Pr3ssure

Alright. Pretty much what I figured. I saw a nice set, can’t remember the brand right now but it had a few tips, hose and regulators. It was like $180. Seems worth it. I did see some victor on eBay for like $30 but I’d be weary and wouldn’t buy without sealed packaging.

So since my neighbor has been letting me use his garage and torch and all that, I've notice that the regulators are both pretty beat up. Neither of them leak so I'm not worried about a failure or anything. At least not yet. He was donated the tanks and everything but I'd like to replace them as a nice gesture, you know? I was wondering what a good set of cheaper regulators are. I saw some on the walmart site for like $24 per regulator or so. Would those be worth buying? I'm sure they'd work and all but am I getting what I pay for for the most part? I don't think the torch has gotten much use aside from me using it the last few days. Although I want to get something that's going to last. I've read about Victors being nice, but they are a little expensive. Basically wondering if there are any cheaper brands that are nice. I'm not trying to cheap out but I'd like to not pay more than $100 for a set if possible. I would even be interested in kits that come with regulators, tips and a hose. I'm sure it could use it. By the way, it's a full size setup, not mini tanks. Thanks in advance, Pr3ssure

I must have just skimmed your post rockstar and got it mixed up. I thought you were saying it was harder to control. Yeah, not something I thought of initially but definitely a good though. Probably even section it off with a wall. The garage is about 80 feet or longer I’d say. It’s atleast twice the width of my house long ways and it’s like 42 or 45 or something like that. It’s a big garage, used to store 50 golf carts along the walls easily. Mom definitely lucky he’s a good guy and interested in the some of the same things as me. —————————— Also on a separate note, I’m wondering if there’s anyway to make all sides of my firepot touch the tabletop aside from bending the whole piece to the right shape. I’m thinking about cutting slits on the front and back and bending it a little to decrease the gap.

Someone on here, maybe this post. Or maybe i read it wrong. But they said something of the sort. And for my neighbor, that’s basically the agreement we came to. I asked if he wanted money and he just said to give him a hand when he needs it. He bought the club house/house for the golf course that used to be beside me so he has a giant garage that was once used for golf carts. He said if I help him clean it up I can have a section of it to store stuff, we both agreed I should pull the forge outside for the time being though until I’m comfortable enough to not burn anything. We will also setup a chimney, there’s already one of those spinning air gate things on top of the place. It’s cool though because he also wants to try forging, so it works out. We will probably build a propane forge together and hopefully a strong relationship. He seems like a no BS kind of guy which is hard to find in a person. Especially a nice neighbor. He also talked about turning one section into a wood working shop which interests me a lot as well. Hopefully I can get a lot done this week while he’s at work and surprise him, he works on pipelines 5 days a week.

I know, but from what others are saying the control with that air gate isn’t as easy to get the flow you want. I also want a rheostat so I don’t have to run it at full power when it’s on, it’s an old blower and it was not in working condition when I got it. So I would like to keep it running. Also between a rheostat and an air choke I think I could get both for free or cheap and installing would probably be a breeze.

Got the hole cut earlier, neighbor even gave me some nice wheels to put on it. Can kind of see one in the corner.

Yeah, didn’t think about it when I was there. Although Glenn messaged me with a bunch of places and phone numbers in Morgantown and Waynesburg, I’m probably gonna see about those first. If need be though I’ll come up that way. I’d have to borrow a truck, or get my cousin to take me in his dump truck. Lol I’m gonna be going over to the neighbors here in a bit to get my table set up and I figure he has a tap so I can go ahead and fix the bottom of my tuyere. I don’t know why I never thought to ask him. Just not used to having a neighbor I guess, especially a nice one.

Maybe I'm thinking bituminous should be cheaper than it actually is. I just don't understand why anthracite being far less of the coal supply is $7 for 50 lbs but I can't find bituminous for less than $1.25 a lb

So, I can't seem to find anywhere around me that sells bituminous coal anywhere. Anthracite was cheap at lowes and I can't see paying close to a dollar a pound buying it online. I tried lighting the anthracite in my forge and had no success, I know I could make it light but from what I've read I'm not trying to have to run my blower non stop to keep it going. I live in West Virginia right near the Pennsylvania boarder, so I have a coal mine on every side of me. One being like a mile and a half away. I'm going to try to call them tomorrow from the number I found on google but I highly doubt whoever answers will be able to help me. Should I just try and find someone who works there and see what they can find out? Should be so hard to find bituminous coal, it said on the WV Coal website that it's 50% of coal mined in America and anthracite is only 0.5%. Basically I'm wondering how to go about getting coal from a local mine.

So earlier today I was getting some marble tiles off my neighbor and I had asked him about a piece of steel he had that was a little under a quarter inch thick or so, he said I could have it. I continued on about how now I just need to build the table and I’d be pretty well set. So he says meet me by the basement door and he shows me this. On it’s side it’s right about knuckle height, I have some wheels that my dad found in a dumpster at a factory beside his work. Their like 6 inch dumpster wheels basically. I’d like to put bearings in them and set them up on this table and it would be perfect height I think. Either way it’s just what I wanted. Maybe a little small but plenty big to say the least. I didn’t measure but I’d say the way it is it’s about 30 inches wide by 42 or so inches long at around 30 high. The plate he gave me is plenty big to cover it all and he’s even going to help me cut the hole out with his torch set tomorrow. Turns out my neighbor is a great guy. (Fairly new neighbor) I’ve never had neighbors here before, there used to be a golf course but it closed and they moved in.

Yeah, I might try that. Trying to light my coal earlier was a failure. It's anthracite from lowes, it just didn't want to start. Also most of these guys have been here since the beginning of my learning. Everyone is very helpful, well when you don't ask stupid questions at least. lol I consider myself lucky having access to things like this, it's an invaluable resource. Same as youtube, I learned to lay carpet last month when my mom started tearing up her living room and told me it was time, so I had to figure it out one way or another. I'm gonna try and figure out a way to install one in the blower. I forgot to take pictures of the holes to show earlier. Otherwise I'm gonna have to figure out how to install one between blower and tuyere. Which may actually be better because the bolt holes don't exactly line up on the two so I'm probably going to get some flange and pipe or flex pipe. Also it will take a little weight off the forge itself and I can mount it separately.

there are two holes on either side of the blower, I figured that's what they were for. I don't think they are centered though, a little towards the bottom. I will take a picture when I get home though. Yeah, it seems with it just barely cracked it get's a lot of air to it. I'd say I will want a choke plate for better control because it does seem like a fine line between enough and too much.

Good advice, I didn't know they sold individual taps. I should have any size drill bit I need though. I've got at least 2 or 3 nice sets here. They have the singles at Lowes?

I don't have a tap set right now, so I have to get one but there is plenty of material to do so once I drill it out. I've already drilled a little hole in the attempts of putting a screw in it to run it out the back but they just snapped. So I've got a good start on a hole to finish drilling it out and there should be at least a 1/4 inch all around for support once I tap it. Also, should I try to invest in a nice tap and dye set or just go with a $30-40 cheap one to get the job done. It's something I know I will need in the future so I'd like it to last.

alright, my tuyere is 4x 4 3/4 because it's semi oval and there's a spot where it is thicker with threads through it where to bolt was, so I figure I could get a 5 inch one and it should go tight enough. If not I have some leather I could use in between it and it would help seal it up. $25 on amazon. Thanks for the help.

Yeah, i'm super excited. I've been downstairs just looking and thinking. I hope I can fall asleep here soon. Otherwise I'm just gonna be up until 7am and start the fire then. I just don't like that I don't have any space around the firepot to make coke while the fire burns. I think I can make it work though. I'll take one my my steel plates and cover the rest of the table so I can at least have one side. Thanks for the encouragement Jim and everyone else. This site has been my main resource from, I think blacksmithing is cool to I really want to try that, to I would love to do that for a living. Then realizing that's going to take several years of dedication and work. Although, I have yet to find something else that's sparked my interest this much other than driving and professional driving is far out of my price bracket to get into. Even if I can't make money from it eventually I believe I've at least found a life long hobby.

It has the twist plate on the side luckily so I can close and open the air intake on it. But I would like to get a rheostat eventually. I forgot to pick up a light switch to wire to it, but I might have one around here somewhere. Would a light switch that’s a twist dimmer work as one? I actually just put it up on this crappy table I had lying around, so I can at least try and start a fire in the morning. It might work temporarily. Will need to reinforce it sideways though so it doesn’t fall. Maybe just tie it down like a tent or something.

if I were to use the part with the hole and attach a piece of flat bar or something do you think it would keep it closed? Or would I have to modify the entire pivot point as well. Btw: got everything put together minus cover the bottom of tuyere. Excited. Last time I’m posting these pictures though. Lol

Alright, so 14 gage is sufficient then? That’s my main concern. Just didn’t know how thick to make it. Regardless it will have a frame supporting the firepot but I wouldn’t want it earring or burning. I didn’t figure it would though with thin sheet even. Thanks. Update: I need to get some pipe or flex pipe because that blower adds a lot of weight but it’s basically ready. I just need to cover the hole on the bottom of tuyere. Thinking about just using foil tape so I can make sure that their is enough air to get the metal hot. But I suspect there is. So excited

So I need to build a nice permanent table to place my forge in. I have access to basically an unlimited supply for angle iron in the form of bed frames. I was thinking about using that as the frame. Would that be sufficient? Also the firepot has the front and back pieces lower than the sides, so I need to think about how to to make it support all sides. I’m also not sure about thickness of the table too. Would a thick gage steel work or should I just go with quarter inch or bigger? i already know about dimensions and all that that I’ll need just not so much the materials to use to make it. Of all the things I’ve read online and in books nothing really covered making a nice table. Edit: And as for what a budget is, I do have one but not so much as I want it done right the first time. I’m not trying to go all out with some giant brick setup but I want a nice solid table that will last, if it means paying a little more I can wait an extra week or two. I’ve been acquiring my setup for a little over a year. Just thought I’d add that.

It’s pretty well round I believe. Without going and measuring I’m gonna say it’s about 4 inches around. I do like the idea of it though. Might make an easy way for a flipping ash dump rather than having to turn a cap every time. Either way it’s just convenience I don’t need but will try to aquire soon enough. Need to make a nice sturdy table first though.

Yeah, the extractors always break on me, hence why I’d have to buy one. So I’ll probably just drill and tap. The bottom of the tuyere is threaded, not the part that connects to the pot though. To get those out I had to soak in PB blaster and break loose some rust and I tapped em out. Mill have to see about the exhaust flap. Might work.

Yeah, there were a bunch in his shipping container. I actually got the electric blower that was rusted onto the tuyere cleaned up a little and it works. Gotta try and get the cover off the motor but pb blasters no hope if the screws all strip. So it may never come off.

So the bolt that holds the round plate to the bottom of my tuyere just broke off. I’m going to try and get it out with an extractor but if that doesn’t work I’m thinking my best option is to just drill it out and tap it. im wondering though if there is anyway to turn it into an ash dump with a flipper. Instead of it just turning. Or would too much air come out? the bolt sticking out on the left is the one that broke off

Alright, I didn’t think it would cause an issue just would like to get it cleaned up, I’ll do the outside with my grinder and wire wheel and I’ll get a bottle brush, didn’t think about that. Also the bolts that are in the firepot are rusted or welded to the inside of the pot. I’ve got it cleared from the bottom and am using PB blaster to try and get through some of it. Might have to drill them out eventually if they break.