GrumpyBiker

Today I disassembled and correctly taped the fittings and tested the used forge, burner & rolling stand I bought this weekend.

Well it appears then that I once again, should have come here and asked before buying! Thank you for the schooling on rigidizers.

No one has experience with this product?’!?!?

I have a gallon of Simwool Rigidizer Any opinion on it?

I will go look at them right now. What kind of a reputation does Devil Forge have? I see their forges ship with the rigidizer I’ll be stopping by Yoders Blacksmith Supplies tomorrow to see if they have any used forges.

All but the first pic are forges on Flea-bay. I have my eye on this guy on FB from Texas but when you add the track for fire brick doors ($50) you’re at $500 + shipping. sigh.... I have Kaowool & a gallon of rigidizer. I may just end up building yet another. Image removed due to advertising

I’m at a point where I’m looking for a new propane double burner forge. I have two single burners I built but I’m looking one that I can pack up and travel with. I’m not looking to build and the NC forges under $1,000 all seem to have very small openings and geared more for farriers. I’ve found a couple that caught my eye and am interested in whether anyone on here has an opinion or experience with them. I want one with doors and really like the idea of a large side door vs the doors on the ends. I don’t make knives but am not ruling those out.

Frosty- we don’t have kennels. They're inside only cats & they travel with us in our motorhome. Oliver has taken to it pretty well. He does have big mitts !!!

These were some of the last ones I finished. The “beer can opener” with blue scratch pad Micarta didn’t turn out too bad.

I had 2000gr wet sanding paper but the clear resin I bought ( and maybe it’s just the brand I bought) is rather soft. Much more so than the fiberglass resin I used on the others. I can’t figure if small pieces of the scratch pad were coming off & causing further scratches on the resin.. It was frustrating but until I post this thread I not only had zero experience with making Micarta, I had zero experience with it period. It was a totally new thing for me but I wanted to at least try to make some. The Green on Black layered Micarta came out nice.

It has been decided by the powers that be that it is a beer can opener end. So henceforth and forevermore let it be known as such . Evidently I had too much pressure on the form while it was setting up. The scratch pad didn’t have much resin over the top and when I tried to polish it the plastic kept interfering. I love how vibrant the color is but I had to shoot some marine grade urethane on to get the Micarta to hold its shine.

This is Oliver he was a cat forgotten at our local Petco. We were told he csme in as s kitten and had been there a year. No one wanted him. When we bought him home he had trouble jumping, couldn’t stick his landings. He spent too much time in that cage. But he’s learning how to play as we have another cat the same age and they get along like brothers. Hopefully the video uploads.. B91CD0A1-3404-40A9-A8C0-A2AEBD5ED9D3.MP4 Guess not. Fenwick is the black cat Oliver is the other.

Bryson489, Im absolutely hooked on putting handles on my openers . I first saw a few doing a google search for new ideas and then some on here. Love making them as I need the practice from start to finish moving & shaping metal as well as polishing and adding handles. I found I have no problems with finding folks to give these to. Maybe one day I’ll sell some but for now I just give them away till I feel I’m at a level where I want to put my mark on them & begin selling. Until then Im going to have fun playing with different ideas. BTW, I like the shape of that opener you posted !

It’s the finishing that gets old for me. The polishing of the metal & handle material, though it is satisfying when / if they turn out. The rough forging is always fun & I don’t get tired of that. Wish I could just leave it rough.... I meant to get a “family “ photo when they were all done but I’d already sent out some of them before I remembered to do so.

I’ve almost got all 22 openers finished. Two to go & I can start shipping these out to the Marines & fellow Officers I work with for Christmas. Is it odd to get tired of making the same thing over & over? Even if there’s interest and potential $$$? Honestly, I dont want to make another opener for a while!!!

Moved another four out of the clamps and through the rough shaping. Should get them finished this weekend

I was able to get three more openers finished today. A large green layered Micarta with a lanyard pin (never used these before) , A smaller black layered Micarta “ice breaker” opener and a oak handled one.

Finished up the polishing on some Christmas presents. Hope to put handles on them next week & get them in the mail !

Guess I’m on the other side then because I steer people interested in Blacksmithing towards RR track anvils as a starter. As they’re inexpensive and will do until a person decides whether they have caught the bug or if it’s a passing fad for them. If it turns out that they realize it’s not as easy as it looks on TV and give up, at least they’ve not sunk a ton of cash into it. The one I shaped for myself worked for me until I found exactly what I wanted / needed. That said, the price asked in the ad is absurd. I wouldn’t expect more than $125 - 150 for mine with the stand (minus tools & holder).

Much more blue than the last batch. And the clear resin is certainly clear !

The clear resin arrived & I got it in the mold yesterday. The setup time is longer. It popped out of the mold after tapping on the sides with a rubber mallet.

Slow speed or hand buffing?

Slow speed ?

My first attempt at layered Micarta. Not really what I was hoping for. once the clear casting resin arrives I’ll make some more and hope the layers will be more visible. In the end even though it’s not as visually interesting as I’d hoped it is a nice material. Just learning the speed at which the resin starts to melt & staying under that was tricky as each tool was different. For those who’ve worked with it is there a proper way to finish it once it’s shaped? Do you oil it, polish it , seal it ?

Frosty- I ordered it & will try again with the blue Scotch Brite pad next week. thanks for the direction & advice. Buzz- I just glued up a handle of layered Micarta but it’s not on a G-rated opener so perhaps I can edit the photo in this manor.....