orange

Its a beautiful knife and nicely made.  Are you worried about the thin piece of wood coming past the finger guard. Looks like a bump would chip it off.

I was able to pick out the letters you mentioned.

Me as a jokster 100 years ago. "I'll stamp random letters on this vise, they'll be so confused. HAHA"

I'm kinda confused. I am having a hard time picturing the kaowool and refractory placement. I made a little picture to show how I think you said it was set up. Is this how your forge is set up and is this the proper way? I guess I'm more of a visual person so please allow me this clarification.

Adam

I'd like to see some photos of the burners you built, just for my mental database.

I was wondering if it would be a good idea to surface the top of the anvil to make it a smoother. I have an old one that's beat up.

Would doing that detract from the value or usability. All the pits and dents affect the steel being hammered.

Just curious what you think.

I wish i remember the episode number on forged in fire, but it was 2 episodes ago. There was a lady smith making a knife, but she kicked out in the second round.

It was a dagger competition, and she covered her handle with leather. Ok, I don't know what she was doing for the 2 hours they let her attach the handle, but her dagger performed much better than the other guy. They said her tip was cracked. I couldn't see a crack in it. The guy they let pass dagger was so dull it wouldn't cut a burlap sack.

In fact in the final competition his kukri knife was not very sharp either.  The guy from angry giant forge won. He was a big guy that just did his thing. I liked that.

So what do you guys think?

Adam

I built my forge stand out of wood. Before everyone goes nuts, I bolted a steel plate to the top of that. The plate is held away by nuts that hold the plate of the surface of the wood. I've had it burning red hot and the wood isn't even warm. 

On 3/10/2016 at 10:52 AM, jcornell said:

The bushing may or may not have a sharp corner inside - if it does, this kind of messes up the air flow, which is a bad thing.  Some filework on the inside of the bushing will go a long way towards improving your flow, which means your burner will work better.

I thought about that, you'd think it would be easy to get a T that has various dimensions. My hardware cares alot of items but not that piece.

Jcornell,

I sprayed the inside of the forge with fumed silica and heated the thing. Should it look different after doing that?

I haven't noticed a difference. I have to get some more kawool and cover the inside of the door. Its getting hot and needs to be insulated.

I truly appreciate all the time and advice you guys have given me. I wish I could do something in return.

I posted a note for old bandsaw blades from our resaws. I think they would make decent damask type blade. If anyone wants them, just let me know and I will cut them to the length you want and mail them off to you.

Adam

Take the photo outside on a bright overcast day. That will give you an excellent photo.

Or, send the sword to me and I'll photograph it in my studio and send it back. I promise to send it back HEHE.

It's an amazing piece of art by the way.

Adam

Hey this one is right side up.

I used the tip this way so it would fit my old fittings (save money)

Do you think the bushing will disrupt air flow?

I haven't tried it yet, my propane take is empty at the moment.

The tip of the mig is about half way across the whole. This is what your images look like.

Adam

You plans are all around the net. Variations, people will say this is a frosty T, but then its a little different.

Either way, last night I took some time to fashion up a new tip. I have some pics attached.

The dang pics are upside down. I put the mig tip in my drill press and shortened and tampered the tip. The tip is just about halfway through 1" hole of the T.

I got a 1/8 inch compression/pipe thread fitting and tapped out the one side at 1/4 - 28 UNC.

The hole in the T was tapped out to 7/16 - 28 UNC. I'll have to get a nut for the tip, so it doesn't travel.

You guys think this is a good start?

I am making a T-Burner.

I was looking at your plans for the T burner. It seems if i use the adapters i have it will stick too far into the T. I didn't see these plans until just now. I was looking various places for them and they all seem slightly different.

I'll head back to the hardware to see if they have i need.

Thank Adam

The tip in the left uses a compression fitting, But it will be longer.

The tip on the right will needed to be braised, but it will be shorter.

Any preferences?

Adam

is this fumed silica that same as cabosil or colloidial silica? If so, I have a large quantity already. We were into making hovercrafts and used it to mix with the epoxy to give a body filler effect.

I have some parts for the T-burner and I'll take some pics to see which setup looks best.

Adam

Thanks for the advice,Mikey.  I am already call the hardware store to make sure they have the stuff for the burner design you suggested.

On 3/6/2016 at 8:13 PM, WayneCoeArtistBlacksmith.c said:

I have youngsters come to my shop for classes.  First thing they want to make is a SWORD!  I tell them that is to advanced so then they want to make a KNIFE!  Then I tell them you come here and learn how to move metal and to make the projects that I assign and then after about a year we will look into making a knife.

Wayne, they are excited. Can't help that. How many stick to long enough to gain the knowledge to make knives?

On 3/4/2016 at 3:14 PM, notownkid said:

Seems like 2 out of 3 people stating out here want to make knives with no experience, no equipment and expect to be producing them in 48 hrs.  Doesn't happen that way, it's not like a lot of hobbies that everything is available at the drop of the hat it takes time and training.  While I like to watch the folks on the TV shows forging knives it seems like everyone thinks it's easy. 

Good luck but training and education must come first.

You know the series Forged in Fire has really peaked people's interest. But they should note that guys with 5,10,30 years experience screw up under pressure. The last episode I watched the man that won made a sword that was never heat treated to the correct temperature. You could tell before he quenched it. Sorry for going off in a tangent. Just making the point that even with experience you can still fail. So as you say education is truly important.

Forgot to mention the forge is insulated with ceramic wool. Apparently nasty stuff for the lungs but it insulates the forge nicely.

There is no reflective coating, not sure what that would even be.

I think I have experienced that turbulence you are talking about. The flame can be erratic at times. Probably due to the air holes.

The tips aren't into the forge but they are deep into the pipe. It makes a nice blue green flame. The weird thing is that the area right below the flame isn't nearly as hot as the area around the flame.

I just figured Teflon was Teflon.

The door is big but it closes and there is a much smaller hole that we use to put the metal in and out. You can't really see that from the photo. The regulator is one I got from amazon. It's adjustable, but it might not be as adjustable as needed. I'll look at it and see if there is any marking that indicate the flow.

Thanks, Jcornell and Mikey, I truly appreciate your input.

Adam

Thanks for the input, I put a picture on the site.

It's under gas forge tab.

I will look into finding a group in my area.

My son and I built this forge from some videos we found on youtube. It will heat metal fine. Its just not hot enough to weld anything. I have seen some people say a one burner forge can weld steel, but our is two burners and it still doesn't get hot enough for that. Take a look and let me know what you think the problem might be.

Adam

Sorry they seemed to have loaded sideways.

John

These are amazing. I've seen your website before and you do beautiful work. It's so cool to see that you are part of this forum.

Adam

Hello,

I'm to this site and pretty new to forging. My son and I built a coal forge that worked pretty well, but it was small so we dumped it for a propane forge we made out of an old 20 LP tank. We had one burner on it and it didn't get quite hot enough to weld. So we just put on a second burner. I'm not sure it will weld either. I hope I can learn from you guys. I have experience in other ways that might make me an asset too.

Good to meet you all.

Adam