Meadowgrove

Does the layering affect the flow? Have you tried any smoothing techniques to get rid of the layer lines? Acetone vapor is used to smooth ABS, but it doesn't do squat to PLA. I've heard tetrahydrofuran works. Solvent smoothing is of course a breathing hazard. 

Using sprayable PU glue could possibly work as a filler.

Finally got around to forge something! The scroll(and everything else) is pretty bad, but I had a nice even taper going.

I was supposed to make a nail but SQUIRREL! And all of a sudden it's a crummy coathanger...

http://imgur.com/7omItIf

7 months from first board cut to first fire

Helped a friend to build a JABOD last fall. He didn't want to use it cause he wanted a "real forge"(a gas forge featuring every "don't" I've read on this site). After burning through lots of lpg without meaningful results he decided to give the dirtbox a try

Our sophisticated bellows setup. I was pleasantly surprised about how quiet that old Nilfisk vacuum cleaner was. Set up the hose to cover about 5% of the tuyere and used a piece of cardboard as an air flow reducer. Note the high tech twigs'n'tape splinting keeping the hose in place.

For a first project I melted/burned an old nail and some 20mm stock...

Side blast info and illustrations by Charles R. Stevens

I started out with a bottom blast tire rim forge, or should I say FSO. I didn't even bother to line it with anything, just filled it to the brim with wood chunks. Don't do this.

Fiskars calls this model a "chisel hammer" (talttavasara) in Finland. Just pointing this out if the non English speaking crowd have trouble finding the hammer. It might have a completely different name in your language!

I forgot to curse the subpar image quality! 

Any better? I had to tamper with contrast and colors to get the stamps to show up properly. Looks like 1-9-2. Last digit could be 1 or just random punch marks. Dunno... 

Edit: image looked a lot clearer on my computer but is a complete mess on my phone... Oh well.

Got this unnamed anvil for 150€... 192 stamped on one side, no other markings. Weighs ~75 kg(165 lbs), maybe it's lost a few over the years...

Some face damage, awful torch mark near the horn. Still rings beautifully, no buzz even at the damaged areas. Quick check resulted 75-80% rebound all over.

Wire wheeled this thing for two hours, and it smelled like it was stored in a pigsty!

The edges are a bit worrisome in places, but I'll let them be for the time being. Amassing some forging experience before modifying the poor thing is probably the wisest move.

Hand forged Mbira added to ever-increasing to-do-list...

Are the videos clipped from a longer piece? Hopefully it's something one can purchase. 

Don't get stuck in the shape of the anvil. Read through the Improvised anvils thread, it's an eye-opener. Especially considering your budget you'd ve better off starting with a hunk of steel.

I'm a total noob, and I made an anvil out of an old roller I found from a paper mill trash bin. Cost me about 1/8 of a 115mm cutoff disc... 

Totally! My ancient draugr whatever bow has been sharpened to perfection. Corundum must be the springiest ore ever!

Are we doing memes now?

Good thing I had stocked up on fire resist potions...

Anvil, this is how you remind me... Absolutely no "Nickle back" on a metal forum! (...I'll get me coat) 

I'd say a saddle is hefty important especially for us noobs. I wouldn't want to risk marring my anvil face due beginner's enthusiastic inaccuracy... 

MC Hammer, a few feet of garden hose(or similar tubing) split lengthwise could help with eg. the aforementioned bandsaw blade and other thin, sharp stuff. Safer to handle too. Put on some hose and the sharp edges just... Can't touch this!

SLAG, I think it was "schlimmbesserung"(hope I got it right). I've been trying to add the word to our factory slang, for every upgrade seems to become one... 

There's been and influx of "old anvils" for sale on different Finnish buy/sell websites... I don't follow the brain-cooker so dunno if Forged in Flatus has started airing over here, too.

Would you buy this beautiful piece of craftsmanship for 60€?

Found this sweet roller in the factory trash bin last autumn and finally got around to shape it into an anvil.

After flap wheeling the top I noticed the axle is a separate piece held in place by friction. Well, I wasn't planning to do any heavy sledging on this one. I guess it will serve me well until I find an affordable, purpose-built anvil...

Still a little stumped(teehee!) on how should I mount the anvil.

Sprinkle some in your beer to boost hemoglobin? 

Bonus points for the diamond pickaxe!

On 29.5.2018 at 5:40 PM, Charles R. Stevens said:

My solution is to move the fire bowl forward the width of a brick, this placing 6” cat litter behind the fire wall (I am sure 2” would be enough butt a brick is convineant as a mesure

Butting bricks... That's an excellent typo! Got me thinking about the air gaps left between the bricks, creating "heat bridges". For added safety, you could try putting a ~1" layer of litter under the bricks as well?

But overthinking it is soooo much fun!

I started on my JABOD last august and finished it just a few weeks ago. I spent the winter planning and overthinking every aspect despite doing a ton of reading here prior to and during the build stages... Once I started mixing the filler I felt quite silly, since I was basically making a huge mud pie. If you don't have straw, use wood shavings, drier lint, anything fibrous that won't turn into a breathing hazard when heated. I used coarse wood shavings(made with 35mm forstner bit) from a past project. They seem to hold up well. 

Circling around like a cat before apocalypse.

You have to sharpen when the iron is hot.

Forge a new worm on the hook.

Screaming like a hot dog on a roof.

Too many curtains in the fire.

Better to have a cook in your hat than ten in the soup.

Tuyere found its place... About 2" lower than intended. I got too excited about getting to work on the project and my hamsters escaped!

Also noticed my angle grinder has walked off somewhere. Had to use a hacksaw... I cut a notch in the pipe and stomped on it, deforming the pipe end in the process. Now the accursed thing whistles every time I pump air in the forge.

EDIT: tiles are only temporary and won't be around when forging. Ran out of cat litter and wanted to confine the test fire in a small spot. 

If it's a touch screen type, try holding your finger on the text for a second or so. When you see the highlight appear, the "quote" button should show up too. Works at least on Android phones.

I finally started with the dirt-y work on my sideblast JABOD. And forgot to put in the tueyre, it seems!

Looking at the frame it seems a bit odd shaped... Was I going to build the other side blast wall against the raised part? And if so, what's the point in doing that? Who knows. It must've been the idea of the century back when I slapped the frame together last August.

The ground is still frozen here, so I mixed some bentonite with ash and wood shavings . Made a nice enough mix. Maybe. The mix felt like it was up to specs when squeezed and broken in hand, but once I started compacting the stuff I was in for a muddy ordeal. Probably too much water in total mass.

Made a dirt tamper, too. Took a whole of five minutes to make, and it shows in professional quality smoothed finish... Don't worry, I wouldn't allow anyone to handle it without gloves.

Noob tip: smoothing and dressing the tamper's work face makes a big difference on efficiency and gives some clue on what to do when you start dressing a hammer for the first time.

Yesterday I finally, after a way too long hiatus, started forging a leaf. A friend had set up a GFSO(gas forge shaped object), an incredible construction of inefficient decisions; small weed burner for heat, oven mortar+crushed firebrick lining, you get my drift. At least we had proper PPE!

I did try to nudge him to the gas forges section here and warned him about the peril that is king of randumb(and youtube in general), we'll see how it goes. You can lead man to knowledge...

Well, results were as expected. I was drawing out the stem when the leaf broke off due severe cold shuts and oxidation. The guy had a pristine 5 kg anvil with razor sharp edges, so I wasn't exactly surprised to see this happen. The surprise was when instead. I was around 15 cm away from the leaf part when it just -plöp- fell off.

I think I might start building a workspace tomorrow if life allows it. I feel somewhat stunted working on someone else's space. My shop, my rules after all. Today was busy making food, building siege engines from Duplo and playing hide and seek with the kid. Forging a stronger father-daughter bond counts too, right?