WayneCoeArtistBlacksmith

You will probably find a good anvil when you go to Mississippi Forge meetings. If not come to the Batson Blade Symposium the First weekend in April. There are good tail gate sales there. If I haven't sold the Trenton 141# I have it will be there. The third weekend in May the Appachalian Area Chapter Blacksmiths will be having their conference in Murfreesburo, Tn., then the Alabama Forge Council has their conference near Birmingham the first weekend after Labor Day and Quad State Roundup will be the forth weekend in September. All of these conferences have good tail gate sales but Quad State is by far the best.

EERF is FREE backwards. You can download the plans from www.wilmontgrinders.com They are the plans that the GIB is based on.] The GIB is lazer cut from 1/2" plate. I think that you would be better off getting a GIB unless you have a good method of cutting the parts from 1/2" plate. Most who are making knives really appreciate the veriable speed obtained by using a VFD and the multi wheel type grinder as oppossed to a Grizzly, Coote, Kalamazo or other 2 wheel grinder. I have had people come to my shop with an new 2 wheel grinder, seen my grinder, then sent the 2 wheel model back and bought my Moe's Grinder.

I close the air baffle when I light my forge with a b-bq lighter. I get just a soft fluffing flame, step back and open the air baffle.

"I don't mean to be short but it's a pet peeve of mine when people post without answering the question in the original post. If you don't have that expertise then please refrain." WayneCoe, on 07 December 2011 - 08:15 PM, said: I suggest that you build your forge from a 20# propane bottle or a freon bottle (they are both readily available for free. Use 1" of Inswool then cast over it about 1/2 inch with the Kast-0-Lite then paint with an Infrared product. Go to my profile and send me an e-mail and I will send you an attachment showing how I suggest that you build a forge. Cutting a propane bottle with a torch, plasma or even a saw is a short path to whatever deity you believe in. There is no way to make such a bottle safe after it has been filled and especially if it is old. Furthermore 1" of castable and 1" of wool will cost you a ton of cash in the long run. Not to mention the fact that the castable will press down the wool with weight and reduce the insulation power of the wool itself. Why would I go to the trouble of building a ribbon burner and shove it in a substandard forge? WayneCoe, on 07 December 2011 - 08:15 PM, said: I too am in the process of building a ribbon burner and expect to have my new forge finished soon. Hmm ... if you are still at the stage of doing can forges, I would wonder about a ribbon burner. If you don't have those welds gas tight and a good seal with the Kastolyte, you will be in deep trouble. Also did you consider the volume of the area in a propane tank, the enclosed back and the dragons breath? Ribbon burners put out a crapload of BTUs on blowers and I'd hate to see you get cooked by the dragon's breath. Well, I will try to address each of your concerns as relates to my response to your request. From reading your post I thought that you said, “I am planning up a new forge…” I interpreted that as you were planning to build a new forge, therefore I thought that my response was approprate. I have built many forges; all except the first one have been made from either propane bottles or Freon bottles with never a problem. Therefore, I feel that I do have the expertise. Since this is not a private message I felt that the information might be useful to others as well as you. Anytime when opening a closed container, whether originally filled with flammable or non-flammable contents open all valves and empty any remaining contents. Some valves will not vent by just opening the valve so then drill a hole in the container. When I do this with a bottle I do it in the end. This serves two purposes. 1. It will allow any contents to be vented or poured out and 2. It gives a place to insert the saber saw blade for cutting out the doors. I certainly would not suggest cutting into a closed container with a torch. Straight cuts can be made with a reciprocal saw or a cut-off wheel on an angle grinder. I cut the doors in each end then cut the container in two lengthwise to aid in casting and add household hinges to hold the two parts together after casting. By building this “clam shell” design you can also take out one of the hinge pins and prop open that side of the forge allowing you to heat forgings that will not fit through the doors. I would not use a torch because you need straight, even, uniform cuts so that when the parts are put back together they fit well. When you first drill into a propane bottle you will probably smell what you may think is propane. It is probably the oil which is put in the bottle to give the gas the odor as a safety feature. After you have cut into the bottle you may want to wipe as much of the oil out as possible. I suggested 1” of Inswool (or other ceramic blanket) and ½” of Kast-0-Lite (not 1”). Ceramic blanket’s insolating properties are not the same as fiberglass insulation used in your home. Ceramic blanket actually insolates better when it is compressed. When installing it the blanket should be spritzed with water and pressed into position, then the Kast-0-Lite cast over it. The Kast-0-Lite is a light weight, insolating castable that is resistant to flux. For the blanket, castable and Plistix for a 20# propane bottle forge expect to spend $61.00 plus shipping. That is for 2 feet of 1” X 24” blanket, 3 6# bags of Kast-0-Lite and one pint of Plistix for a total weight of about 20# plus the weight of the shell, burner and whatever leg system used. This is anything but a “substandard forge”. As to your comments about the ribbon burner, it goes without saying that the burner, or any burner, should be well built. There should be space between the ribbon burner and the forge casting to allow for expansion/contraction (see http://www.pineridgeburner.com/ ) Your forge should have both a front and back door. This allows longer forgings to be put in the forge and to allow for needed back pressure(see http://ronreil.abana.org/). Now to go back to your original question, as I understand it. I feel that you would be better off to cast a dome or arch to have a monolithic pour and to hold everything in place. I would not use the stainless steel pins because they would be causing a thermal break in your casting, even if they do not go all the way through the casting. As I said earlier, Kast-0-Lite is a light weight, insolating castable. This means that it will moderate the thermal swings by keeping the heat inside the forge, then with the Plistix it will be even better. My present forge is made of a 30# propane bottle with 2 1” T-Rex Burners and after the forge has been running all day I can reach out and touch the outside. Now that does not mean that I hug it or grab hold of it but I can touch it and not leave my finger prints behind. I had not intended to write a complete tutorial but hope that this answers your questions and helps others.If not I apologize.If anyone has questions or would like to discuss this further please do not hesitate to call me, e-mail me, pm me or post on this thread and I will try to help however I can.After all, isn’t that what we are all about as blacksmiths and bladesmiths?

What would you like it to be, Mrs. Customer?

I like a good heavy well welded 3 legged stand then caulk the anvil to the stand. You will be amazed how much that will dampen the sound. The stand is ridged and by making the anvil and stand one piece you have also increased the effective weight of the anvil.

I suggest that you build your forge from a 20# propane bottle or a freon bottle (they are both readily available for free. Use 1" of Inswool then cast over it about 1/2 inch with the Kast-0-Lite then paint with an Infrared product. Go to my profile and send me an e-mail and I will send you an attachment showing how I suggest that you build a forge. I too am in the process of building a ribbon burner and expect to have my new forge finished soon.

ITC 100 and Plistix are completly different products than Satinite. Satinite is a castable refactory. ITC 100 and Plistix are Infrared Reflective products. You can paint the IR products over the blanket but you are not getting a tuff surface. Anytime that a piece of metal touches the surface it will poke a hole in it. You will get the IR effect and will contain the ceramic (read glass)fibers. I recomment 1 inch of ceramic blanket covered with a castable refractory then paint on a coat of IR. Call me or e-mail me if you have other questions.

The GIB is a good way to go. Study his web-site closely and explore his links. When I build belt grinders I get my wheels from www.usaknifemaker.com. Tracy gives good service and has everything you need. I use the Poly wheels. They are much less expensive than the rubber wheels and I have not had a failure in any grinder that I have built of kit that I have supplied. You can also get wheels from xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx I use a drive wheel, tracking wheel, 2" and 8" poly wheels. If you contact Sunray just tell Keith that you need a set of wheels like he makes for me. I have not heard good things about the Grizzly wheel. You can call me or send an e-mail if you have other questions or if I can help you. mod note : Spam vacation site link removed,, It would have been allowed to post a Email for the person rather advertizing his off topic site

I have a 120# German Style double horned anvil for sale for $575.00. I am in Sunbright, Tennessee, about 70 miles north west of Knoxville. This anvil is in better condition than when I purchased it new. I have radiused the edges and smoothed the horn and face. I got it for a demonstration anvil and have purchased another, otherwise I would not be selling this one. Old World Anvils has a similar anvil for $650.00 that is 118#

Bud, see you next Saturday in Murfreesboro? Be sure and say hi. I'll be there to show the belt grinder that is built in my workshops.

OK guys, I guess that I may need to go to some other places and make changes if this is a problem. Thanks

I registered on I Forge Iron back the first of last year but have not been active. I am Wayne Coe, I have been blacksmithing for 10 years, served 3 years as president of Alex Bealer Blacksmith Association and have served on the Board of Directors of ABANA. I work full time in my shop in north east Tennessee and have a group who meets in my shop the second Saturday of each month. I attend AACB Regional meetings on a regular basis and go to several conferences a year. I conduct Belt Grinder workshops. At present I have a workshop set up for May 6-7, 2010, at the New England School of Metalwork (www.newenglandschoolofmetalwork.com) and will be teaching a beginner's class there May 8-11, 2010. I enjoy making new things and visiting with others interested in this craft. Wayne Coe [

In short, yes, horse shoes are mild steel, generally. I first started making these as letter openers, then decided to quench in SuperQuench. I don't draw a temper. As said in the descriptions, I sharpen my carry knife about once a month, less often than I have to sharpen my wife's Case Equestrian and all she cuts with it is Bailing Twine. Wayne