rangert

Frosty, Charles, Roger that! I will work on it more. I agree from other pursuits and professional experience that learning the basics first is "All important!" seems no different on that aspect here. I will dress my hammer faces (honestly hadn't thought about that much). So I think then, that I have my heat about right for this furnace though it also seems like I will be forever tinkering with it. I chose this one because it is a scrap piece of steel for me to just kinda work on to figure out some of those processes. I flattened it back out because it is my learning piece to see what I can do to it. My next process is going to be making some square nails maybe. I am also learning how to use the geometry of my ASO as well. I have been using the face mostly but now I intend to try to use the horn some. I believe I got pretty close on the anvil height on my first try, part luck, part experience elsewhere. My profession deals a lot with ergonomics at times. As far as body posture, martial arts taught me a lot about how to move on this. In that discipline, you do a lot with your hips and knees and so that seems to come pretty naturally, I try to use less in my shoulders as that would just wear me out pretty fast. So another question I have, on the time thing, I thought about tapping the anvil between blows, to help give me a chance to build rhythm and also to slow me down enough to be more precise with my hammer placement. What are your thoughts?

So I have a collection of several hammers. One of which is a 3 pound cross peen. That seems to be my favorite so far. I also have a 3 pound engineers hammer that seems to do a decent job and my son has a 3 pound drilling hammer he likes because it has a shorter handle and he can use it better. I also used a large ball peen that I have for rounding the spoon before I flattened it back out.

Ok, so after my last test, I think I added about 100 degrees to my temperature by closing off the back and front of my forge with some firebrick, I also messed with the air intake on my burner and learned how to produce a reducing atmosphere. I also was able to thin my half inch billet to about 3/16", make it spoon shaped and flatten it back out. I think this piece of steel will become a spoon for my flux when I start trying to learn forge welding. So for now, I am able to move metal but my question is this: On a typical heat, how long do you typically have to hammer away at it before you have to return it to the furnace and reheat the metal. I figured I was getting about 4-5 minutes of hammer time max before it was too cool to continue. I imagine that is probably a mass issue as well as heat so just to be clear I began with a 1/2"x 2"x 6 inch billet roughly. Also, I am leaving a ton of hammer marks so, I assume that comes down to hammer control. Any hints or tips?

Ok, so to answer the questions given me about the last post. Time is a huge factor for me as I travel for a living so opportunities to spend time scouting out things is at a severe premium. Also, I have not looked for any IBA meetings locally for the same reason. That said, when I do have time, it does come in "chunks". I do have the desire to begin bladesmithing (Ihave a couple of knife designs I can't seem to find on the open market for hunting and utility knives) but figured I should work on different projects first to beef up skills that I need to "figure out". So I spoke to a guy making knives and swords and he suggested coal was better because of the ability to avoid carbon loss and some other reasons. The same guy also gave me some ideas about where and how to source good knife steel (old saw blades etc.) and that has been echoed elsewhere. He was a wealth of help for the half hour we spoke but it also opened up more questions. For the reasons you mentioned above, I still intend to use gas. My furnace is a single burner tube design that can is lined with 1 1/2 - 2" Kaowool or some other ceramic wool and has a 1" firebrick floor. I think the hot rolled I am working with is maybe 1018 or some other mild steel. It welds nicely (back when I was welding a lot) but it is a little "gummy" to machine and drill (not like stainless though). I figured that might be due to low carbon content or maybe low silicon content. Not sure there. I believe when you add silicon to cast iron it improves machinability and grain so figure steel probably shows the same property. I got that information from an old foundry manual I read once. It seemed pretty much on the dime so I don't doubt its veracity. I am sure you all will correct me if I am wrong!

Ok, I got my anvil pedestal and due to budgetary constraints, limitation on what I could find and time (the hardest commodity to find), I purchased a ASO (not a good anvil at all) from Harbor Freight. Got my furnace fired up and started trying to learn how to tune my furnace, and move metal on an old piece of 1/2"x 2"Hot rolled steel I had laying around. I got my temp up to around 1600 or 1700 degrees or so I think by the color of the steel. So now comes questions: First, I think I need to get another 200-300 degrees out of my furnace. My flame was blue but not bright blue. What does this mean for way of tuning? Too much air? Not enough? Also, I read the manufacturers instructions and the nozzle is supposed to be about 1/4"-3/8"up in the body of its tube (the measurement is about 8 MM by instruction) will this have any effect if I change it? I have been told coal is the way to go but I don't have the space for that so needs mean I have to start with gas. Second, mostly I checked the color chart for steel temp. I know different steels have different forging temps. Hot rolled steel is not ideal to begin with but I figured I would hose up a cheap piece of steel just trying to figure it out rather than waste a better piece of steel on newbie junk. So now that I am here, and hammering away, where would you think I should go next? Tool wise, I am using an old pair of channel locks for a set of tongs for now but this is not ideal because of the angle. I don't own a welder so welding a "handle" on is sort of out of the question for now. Please let me know what to expect to pay for a better set of tongs and what properties I should look for. Thanks for the imparting of knowledge.

I don't intend to do any "beating" at this point (I wouldn't quite say I have any technique so I would not go so far as to say hammering) on a wooden object though I suppose there are times when you might want to for a "softer"touch. Still, I appreciate the heads up, no arsenic twitches for this cub scout. I am on the hunt for a larger piece of steel still though.

Exo313, when I get close to a setup, i will post some pics. Currently still trying to source a couple of items for my "shop", part of the issue is also keeping this compact. I was reading a couple of posts on that that gave me some ideas. Do you all think a regular pressure treated 6x6 on end will put up with the pressure of repeated hammering? Thoughts. Going to Omnisource on Bluff Rd in Indianapolis to check for a block of steel today.

Moved from the Advice to Newbies thread Hi all, I got my furnace fired up for the first time yesterday. I think I have quite a bit of tuning to do to it but it will work well I think. Single burner design from Devil Forge in Lithuania. no problems with it so good score there. I got my test billet up to dark orange heat and began shaping son with my son. I will say that left hand threads are a bear to get used to My anvil is not large enough to use properly (it is only about 4"x4" square face and is cut to resemble an I sort of) so I am on the hunt for a larger piece of steel to use. If you have any recommendations for inexpensive alternatives, I would appreciate it. A block of cold rolled steel maybe? or is tool steel a better option if I can find it? I was thinking about maybe looking around to see if anyone had an old die set from a full scale industrial forge (the kind used to make automotive parts or whatnot). Also, I need to assemble my work space so that it we can work out of it. So much to do.... By the way, I will start my own thread so as to quit hijacking this one so please look for that one here shortly.

Hi all, I got my furnace fired up for the first time yesterday. I think I have quite a bit of tuning to do to it but it will work well I think. Single burner design from Devil Forge in Lithuania. no problems with it so good score there. I got my test billet up to dark orange heat and began shaping son with my son. I will say that left hand threads are a bear to get used to My anvil is not large enough to use properly (it is only about 4"x4" square face and is cut to resemble an I sort of) so I am on the hunt for a larger piece of steel to use. If you have any recommendations for inexpensive alternatives, I would appreciate it. A block of cold rolled steel maybe? or is tool steel a better option if I can find it? I was thinking about maybe looking around to see if anyone had an old die set from a full scale industrial forge (the kind used to make automotive parts or whatnot). Also, I need to assemble my work space so that it we can work out of it. So much to do.... By the way, I will start my own thread so as to quit hijacking this one so please look for that one here shortly.

So first projects are not what might be ideal but a: I don't own tongs and B: I don't own an anvil either and c: the wife is at her spend limits atm. So really, I don't have any option for a first project and I have to start somewhere. So my anvil will be an old block of cold roll steel I have and I still have no tongs...

Thanks for the advice all, I read up on some of the properties on rebar in various places. Seems you might make a wall hangar or something but that is about it. I need to make tools for use right now but nothing hardened yet. That will come later. The blade smithing is one end goal but not the only one, however, it is important to remember that as a way to keep focused. When I started machining, I was started out on an old Bridgeport mill. Never learned CNC though. Tongs seems like a good first project. This is something I am doing with my 12 yo son so we will learn this thing together.

Hi all, first post and true newbie/ metal beater here. However, I am determined to learn how to do this. I currently have most tools scrapped together (I think) and my wife bought me a single burner gas forge for father's day. Due to past/ current work, I have a 3 pound engineers hammer, cross pein hammer same size, several sizes ball pein hammers and a good variety of other tools. I am using a fairly large ammo can for a quench tank and have a plan for my overall setup. However, I am having a dog of a time figuring out what I can do for a good anvil (budget limited as I have a kid in college). My thought for a beginning project was to make a hunting knife (hopefully), though I feel like I ought to use some rebar to maybe fashion tongs and other things (like hangars etc. to get used to shaping hot steel etc.). Like I said before, my real issue here is where/ what/ how I can find something to use as an anvil. Any ideas or experience would be greatly appreciated. I do have a fair amount of machine shop experience and worked maintenance in an industrial forge for about 18 months. Understanding that I need some experience with color gauging, steel characteristics and heat treating is there. I have access to a color chart but for different alloys, I imagine it might be different. Any other reference material folks might recommend is also very much appreciated.