Dcav

Very Nice.

We have a pair of Barred owls aka Hoot owls that hang around the farm. Very cool to listen to and watch at night.

Awesome job!

Man that is pretty slick well done.

Came out great! Very cool pattern.

On a secondary note, i had my first burning metal happen while heating multiple pieces. Was yelling at our pitbull puppy for eating pecans in the back yard (im in the back pasture outside the barn) and check my rr spikes i was working in tomahawks and melted the dang heads off of them. So the new setup gets hotter much faster!!!

Hello from another Texan.

Good tips, i like the fence idea, will be my next project. I was actually using the leaf spring to melt wax to make a few dozen egg carton fire starters, kept my melt can from tipping over or melting.

Version 1.1-moved up the forced air supply, and added a ball valve to control air flow (using a shop vac for air supply-on blower mode) Still need to work on the ashgate idea. Definetly gets alot hotter quicker with the air supply 18" closer.

Very nice. The copper looks great the way you used it.

Dang sure the fanciest wrench knife I have seen. Awesome job.

If anyone works in the automotive field, or has access to a Mac distributor these hammer definitely keep the hand fatigue down, they have a dampening system in the hndle: (about $60 each) http://www.mactools.com/en-us/Striking-and-Struck/Hammers/SH2AV/AntiVibe-Blacksmith-Hammer-2-lbs- http://www.mactools.com/en-us/Striking-and-Struck/Hammers/947e7bb5-9f7e-44a5-a209-a30a014f0fe5/AntiVibe-Drilling-Hammer http://www.mactools.com/en-us/Striking-and-Struck/Hammers/99f40cb5-da83-4a65-89c6-a30a014f137f/AntiVibe-Sledge-Hammer

Very cool.

Just curious what everyone likes to forge the most? I am a big axe/hawk fan, I have several in process. Making a sign for the farm as well but with all the bending for the letters that going to be a lengthy project. I also like knives but have not forged one full, i cut a few out from leaf springs and forged in the bevels but have not finished anything yet.

Very cool.

The barn cat keeps most of the smaller critters away. Tons of dirt daubers on everything possible, leather apron, under saws and grinders inside tool bag etcs. Lots of yellow jackets, kill one nest and find two more.

Very Cool!

Do you find the anvil undersized for the work your doing? Just curious as I am also shopping for an anvil as well.

Appreciate the tips, gonna move up the air supply as suggested and see what I can make for a ash dump. Was going to weld a bent piece of rebar to the drum to support longer pieces during heats. So might as well do the mods then. Again thanks for the tips.

I run the shop for a large Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram dealer. Get a good bit of scrap picking from the repairs as well, have a few axles and springs to tool around with. I do have a grate over the air flow pipe, and the clean out plug is annoying but will work for now. Already had the refractory cement, figured it would keep the drum from cracking. I didnt want a table style setup since I have everything outdoors, mostly so I don't burn the barn down lol. Definitely alot of good info on here so far.

Started off a a stock removal knife maker. Been wanting to get into true blacksmithing and forge work. Been working in the automotive repair field and came across a scrap large brake drum and got inspired to build my first forge. Welded a piece of scrap diamond plate over the hub hole and lugnut studs holes. Used a hole saw to cut out the opening to weld the floor flange in. Materials used 18" brake drum. 18" -1" threaded pipe 1" floor flange 12"-1" pipe to forced air suppply 1" pipe plug 1/2" angle iron for legs and braces. 1" angle iron welded to bottom of legs and bolted to a 1x10" piece of scrap lumber-which I buried 2 feet into the dirt. Shop vac setup as a blower-using a rheostat for air flow control aka light dimmer, may swap that out for a ball valve for the rheostat. As the rheostat gets hot! Lined base of drum with refractory cement 3/4" thick. Total cost in materials less than $100.00 Hav'nt had a chance to do alot of forging yet, but hope to get her roaring tomorrow and get some work finished up. Got a couple RR spike tomahawks in process.