TFT

Wow thats a massive forge... i know i had some issues (Perhaps bouncey) with my crappy flares, as i have tried to machine a few... maybe its your flare what is it and or pics heres my air intake..

Alot of holes 

Without seeing the thing its gonna be hard to give advice but with that style of burner try slots instead of holes with a choke tube.... i have a burner that probably looks very similar with a bunch of holes but it was limited and i moved on to a venturi so i have made one with the slots

If you look real carefully you can see all the holes behind the hammer and the pipe is like swiss cheese and the choke does nothing but reduce heat

Im thinking it wouldnt work (maybe with a few mods like having a copper coil around your nozzle before the jet ).... based on what little i understand you need the oil to be preheated and have a blower.... but ive never made or seen one in person so thats my 2 cents which is worth dirt

1 hour ago, Latticino said:

Unless you plan on spending a fortune in fuel you need insulation in any case. You have a lot of options, all have their benefits and drawbacks.  I'm certainly not going to catalog them all for you.  A kiln shelf forge without additional insulation would be arguably worse than a hard brick forge.  You would be better off with a torch.

Yea ive never used a kiln shelf for anything and that was just an ideal and didnt give it much thought but i figured id ask about them cause i may have a large suppy for free/cheap... theres a pottery shop near me that noone has tapped

For the bottom being the hard refractory topped with kitty litter would i still need blanket under the refractory... trying to make it as simple as possible.... K.I.S.S.

And for the shelves i was thinking kiln shelf forge.... but i figured they were garbage for a insulator but it would be easy

Yea im happy i made a few sweet burners so i may have to try my hand with a blown burner... but ill give the NAs a shot

Yea the thread rod idea was just an example for me to understand the concept but your idea is alot more fisable

But how good is a kiln shelf as an insulator? Like a high quality one.

But that does look like a high quality vertical... bigger than a propane tank or should i say a bbq grill tank. Which i can get more bbq tanks... or i have a 20gal water heater tank which is huge but can be cut down in height

And for me anyway i like the vertical concept for welding, because flux buildup, i use alot of flux, maybe too much of thats a thing. Another reason being even heating even though i like to use the hot spot.... maybe ill make a 2 burner vert one in the "forging port" as a optional hot spot

Thanks for the tips and such

The bouyancy thing i didnt even think about that but you saying something really makes sense... if i get this right i need to keep the flame contained as best as possible without losing heat potential

With the baffle, if i understand, a kiln shelf on a threaded rod hanging from the top would work... but id use it to adjust forge volume... for temp basicly

As for wanting to enclose the blanket is (not sure on this) that the thin hard layer would make it fragile after heat cycling since its a heatsink and i assume the outside would get hot enough to cause damage... and what do you think of the non toxic claim, i was thinking non toxic=non good or non toxic under perfect circumstance

And about the burner... i was thinking that id need to go with a blown burner

So what your saying is even with a inner linner of hard refractory you should rigidize inswool like products?

Wow that looks great but i dont have any real input in the materials

Im in the process of making a vertical forge ( still have to emply the tank in the proper manner) but i have a few products im thinking of using and was wondering if anyone has used this exact products for advice but...

Ceramic blanket.... claims to be non toxic

http://www.sheffield-pottery.com/SUPERWOOL-607-HT-BLANKET-8-lb-Density-1-p/tcsw607ht.htm

Castable refactory

http://www.sheffield-pottery.com/LOUCAST-3000-CASTABLE-MORTAR-p/lvclc.htm

Im going with the normal layer layout with a bunch of kitty litter as the bottom but whats a good way to make the burner port, forging doors, and lid seal all in one pour/cast. Im kinda weary of the wool and those hazards so i wanna have it kinda sealed off as best as i can.

Im planning on ending up with a 7in dia 8in deep chamber about 308ci( if i did the math right) but im thinking of going with a tee burner(picked up a couple of t fittings today, machine tomorrow). But heres a few picks of my other burner setups in action im thinking theyre good but im just a rookie

First two pics are same burner 

Now other designs

The only reason on my burner questions are i dont think i was reaching welding temp in my old forge(which could be because it was/is terrible and it was only about 110ci) i did it backwards to how most people progress in their forge size. But if you didnt notice im kinda set on NA burners and i didnt even know of frostys tee burner untill today because i thought it was a design that uses the "run" to attach the mixing tube(which im not a fan of their construction) 

Also could i use the different burners for different purposes i.e. welding, ht, temper......

As for the placement and size of the forging ports, should the top of the port be flush with roof of the forge and i was thinking of using 3x4 sq tubing as the mouth/doors 

So thats alot... but any help would be nice because i havent found too many vertical forge plans/ walkthoughs

Scrach that im thinking i got it... just took a helping hand

its been etched... but only by having the acid sitting on the surface for like maybe 10min

Sorry i didnt want anyone to not make money... and id be happy to even check out someone shop if the price is sweeping. 

Yea ive read alot... and one thing ive read is spending an hour with someone who know their stuff is better than reading for weeks

And restating how to weld doesnt help... ive read that many times and watched those famed youtube folks many times

(Correction) 

If anyone wants to help a starter out, im willing to maybe make a trade(being a machinist) but if no one wants to help its just gonna be alot of wasted propane/firebrick/material/sweat but thats the fun of it

So im pretty green to this whole smithing thing so i joined in on the forum fun(post a thread) but im wondering if anyone in Wisconsin or better yet someone in driving distance would be willing to come over to offer advise( or learn along side me) or let me come over to watch someone work (i know creepy). Mostly im trying to work on forge welding but ive had little to show for my effort.

And in an effort to not get turned off to smithing im  swallowing my pride and asking for help

I suppose eveyone needs to know my more presice location... Muskego Wisconsin. And like i said id be willing to drive if thatd be better... and i saw a few north woods folks on here anyone near lake tomahawk/lac du flambeau?

Yea i dont see myself investing in a power hammer.... yet

18 minutes ago, Frosty said:

 4140 or other hardenable steel is nice but heat treating that much mass is tricky if you don't have the facilities.

Frosty The Lucky.

I was thinking that if i was to weld a plate on top it would or could be hardened by the heat of that much weld but ill give it a shot without the plate first

Yea i suppose i get me a nice sized chuck of 4140 and give that a try... ill have to wait till next weekend if im to get some scrap steel because the scrapyards are about to close and i cant go during the week.

1 hour ago, JHCC said:

If you're really serious about a hardened steel face, it would be best to make sure that you like the shape before you commit time, effort, and consumables. 

Good point but for making my blades do you think i need a rounded edge(again no exp with bladesmithing)

5 hours ago, John McPherson said:

http://www.metalwebnews.com/howto/anvil1/anvil2.html

Thats epic and never thought to get a burned out anvil

4 hours ago, JHCC said:

Or if you don't want to get quite that fancy, you could fab up a Brazeal die anvil fairly easily. 

See also Alec Steele's short video about this style of anvil. 

That looks to be my best option but would i need to do some sort of surface treatment or let it work harden.... i also was pondering a top plate of a harder steel(tool steel fully bevel welded)... but just an idea 

Sorry for the screenshot... it wouldnt let me quote the whole thing but...

Thats kinda what i would of like to hear as an idea... simple, cheap(some what), and very easy(wasnt looking forward to any mass welding... look at the temp in the screenshot and it was raining today), but that thread did shine alot of light onto what im looking to do verse having a fork or some rail to work with.

But that being said what would be ideal as an improvised anvil? Assuming i just order a chunk of steel it should be what grade?  Im thinking that what he has is probaly a good size for my needs but i understand that longer(standing tall) would be better

17 minutes ago, Buzzkill said:

The search function on this forum doesn't function well.  Try a web search using "iforgeiron" as part of the key phrase.  Start with "making a 400lb anvil."  After that all I can suggest is paging down through the topics in the anvil section of the forum until you see a topic title that catches your eye.  There are quite a few regarding making anvils though.

Thank you for not just saying "google it" and i will look into those keywords/phrases

2 hours ago, JHCC said:

As for fabbing anvils, there are a LOT of posts on that very subject in IFI. Take some time with a good internet connection, snacks, and a cool drink and browse to your heart's content. Lots of really good information, and even if you don't find the answer you thought you were looking for, you'll have a much better idea of what questions to ask henceforth.

Alot eh?... show me a link cause i searched... unless these post dont use words like "making an anvil" or "fabbing an anvil"

And as far as questions i got a ton i figured itd be easier to not ask all of them at once... cause ive seen post on here where a guy askes a bunch of questions at once and he ended up asking the same questions mutliple times

Thank you for the warm welcomes

But the welding would more less be a way of joining major parts... like the base being two parts then the striking face being a piece of like 6in 4140( thanks daswulf) then milled flat on 3-4 sides... 

3 sides meaning i would fit the still round side down to the base and fill the whole void of the round to the rect. Base with weld.... a laborious task...

4 sides meaning a bolted from the underside of the strike face as well make a maybe 1in deep "v" groove to fill..

And sorry im in southeastern wisconsin

So this being my first post i figure id tell yall a thing or two about myself before getting in to it...

Ive been a machinist for about 12yrs.... shop class included(i know, it doesnt really count) where i did some minor smith work... in the past 6yrs ive been a welder then a welder and cnc machinist. 

And i know alot of people say "i know how to weld" then they procede to make a mess of the metal... but ive fabricated weldments holding massive amounts of weight overhead(like 1000+lbs)...

So over all im a above average welder, above average machinist, and a well below average smith... but on to important stuff

So does anyone know if anyone has tried to fabricate an anvil?

And if you have any pointers thatd be great.

Im also a big fan of making things that could be bought so i dont want everyone saying "just buy one" although that may be the route that i have to take. Im planning on using said anvil only for blade work so im thinking i dont need a horn. Which would be the hardest part for me to make.