Irondragon Forge ClayWorks

I have been known to get out in the forge in my Pj's with my leather apron on. Of course I live way out in the woods so no neighbors to impress.

Old Arkansas joke. A couple had promised the BIL he could name their child who was about to be born. He chose Deniece if a girl and Denephew if a boy.

I would go with Mikey98118 and buy the Chile Forge, if I were in the market. Too many that have a Forgemaster are less that happy with them.

My prescription bi-focal glasses are made from a poly-carbonate material that is rated as ballistic with a special coating. I don't remember the manufacture but every time I get a new prescription my eye care center has the record of them. I have had some pretty hard impacts on them over the last 10-15 years both on the range and forge with no damage.

While building the forge other ideas pop up, like using it outside to prevent fires in the smithy. Then having to move the propane tank from the other side of the garage and building a cart for the forge from a cannibalized BBQ that someone had dumped on our road. The last several days took up those projects. Had to get a load of crushed limestone to level the land outside the smithy door so we can use the forge outside then step through the door to the anvil's and power hammer. The next project is to replace the chicken house curtains a storm tore up.

Take it from one who has experience with gas kiln's, eyebrows, mustaches and hair on arms & head will burn as quick as the beard. I learned from experience you can't dodge a propane fire ball.

I have 3 or 4 large stumps from a tree we had to cut down, all of them would work for an anvil stand. You are welcome to your pick, just bring a friend and truck they are heavy.

My wife is the potter of the family and understands all that stuff about kilns, kiln washes, rigidizer's, clay properties, Satanite, Kaowool, and on and on. Stuff that's over my head or goes in one ear and out the other. The solution we came up with is she will be in charge of what goes inside of the forge and I for what goes on the outside.

Speaking of sucker rod, back in the late 80s someone had put a lot of it cut up into 4 ft. pieces in the cities scrap metal bin. I had permission to scavenge all I wanted from the bin and at the time I was driving a Honda CRX. I loaded all the rod and cut off ends into the CRX and headed home with the front wheels almost off the ground. When I got home I weighed the lot and it came to 400 lbs. no wonder the CRX gave a sigh of relief when I unloaded it. I still have a lot of it left.

Decided to return the burner tube back to it's original angle. Welded it in yesterday. Now to insulate it with Kaowool. Spent today cannibalizing a BBQ that someone dumped on our road for the cart. It's coming along.

I am at the point of installing 2 1 inch layers of Kaowool. Planning to use Frosty's rigidizer of 30 % Kaolin/ 70% kiln wash. My question is are the measurements by weight or volume?

Not a myth, but my wife's rule of thumb "In the Blacksmith shop if it ain't hot, it's sharp".

Welcome to the world of Blacksmithing, gotta make stuff (tools) to make other stuff.

If it were in my shop, it would be mildly dead. I hate big snakes, I hate little snakes, I hate sticks that look like snakes.

Great story Frosty. A friend of mine once found a wild turkey hung up in a hog wire fence. He thought it was dead so he put it in the cab of his truck and headed home. After going a short distance the turkey revived and proceeded to beat the living daylights out of him with it's wings and feet. Hearing Bill (nicknamed Kong) tell about it was so funny, I sure miss that guy and his turkey hunting stories.

Do a google search like this ("iforgeiron" stainless) without the parentheses, you will be surprised at the number of threads about it.

Made this bottom fuller from a cut off end of a drill (sucker) rod, can be used with anvil or vise.

Among those already mentioned is the metal chop saw. I have had more "close calls" with it than any other, including the power hammer. One of our club members who has decades of experience had his chop saw bite him and a trip to the ER and orthopedic surgeon was in order to sew his finger back on. Fortunately the outcome looks positive as he will be able to use that finger again after it's healed. He still can't figure out how it happened. Talking about visitors, my father worked at a defense factory during WWII running a lathe making aircraft bearings. One day there were visiting Congress Men and my father was showing them how the stock was chucked up in the pneumatic chuck. As he was taking the stock out of the chuck one of the visitors leaned over to get a better look. He leaned against the lever and closed the chuck on my fathers fingers. They sewed his fingers back on but his index finger although healed was stiff because the knuckles were crushed. Always be aware of where visitors are and what they are doing.

Good to know we can venture into alternative burners for forges. I am planning to try a Gaco MR-750 kiln burner that I have on hand. It's fairly large for a forge but it idles down to a soft flame at 2 psi and really cooks at 15 psi. I'm thinking at 2 psi it should heat my 20 lb propane tank forge economically.

The best way to get stock is go to the source, before it reaches the scrap yard. Just some of the places are auto-truck repair shops for all kinds like axles, tie rods, sway bars, torsion rods, springs. Body shops for sheet metal and frame parts etc. most will save stuff and give it away. I made friends with the mechanics at our school bus garage and they saved me all the leaf springs they replaced for a lifetime supply.

My front property line runs along the middle of a long abandoned 1800s railroad line. The line is a county road and every time they would grade it a dozen or so spikes would surface and we picked them up to avoid flat tires. The county paved the road 15 years ago ending our spike collecting.

Thanks Dave, interesting read. With the Gaco-MR750 kiln burner I can idle it down to 2psi and get a soft flame at 76,880 btu or crank it up for 243,140 btu at 20psi. It may prove out to be too much burner though.

I did change the burner tube entry angle and with the burner I'm planning to use the flame is much larger in diameter than the home made burners. All the forges I have seen in use, the flame does contact the work but with the flame swirling I thought scale may be limited.

Thanks Wayne Dropped the burner tube to nearly horizontal. Think that will work? I haven't attached the legs, so I can rotate the body if necessary. Also, with the six set screws I have some adjustment of the burner angle.

Yes I did read the attachment, was planning to put shelves at each end for the D opening. I don't think the picture angle shows the opening correctly, there is a 2 1/2 lip all around. We did use the collar as a template but cut the hole as a circle. The orifice is replaceable so I was going to wait on getting a .035-.040 to see if I can tune it with the .0625 that's in it. The main thing I am concerned with is the angle of the burner tube, which I have changed. The picture shows the new angle.