Irondragon Forge ClayWorks

If it's mainly rust, I would use Evapo-Rust nontoxic and contains no acid but works like a charm. http://www.evapo-rust.com/

We mixed it to troweling consistency like concrete, don't think it was too wet. The bubble aggregate was larger than expected though and it did not cover as much as expected. What I did was tamp the bubbles in with my fingers to get it as smooth as I could, like tamping concrete to get the aggregate below the surface. I figured it was a chemical reaction that set it, like epoxy because after a couple of hours it was hard as a rock. This morning we fired the forage and could tell the difference in heat right away even though only half the forge was coated. The same piece of rebar reached forging temperature in three minutes and after six it was at high orange (almost welding heat). Debi figured out that it will have to be done in sections as you said so we will order more and coat the rest now that we know how to work it. Still contemplating applying a IR reflector like Plistix if we don't reach welding heat after the exhaust ports are closed up. The test this morning was with both ends open.

It depends on what is wrong with them. If they are clogged up with shavings a file card will usually get them clean. Some folks etch them with acid but I don't like to do that. If they are very good American or English files, it would be worth it to send them out for sharpening. I have used this service in the past. http://www.boggstool.com/

I would put a little blackpowder somewhere, now that would get their attention.

Today we put in the bubble alumina, hope it wasn't a mistake. That stuff is very difficult to work with to say the least. We could only get it about half way up the sides, doubt we will use it again. Letting it air dry overnight and will fire it up to cure it tomorrow and hope it sticks to the Satanite.

Nope... not TMI. The scale formed when I took the bar out of the forge and upset the end a little, no scale in the forge. A second heat and I was able to walk to the anvil 30 feet away and still draw the end out so it's getting hot for sure.

I got some scale off the rebar but no more than when I heat it in the coal forge. The heat blast out of the forge is pretty intense, heating a bar about three feet long without a stock rest is uncomfortable holding it up. Never using a propane forge, I didn't know if that was normal or not.

I see your handle laying right next to the rake. It looks like an earlier project with a twist and sort of hooks on each end. Draw the longer end to round then wrap it around the end of the rake then secure it with a single rivet at the end.

Maybe it's my imagination but not in sunlight it looks pretty good to me. I won't change anything until we see after the kiln shelf and bubble alumina is in. The folks at BOA agreed too. This was after running for 5 minutes at 5 psi.

I tried shutting the choke down but it had little effect. I'm thinking I have too much secondary air around the burner at full heat. I'll try sealing the gap with kaowool to see if it helps. Not sure if it's lean though, will try for some pictures tonight.

Yesterday was a nice day weather wise, in the 80s with about 70% humidity. We applied the final coat of Satanite and let it air dry overnight. A local propane dealer (next town over) had an orifice for the burner. It had a really small opening (.025) tried it a but it wouldn't stay lit. I drilled it out to .036 and it worked. The burner would light at 10 psi and after warming up I could back the pressure down to 5 psi. Did several short burns to set the Satanite then ran it for an hour and I think it's running a little lean. Couldn't get any good pictures because of it being sunny out but the color looks about yellow to me. I heated a piece of 1/2 inch rebar to forging heat in about 5-10 minutes but it seemed to take longer than my coal forge. No problems with back burning yea. The next step is to cut the kiln shelf for the floor and coat the interior with bubble alumina, which should raise the interior temperature. After that I might consider drilling the orifice to .042 (my next drill size up) if it's still running lean. Tomorrow we have a BOA meeting and I'll ask some of the propane folks what they think about that idea.

Looks like an engraver's ball vise to me. Pretty good and handy.

I've suffered from CRS since my 40s. That's why I still carry my pocket note book that my wife calls my mind.

Another problem is the minimum order of 23 ton's containerized, don't think I could use that much ornamental iron in my lifetime.

Anytime, one thing I forgot to mention is to use the point on the cutter to remove the little inside burr on the tubing from cutting.

Yes, I like to double flare all compression connections especially ones that carry pressure or are disassembled frequently . I have less problems with leaks that way because the flare is thicker. I make sure the line is cut square using a sharp tubing cutter and extend the end of the tubing out of the clamp by the thickness of the flaring anvil. I use the deep style nuts designed for double flares too. All of my household propane copper connections have been trouble free since installing them 35 years ago and the steel brake lines that I replaced on my old '53 Willys Jeep are still holding. Don't know if there is any special technique involved.

I have that one, great reference book.

A Snap-On T-5 is the flaring tool I have. I bought it 40 years ago and just follow the directions that come with it. I would shy away from the HF or Northern tools.

I think the commercial heat gun cost $40 at Lowe's ten years ago for pottery work ($60 now). It took about 15 minutes to totally dry the Satanite. I put the Gaco burner in and fired it up for two minutes at 5 psi then turned it off, let it cool down. The second firing was for six minutes and cool down. The last firing was for 15 minutes and I checked the temp with a pyrometer at three minutes and the temp was 1850 degrees which stayed steady so I increased the pressure to 10 psi and blocked half of the rear exhaust with a kiln shelf. The burner then back burned (kind of surprising) so I think the .0625 orifice is too large, other than that the flame swirls beautifully and the color was bright orange. Next is to order a smaller orifice and apply another coating of Satanite.

Nothing fancy just old tree stumps. Same for the post vise (sunk into the ground), have worked well for decades and free because we live in the woods.

Where do you get coal around here?

The humidity is very high right now around 90% and raining all week one reason for the heat gun set on low.

It's been a while and the forge had to go on the back burner for a while. Today we put in the first coating of Satanite. Will let it air dry overnight, then fire it tomorrow. I was thinking of using our commercial heat gun in the burner port which will heat the interior to 300 degrees for the first firing to dry the Satanite, let it cool then use the burner for the next firing..

When I was in the USCG we cleaned all the chalky galvanized items with a paste made out of baking soda then used automotive paste wax to protect it. Do you see any red rust with the rough areas? If so the zinc coating has been damaged and re-plating is about the only cure for that. Pictures would help.

I have never had a problem with copper splitting. Usually happens when the flare is too large.