Exo313

I think Wayne and Buzz both make sense, in that there's an observable improvement in cycle time. Being worse than a novice in this area, I would hazard a guess that, with Matrikote, more fuel is going towards heating the steel as opposed to heating the liner. I don't know if this is realistic. Someone with a better understanding of the science may be able to assist. It just seems like a cold glass of water in a drafty room that is "on average" at 68F will take longer to reach the ambient temperature than a room that is insulated and held at 68F.

Hey, I like that.

Curious, what's the source for that convention? I usually hear of near side, far side. But that's still relative to the smith, and let's not go on another round of which way the left handed smith puts the horn. I'm super interested, knowing that there are catalogs and books that have been written that I've not read, in who came up with the orientation of taking right and left from facing the horn. I would blame blueprint drawings, but I'd tend to expect a horn facing left as the "front view" in a third projection drawing, therefore making the "left side" looking at it from facing the horn.

What I've wondered is, why is a three cornered hat a tricorn, but I can't find any corners on a unicorn? English is silly. I like the tetradent though.

I was caught knapping once... then I woke up.

Medieval aesthetic vs. Medieval accuracy, I think, is the split point for most people. Historical recreation of methods, materials, tools, etc. is one thing. On the other hand, I think most people have an idea of a medieval aesthetic that appeals to them. If you find that a naturally lit space, devoid of electrical power, suited to a single craftsman appeals to your sense of the medieval, by all means, go for it. Just know that history buffs are always going to point out the innumerable ways that picture is as far from medieval reality as it could be. It's definitely more fantasy genre smithing than true medieval forging. So, again, I'd suggest that if that aesthetic appeals to you, do it. There's nothing wrong with that. It's just not medieval in the historical sense. If you want historical accuracy, there's help to be had. I'm not a history nut myself, but there's a few around... they'll point you in the right direction. PS if I had a bunch of money and was going to build a themed shop it'd probably be something steampunky, or fantasy dwarvish. But that lets me have power hammers...

Your mileage may vary, but welding wrought didn't go well for me without a bit of preheat. It was sort of foamy sounding/looking while traveling, and full of porosity after. Preheat seemed to take care of it. I used metal core wire roughly equal to 7018. Mind, that was anvil body wrought iron on an older mousehole (pre-pritchel) style anvil, and I feel like I read/heard somewhere that some wrought anvil bodies were generally pretty low grade stuff... Edit: The other issue I ran into was travel speed. I ran too fast initially, which probably meant I wasn't getting full melting and mixing of the slag inclusions within the wrought iron. Hence, porosity

...Every time I see this thread, I misread it as "ID10T marking" and think that a previous owner had a wicked sense of humor...

So, Profit, from the company's perspective, is often in direct competition with profit, from the employee's perspective. At least, once the abacus-wielding analysts and consultants and financial "experts" have been paid. Once they have -their- checks safely cashed, the final word often seems to be "Payroll is your largest controllable expense."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=39&v=7S6rJ14FnXs Video I was talking about.

There is a YouTube video, comes up when I search fucina forge. Is it supposed to sound like that? It is shiny, I'll give em that!

Loving the leaf stem twist, looks very organic.

Not a wood stove. Think commercial forestry curtain burners. Air is blown across the top of the fuel at a slight downward angle, hitting a wall opposite the burner, causing a swirl effect through the fuel, increasing burn rate.

So I was reading about air curtain wood burners, and had to wonder if anyone had tried anything of the like as regards forges? I would imagine they'd be fuel hogs, but it'd be interesting to tinker with whether or not the technology is scalable small enough to make a forge. It's supposed to minimize smoke and particulates, and since the goal is a quick burn, they're going for heat. I'm thinking for forging using urban sourced scrap lumber: pallets, etc. I just wonder if you'd be able to keep up with its demands. Then there's the blower noise issue... Thoughts?

Shouldn't the ground forge be at continent height, making the JABOD a supracontinental forge?

Holes, depending on size relative to the size of stock you're working, are good for assisting with bending, heading, punching, drifting, and lots of other things more expert people than I am will mention. Plus they can be used to accept tooling that is made to fit the hole and then the sky is the limit!

Thoughts on using refractory mortar for joints as opposed to castable? I'm also unsure what you mean by sealant unless you're talking between the bricks. I wouldn't think the faces need sealing?

Also, whether his claim is legitimate or not is for others to debate, but he says his 2 burner will reach 2800F and the custom firebrick inside made of Rutland refractory cement is only rated to 2200. Aside: This is a matter of personal preference, but I find it difficult to put good faith in resellers. He's listing the 25lb castable Rutland at close to double the price -- not packaged down into convenience size or anything. Just "I went to the hardware store, bought a pail, here's hoping I can find a sucker to pay me double plus shipping for it."

I find the level of cute is inversely proportionate to the level of idiocy, personally.

Sure, I'll jump in. I semi-deliberately took the horn off an early mousehole-style anvil with a sledge. Forge welded composite anvils can develop issues. The bond between body and horn is going to be a natural weak point. Mine had developed a crack. So I whacked it and the crack opened up more until it came off. I suspect others with similar weak defects would do similarly under similar conditions. But I ain't Sherman. PS My poor anvil's horn has since been reattached with the help of a magical blue box.

Someone is going to jump on the words "fire cement" before long, given that in the US and Canada we have a range of products in the fireplace mortar/cement category that are less than ideal for forge lining. That said, I'm curious to know what you used, given that product availability is likely different in your area?

Needs morpork.

NAPP Naturally Aspirated, Plural Portal

Angle cutoffs plus broken clamp equals new shelf friend. I think he needs a little "Free Hugs" sign.

What about birthday candles? I'm thinking about trying them; one would think they would melt out rather easily. They also come in a couple different diameters, which appeals to my desire to tinker...