Irondragon Forge ClayWorks

Take a look at this 5lb Ship or top maul.

http://www.hammersource.com/Maul-and-Punch/5-lb.-Ship-or-Top-Maul-high-carbon-steel-heat-treated-32-wood-handle/

16 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

I do not use it, I do not advocate using it. It once was a suggested quenchant; but is no longer as are many toxic mixtures used historically. Anybody else want to dogpile on this?

At one time I did use old motor oil, (specifically 30wt non-detergent) as a quench. I was told that old motor oil contained carbon from combustion which made it a good quench.

I no longer use it because for me it was harder to draw a good temper than when I started using vegetable oil (peanut oil) which has a high flash point and smells better. I can't address the health aspect of old oil but from what I have read it's some bad stuff so I also no longer advocate using it.

I would never use old motor oil for a quench. My choice is peanut oil or you can buy specialty quenching oils.

We have a county trash compactor and take our household trash there every Friday. They have a roll on dumpster there for metal. We made friends with the personnel and they let us "dumpster dive" in it. Amazing what we come up with. A couple of weeks ago we got 4 coil springs and a torque rod from an old garage door...perfect.

Hot punch hammer maybe.

My Grandfather was a blacksmith in the U.S. Army. He served with Black Jack Pershing during the Mexican expedition chasing Poncho Villa all over the SW. When the Army started moving from horses to mechanized they made him a mechanic. How I miss his stories of adventure and blacksmiths advice.

Speaking of buggy springs a friend of mine was tilling a space for his garden and ran into a treasure trove of buried buggy springs which he gave to me that I covet because they forge so well and make good knives and tools when tempered properly.

Did the "iforgeiron" search on Google and only came up with 2 very old threads. I hate reviving necro threads so thought I'd show my latest. My wife has an old very large cast iron kettle that has just sat on the ground for years and I've threatened to make a simple hanger for it. Some 1/2 inch old reclaimed bar stock with the ends drawn out to about 3/8 (give or take a little) with eyes. Yes the ring is rebar forge welded. Some short chain and 4 s hooks. The whole project took about two hours.

Feel free to jump in and show your stuff. That is unless you're in Arkansas where most yard ornaments are old rusty cars/trucks on blocks or toilets with flowers planted in them.

If the surface rust bothers you after cleaning it off rub some automotive paste wax on & buff it.

You might be addicted if...

You pull a tendon in your hammering arm elbow and try to finish a project using only the power hammer.

I've learned that my wife plays me like a fiddle. Actually I enjoy it.

You're off to a good start.

My suggestion would be not to use rebar for your tongs. Do a search on Google like this "iforgeiron" rebar to see why. Some rebar has it's place in Smithing but tools are not one of them. Others will say never use rebar but if you find old rebar made in the U.S.A. I've found it's suitable for some projects.

Yep good start for sure. Next thing you know you will be "junk shopping" and stuff will follow you home. Then you will have to build a shop to hold it then a bigger shop.

Heat it hot and hit it hard.

Found this Champion while "junk shopping" it was laying out in the back grown over by weeds. It followed me home after leaving a fifty dollar bill with the owner. It was mounted on 3 1/4 inch angle iron and a big truck brake drum base. All I had to do was spray it with WD-40, oil it and put it to work. I use my newfangled drill press but if the Apocalypse comes I'm all set.

The only thing I use wood pellets for is starting my fire. The binders in wood pellets will contaminate the work, just as charcoal briquets will.

I just learned to live with the surface rust. Doesn't seem to hurt anything. Besides that most of my muzzle loading rifles the barrel's are rust browned so I'm used to it. My moving machinery gets wd-40 + oil/transmission fluid rub down.

My forge is made from recovered items. The body is from a semi truck rim (cut down) with a manhole cover ring as the table, cut down grader blade legs, a donated Champion hand crank blower that I had to rebuild. The only thing I had to buy was the black pipe to attach the blower. It's been going trouble free for 30+ years.

I can't help with the gas fired forge because all I ever used is a coal fired one. For me the "secret" is in the flux and I found out with Borax if I dried it in the oven at 200degrees for several hours it worked better. I just posted a reply in another thread about flux.

For me the secret to forge welding is in the flux. I know some smiths weld without flux but I never could. Ike Doss taught me to weld 30 years ago using a flux he used from The Cortland Welding Compound Co. He gave me about 5 lbs of it which I have used up and had to go to Borax, which works but not as well (for me). I found an original 1 lb box on eBay a couple of years ago but now I'm running low again. 

While researching Cortland's compound, I think I've found one similar so when I run out I will be ordering Climax Welding Compound from Centuar Forge.

Anyone have experience with it?

http://www.centaurforge.com/Climax-Welding-Compound-5-lb-can/productinfo/5CLIMAX/

I wanted to chop the bark & moss off but my wife liked it. It's her anvil soooo it stayed. Fits right in with the messy shop.

A photo after we mounted it on a stump.

Here is our latest find. The stump came from a tree we had to cut that was leaning over the house.

When I was working as a police officer a trooper and I were trying to round up a wayward cow that escaped the pasture. The trooper pulled his unit up to the fence by an open gate. I was herding the cow along the fence thinking she would go in the gate. To both our surprise the cow vaulted over the troopers hood without touching it. Didn't know we had an Olympic high jump cow on our hands.

My wife Debi refers to all flea markets, yard sales, garage sales etc. as junk shopping. We have found some real jewels while visiting them. I once found a bucket full of tongs with some brand names and a few that needed repairs. There were 15 in all and cost me $10 so ya I love to go "junk shopping". 

Your wife says lets go junk shopping for blacksmith stuff and you come home with another anvil for her.

In the school of Blacksmithing, there is no graduation day.~Me Randy