Jasent

The insulating kastolite 30 li is great and I personally don’t think it needs anymore than that

Could you just use spring dies?

That they do Have you seen Joey vandersteegs guillotine tool. I like his design a lot! i built mine like I did because my large leaf springs fit perfectly

My pleasure

I did after the picture was taken.

That’s close to the size of my forge and I used less than 10lbs but I made my floor 1/2”-5/8” thick in place of a kiln tile. 50lbs is way more than you’ll need but forge linings are consumables so that’s up to you. Though that much will last a very long time

Here is the guillotine tool I made with hammers in mind

Also mentioned he was the striker which is what led me to believe two handed. I agree being in shape helps a lot but good technique helps endurance. Dosent matter what kind of shape your in if your technique is poor your going to be wore out faster

It sounds to me like he is asking about two handed striking and not one handed forging.

Spring fullers are a pain for hammers imo. May want to make a Guillotine tool for hammers

Nope that stuff is for sticking bricks together and will not hold up in the forge. Kastolite 30 li is what I’d recommend. It stays rock hard even at 3000f and it very resistant to flux Yes the rigidzer stiffens the wool giving a good base to support the refactory and also helps keep the wool from shrinking over time from thermal cycling. If you’ll edit your profile to include your general location I might be able to recommend a place to get the kastolite 30. Many things are dependent on location so just telling me in this thread won’t do much good as it will get forgotten next time you have a question. You might be surprised how many helpful members live near by.

How’s it working out

Got an order for 6 more leaf coat hooks. Also they want to do a vertical coat stand from a small log and want me to do a base for the small log. Got plenty of research to do

Beautiful job on everything! I’m sure he will treasure it.

You have everything you need except the experience to know it. All that’s needed is something to heat, something hard to beat on, and something hard to beat with. Don’t fall in to the trap of “I can’t do that cause I don’t have this” If there is something you want to make but don’t have the right tool, you first make the tool. If you don’t know how then first research how to make that tool. Ive made just about every tool in my shop and there is a pile of failures in the scrap bin. To this day I still don’t have a “real” anvil and have no desire to get one. You can can do it, there are just a few more steps to get there

Looks much better than my first spoon

Glad you didn’t get hurt. Could have been worse. Beard will grow back.

Do you have a hot cut? With the huge leaf springs I’ve found it’s easier to hot cut a chunk off and draw that out for blades or punches. Much easier to cut and work a chunk like that than dealing with a big spring. 1” x3”x3/8” is what mine end up after the cut. I’m not a knife maker so mine are typically made in to punches, but could be drawn out and tapered for knives.

And merry it was frosty. Thank you.

Made a set of bolster dies and butcher dies for my guillotine tool today. The bolster dies are a hair big for my monkey tool so one or the other needs a change. Wanting to play with some mortise and tenon joints

Sounds like a good day in the shop cgl

Thank you. Sounds like you got your hands full as well.

I got animals too. 5 cows 160ish chickens, 4 pigs and dog and cat. They come first. Then the fun

Summer, spring,fall I’m working or hunting. Typically trap in the winter but just didn’t have a pull for it this year. Fur prices are low and I got steel in the bin. May as well stay home with the wife to be and pound steel.

I wish I could just forge every day. But winter is about the only time I get to forge.