WayneCoeArtistBlacksmith

Hard bricks are a heat sink.. A cast floor of Kast-0-Lite will be resistant to flux and will provide some insolating benefit. Let me know how I can help you Wayne

Check out the Build a Gas Forge attachment on the Forge Supplies page at www.WayneCoeArtistBlacksmith.com for instructions on how I like to build a good, long lasting, efficient forge. Let me know how I can help you Wayne

You need an Infrared Reflective product. You will probably not find it at a big box store. Let me know how I can help you Wayne

You should use a release (oil the form or I lined my form with blue painter's tape). after you remove the sides use a hack saw blade to cut through the crayons. It sounds like you made it too thick and were not gentle enough with it. Let me know if I can help you. Wayne

Check out the Build a Gas Forge. It will tell you about casting the interior of a forge. With your concerns for wanting to forge larger pieces this design will help. Let me know how I can help you Thank you, Wayne

And with a Cole Vise on the end of the table. Thanks Jim for all the information that you have given me about this unique vise and drill system. I have two set up on two of my tables and I use them daily. I haven't gotten much use out of the drill but am glad that I have a complete setup. Between you and Fred at Quad State I have learned a lot over the years. I miss you, be sure and tell Fred that I miss him too, along with all the other friends that I made up there. Let me know how I can help you Thank you, Wayne

That is pretty slick!

How about just accepting what other smiths with much more experience have learned and shared? Follow their experience, then after you have some experience begin doing your own experiments and studies.

Bristol TN: Bristol Forge – Meets the second Sunday of each month at 1:30 pm at Rocky Mount State Park Historic Site. Join the group and attend meetings. You will not only see demonstrations, you will be able to get in the fire and meet other blacksmiths. Let me know how I can help you again. Wayne

Go to the Forge Supplies page at on my site and check out the Ribbon Burner attachment. The first few pages are John Emmerling's plans for how to build a Ribbon Burner. I haven't done all the studies and calculations that David has done but I do know that I get a more even heat, more control of the atmosphere in the forge and I do burn less fuel. I run mine at about 1/2 psi and forge weld without flux. Let me know how I can help you Thank you, Wayne

I use 1/4" NPT throughout. Let me know if I can help you. Wayne

Grev, it is not UV you are trying to reflect it is IR (Infrared Radiation) . If the forge does not have an IR coating it would probably benefit from it. Let me know if I can help you. Wayne

Eric, go with it. No problem. Let me know if I can help you. Wayne

Let me know if I can help you. Wayne

Eric, I suggest that you check out the two attachments on the Forge Supplies page at www.WayneCoeArtistBlacksmith.com. I think that you will find your answers there. Let me know how I can help you Thank you, Wayne

My wife and I are both left handed. I never thought about horses being left or right dominant but I have always mounted or saddled from either side. If we are on a hill side I mount from the side that is easier and I have never (after years of riding) had a horse object to the side that I was mounting from. We just got home from going up in Ky to pick up another horse. 11 year old Tennessee Walker. You all have fun ya hear Let me know when I can help you. Wayne

You might have used to much water when mixing the Mizzou. To much water will weaken the casting. Mix it with a little water, if part of it is still dry add a few more drops. It goes from to dry to to wet real quick. Better to add a few dropps several times rather than to much once. Let me know if I can help you. Wayne

Some PIDs are battery operated and some plug in. I mounted mine in a gray electrical duplex box with a solid top, I cut a hole in one side for the PID to mount in. This is my information on pyrometers: How I got my Pyrometer. September 15, 2015 by Wayne Coe I have had a number of people ask me about how to get a Pyrometer like mine so I decided to write up this little sheet. I have the PID that you can find at this URL. http://www.lightobject.com/JLD7100-PID-Temperature-Controller-P44.aspx There are a number of other companies that sell this PID and there are other PIDs also. Last year I paid $28.42 including shipping but now I see that it is $28.95 plus shipping. With this PID you must also supply your own power cord so there is another expense, unless you can source a power cord from an old extension cord or something similar. For the Thermocouple you can use this URL. http://www.omega.com/pptst/TJ36CAXL_NNXL.html These come in 12” and 18” probes. For a 12” probe you can order a TJ36-CAXL-14U-12. I just priced that out and it came to $44.00 plus shipping. Remember that the reading comes from the very end of the probe only. The tip of your probe needs to be in the area that you are measuring the temperature. In the case of a Ribbon Burner that would be in the center of the burner. I have mine lying on the floor of the forge. I mounted my PID in a double outlet box and used the plastic outdoor type box which is gray and is waterproof and dust proof if you use a cable gland for the connections. I ran both cords out through the one cable gland. Keep in mind that the probe is somewhat fragile when hot. You need do devise a method of securing the probe in the forge and the PID so that they don’t fall or otherwise get moved around while you are working. I drilled a hole in a fire brick to extend the probe through and mounted the box to my forge stand. Good luck and Let me know how I can help you. Wayne

I suggest that you start out checking out the Build a Gas Forge on the Forge Supplies page at www.WayneCoeArtistBlacksmith.com. For a Freon tank forge you would need: 1' of Inswool 3 bags of Kast-0-Lite and one pint of Metrikote. This is certainly not the only way to build a gas forge but it a way that I have found to be a good, efficient, long lasting forge. Let me know if I can help you. You can send an e-mail. Wayne

Don't use compressed air quick connects in a flammable gas application. Go to the welding supply and get the ones made for flammable gasses, then check them often. The too leak, but not as bad as the ones for compressed air. Let me know if I can help you. Wayne

If you heat the blade to just hot enough to melt wax it will pick up straw to blue color, heat it to where the was smokes and you will get black. I use this when finishing blacksmithing projects. Wire brush to remove scale first, I usually do this immediately after forging a piece so it has residual heat to melt or burn the wax. If I want the forged look, or straw or blue and I start to apply wax and it smokes I wait a little bit for it to cool down some and check again. As Slag said you might want to put the edge in water to make sure that you do not effect the temper of the edge but these temps should be well below the temp to cause blue oxide color (500 degrees). Let me know if I can help you. Wayne

I saw this and thought that it was close to me, Somerset, Ky Bristol, Va. and Tn. I saw this and was ready to drive over. I finally figured out that it is across the pond so a bit far for a weekend trip.

Dennis, John was taught how to build a forced air Ribbon Burner by his neighbor, a long time gas blower. That burner works very well and I don't think experimenting around with would improve it appreciably. Frosty wanted a naturally aspirated burner so he spent a lot of time figuring out his NARB. I think that if you want a blown burner you would do well to use John's plans. If you want a NARB use Frosty's. Unless you just have a lot of time to spend experimenting . If you come up with any improvements on either burner I'm sure that we would like to hear them here. Let me know if I can help you. Wayne

Eric, John's plans are in the Ribbon Burner attachment at the Forge Supplies page on www.WayneCoeArtistBlacksmith.com. I recommend a 3" burner built using 3 x 3" square tubing for a forge built using a Freon Bottle.. For a forge built from a 20# Propane bottle a 6" burner using the 3 x 3" square tubing and for a 30# Propane bottle forge a 9" burner. See the attachment Build a Gas Forge at the same location for the way I like to build a gas forge. Let me know if I can help you Wayne

Well, for less than $200.00 you can build your own, and have a better forge. Have you read the attachment, Build a Gas Forge, at the Forge Supplies page on www.WayneCoeArtistBlacksmith.com? Let me know if I can help you. Wayne