WayneCoeArtistBlacksmith

A friend of my said that the air compressor cost him more than his converted from steam to air 750# Chambersburg. Wayne

No body mentioned Frosty's NARB or the attachment on my web-site on the Forge Supplies page. Check out the Build a Gas Forge attachment and the Ribbon Burner attachment on the Forge Supplies page on my web-site for instructions on how I like to build a good, efficient, tough, long lasting forge and how to build your own Ribbon Burner. You should be able to build in a couple of days leisurely work. Let me know if I can help you. Check my profile for my web-site, e-mail address and phone # , I prefer e-mail. Wayne ...

I instruct to mix it to about the consistency of mortar. The more water added the weaker the casting. It should trowelable. Wayne

John, if you had water puddling you probably used to much water and also got a weak casting. Wayne

I was going to mention that the all metal Ribbon Burner would cause pre-ignition but I see that Frosty beat me to it and did a better job than I would have. Wayne

Mikey, I don't remember shipping to South Africa but just today I received an order from the Czech Republic. You are correct, shipping is high. Wayne

bought some perlite, portland cement, etc, etc etc per the U tube experts then I found this site. Well, I'm sorry but anyone who suggest perlite and Portland cement were not experts. Check out the Build a Gas Forge on the Forge Supplies page at www.WayneCoeArtistBlacksmith.com for instructions on how I like to build a good, efficient, tough, long lasting forge. You should be able to build in a couple of days leisurely work. Let me know if I can help you. Check my profile for my e-mail address and phone # , I prefer e-mail. Wayne

Check out the Build a Gas Forge on the Forge Supplies page at www.WayneCoeArtistBlacksmith.com for instructions on how I like to build a good, efficient, tough, long lasting forge. You should be able to build in a couple of days leisurely work. Let me know if I can help you. Check my profile for my e-mail address and phone # , I prefer e-mail. Wayne

Check out the Build a Gas Forge on the Forge Supplies page at www.WayneCoeArtistBlacksmith.com for instructions on how I like to build a good, efficient, tough, long lasting forge. You should be able to build in a couple of days leisurely work. Let me know if I can help you. Check my profile for my e-mail address and phone # , I prefer e-mail. Wayne

Crazy, as for learning steel, 1/4" round is good for J hooks, hearts and other small items. 1/2" round or square is good for leaves and animal heads, 5'8" and 3/4" and 1" are good for larger heads, etc. Those pretty well cover it for hand hammered objects. Common steel yard steel is A46 or mild steel. Don't think that you have to go to a steel yard and buy new steel. Found steel, steel from a scrap yard or a salvage yard is more likely than not A36. Even if it is not you can probably still forge it, it may just be a little bit harder to forge. The main thing is to get some metal, get it hot and hit it. My mentor would ask, "When should you start over or try to fix it?" Well, if you are working on a 10 step item and you mess it up on the first step, throw it in the scrap pile and start over. When you start over you will do the first step better. If you mess up on the second step, throw it in the scrap pile and start over again. Now you will do better on the first step and better on the second step. When you get to the third step,,,etc,,,etc. When you get to the 8th step,,,,maybe you want to try to fix it. "Build a scrap pile and you will become a better smith." Wayne

My dad always said, "If you have to ask, is it good enough, it probably aint. Wayne

Alan Kress makes an elephant head using angle iron. There is a video on YouTube where a member here forged an elephant head on the head of a RR spike. I have forged a long horn steer on the head of a RR spike (Steak Knife) and won the best RR spike knife at the Batson Blade Symposium, the next year I won with an eagle which I called "The American Eagle, and the next year with folder with a Damascus blade and the head forged into a leaf. I have also done dogs, a Mule head (Jack Knife), a Dragon head, etc. I have plans to do a Moose and Elephant. Wayne

I really like mine, I have had it for about 11 years and have had no problems. I like the utility hammers because is sits there quietly until I press the peddle. I put a motorcycle muffler on the exhaust and now about all I hear from it is the dies hitting hot metal. Wayne

Majidii PM me. I may be able to help you. Wayne

Frosty is harsh, but correct. When I have students that the first thing they want to make I tell them to come to my shop for all day once or twice a month and after a year, and you have learned how to move metal, then maybe, we will see about forging a knife. Now back to your original question, but not the answer you were looking for: All thread that you can get at a big box store or a hardware store is not a high carbon steel (btw, all steel is "carbon steel". The carbon is what makes it steel.). There are high carbon steel all threads but you would have to get them from a specialty supplier. Wayne

Grumpy, You have pretty well stated all the whys and why nots. It will get you started and that is good. Even if you only use a forge once a month you will want to move on to a better forge soon. You could paint the interior of the bricks (the side that forms the heating chamber) with either Plistix or Metrikote to improve the efficiency. Check out the Build a Gas Forge attachment at the Forge Supplies page at www.WayneCoeArtistBlacksmith for instructions how I like to build an efficient, long lasting forge. By your comment about replacing the air compressor you have not told what size tank you have. I feel that a Freon tank or a 20# Propane bottle will build a plenty large forge and over that is mostly wasted. Let me know if I can help you. Check my profile for my e-mail address and phone # Wayne

Well Ben, with your handle of "blacksmith-450" how would I have known that we had a history. Thanks, your stuff is on its way. Let me know if I can help you again. Wayne

Charles, it looks like that urethane tank is smaller than a helium or a refrigerant tank. Blacksmith, I suggest that you check out the attachment Build a Gas Forge at xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. I recommend casting the interior of the forge with Kast-0-Lite and then paint over that with a pint of Metrikote IR. The brick is a heat sink and the Kast-0-Lite is resistant to the effects of flux. Let me know if I can help you. Check my profile for my e-mail addy and phone # Wayne

Ausfire, I think that you did very good especially if you have never seen one. On your next one please post WIP photos. You might want to make the antlers more horizontal. Wayne

Check out the Grinders and DVD pages on xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. You will probably find some valuable information there. Let me know if I can help you Wayne

Why not build your own? Save money and get a superior forge. Check out the Build a Gas Forge attachments at xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. Lots of folks have used that design and been very happy with it. Let me know if I can help you. Wayne

I have seen a post where just 15N20 was forged into a billet, then forged into a knife and etched. It was a very attractive blade. I do know that nickel does not like to weld to nickel but then there were the results.. You can get a very nice hormone line with just one steel (like 5160) with edge quenching. You may be surprised by the results you get. Wayne

Here is a write up I did a couple of years ago. 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. To program your PID for temperature control I found this on www.lightobject.com support forum. Re: JLD7100 PID Temperature Controller Setting Postby cumorglas » Wed Sep 08, 2010 7:17 pm press the set button using the arrows to move the blinky bit over and the numbers up and down make it say 0089 then press set again use the up and down arrows to get it to to say inty then press set again use your up and down arrows to get it to say k which doesn't look like a k at all. it sort looks like this |_| It looks more like a backward 4 | then press set again then use up and down arrows to make it say end then press set again then you should be fine and able to tell what temp it is wherever in your forge you put the thermocouple. make sure it can handle the range you need. if not k thermocouples are not terribly expensive Be sure that Fahrenheit is the temp setting -- CorF = 1. Good luck and Let me know how I can help you. Wayne Coe

Now Frosty, I think that was one of the mildest responses you have made. Direct, to the point, advise needed and no growling. Wayne

I use 22.5 degrees. If the base is about the size of the base of the anvil legs at that angle are out enough to make it steady and not so far out as to be a tripping hazard. Wayne