle grinder to it. Started with a 36 grit flap disk to remove the rust and what I assume was mill scale, then moved to a 60 grit to get a tiny bit of polish going. I also ended up choosing a different side that was ever so slightly flatter and had less protrusions. Ended up looking like this. There are still some small pits in the surface and a few scratches (I'm not terribly experienced with flap disks). In this state my hammer does dig into it just a bit, but the hammer face also needs to be dressed so that might have been part of the issue. Ok, on to spark testing, which I actually did before the polish. (For any safety minded people, I was wearing earplugs and safety glasses, as was my photographer, and yes, I should have been wearing long sleeves but I was just a little overexcited to get into the project) This is just about the best photo I could get of the sparks. I was comparing to a rough diagram of common spark appearance based on metal type and by my estimate it's most likely medium carbon but I'll leave that up to more expert-ish opinion. Anyway, if someone could help me out with a carbon estimate that would be great. Also, I'm considering whether or not to try and heat treat or harden the surface, since that would entail dragging this thing about 100 miles south to where my friend and co-conspirator on this could help me slap together a coal pit and stuff. I don't have any experience heat treating anything, much less a BLOCK of steel, so tips would be appreciated as well. Also just kind of wanted to showcase that I'm not just sitting around trying to keyboard commando all this stuff together. Thanks chaps!
  17. I had a bit of a thought earlier. SInce I'm trying to keep costs down by using readily available materials like cans, I think I could get a pot from the local thrift shop and just cut out a little window in the bottom, then pack the whole thing with kaowool. I'm hoping to shoot for a 4" diameter in the middle, possibly a tiny bit smaller, maybe flatten out the bottom of it a bit too. The added volume of a pot would allow me to really insulate the living crap out of the available space and still end up with a fairly small interior volume.
  18. The reason I'm focusing on using a can or other cylindrical piece of steel is because I live in a duplex and have a very small space out back where I can set up a small basic forge to learn on. Thus I have to have something portable-ish so I can cart it in and out of my basement when I'm not using it to protect it from the elements and so forth. I just feel like moving fire bricks that much would probably do more harm than good.
  19. Ok, so I've been searching and searching for a build guide for the T burner on here, on google, and I've come up with nothing except a very vague sketch and a few blurry pictures. Is there an actual thread buried on here somewhere for that, or a webpage that is still actually up? For the firebrick, I'm assuming that's for covering the front of the forge, not for use on the inside, correct?
  20. Cheapest one on the Majestic website is 275 before shipping. Not sure that's really any more affordable for what I'm trying to do. The ready-made burners don't look so great either; I also can't really get a good indication of how big they are, and I'm not sure I'll need something incredibly big for the design I'm attempting to achieve. Since my original post I've been scouring the internet for cost saving options, found a fairly simple venturi burner that I might actually be able to make with some help from a friend. It's a simplification of a Reil burner called an Oliver-upwind (silly name, I know). That being said I do have the aforementioned friend who might be willing to split some costs with me, and who also has more tools, so I guess we'll see. The data I need the most to solidify plans in my head is mainly to do with the refractory materials, how to set up the kaowool and various compounds for the most efficient use of heat.
  21. Small addition here. Been doing some reading and apparently Bernzomatic torches have a certain likelihood of exploding, so I think I will try and stick to propane, provided I can find a suitable torch head. I would rather avoid building one, as I have very limited tools at my disposal and no working knowledge about fuel/air ratios and orifice sizes and whatnot.
  22. Greetings, wise people and not-so-wise ones. I'm a 21-yr old living in SE Washington, just looking to learn a few new life skills. I've been fascinated with blacksmithing, especially as it pertains to knife-making, for a few years now, but never really thought I'd ever be equipped to start learning/teaching myself. Then I found out that coffee can forges exist, so I figure I'll give it a shot. I have a fairly decently mechanical mind, but not a lot of real-world experience or expertise, so I'm just planning to use resources like this forum to help me gain some passable proficiency. I'm only looking into this as a hobby, so I'm trying to save as much money as possible. Now, I've been scooting around on this forum for a while trying to gather information, and so far I've only found a few tidbits that seemed clear and relevant. There's another post in this section of the forum that points out how many of the stickied thread links are broken, and that's really frustrated me too, which is why I'm seeking advice in this manner. I've found a few good youtube resources, such as basic build guides. This one stuck out to me as the most cheap and viable option. My aim is to just construct a basic, usable forge that heats reasonably well so I can start making bits of metal glow and bashing them with a cross pein. SS Trash Can Forge **WARNING** There is music, and it's super annoying, so I apologize for that in advance. -Ok, so, his burner is really close to the front opening, I would plan on placing it more towards the center based on advice I have seen here on this forum, also angling it slightly offset from center. -Now, that being said, this guy mixes his own refractory and I haven't found enough info on his mix to know whether it will hold up or not under 1800+ Farenheit conditions, so I figure I'll use Kao wool, which from what I gather will be much more stable if I coat it with ITC-100 (PLEEEEEAAAASE correct me if I am wrong, any and all feedback and advice is greatly welcomed). -For the burner, I'm just planning to use a Bernzomatic TS8000, MAPP gas torch, but I'd be willing to go propane if anyone has a better suggestion. Given my limited experience working with gas and pipe fittings, I'd rather not make my own if I don't have to, unless it ends up being fairly simple and affordable. Again, advice welcome on that. -Another question I have, especially in relation to the linked video, is whether or not to have the forge be open end-to-end, partially close off the rear opening, or fully close it off. I don't plan on making any swords, obviously, so I'm not sure I'll need that much length, but I'm also wondering how useful it would be just for any longer piece of metal. In addition, the trash can used has roughly twice the internal capacity of the coffee can approach, and if you think that's too much volume for a newb just starting out on basics, let me know. I'm certainly excited to hear back from any and all comers, and I'd love to get this started sooner, rather than later. I feel I've waited long enough to chase some of my smaller, more accessible dreams, and being able to push metal around is definitely within reach now. Thanks, gents.
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