BubbaNash

Well, i got 2 weekends left to get anything done. Can you or someone recommend a brand of refractory? too many to pick, and i would just get a 50lb bucket of 3000F degree premixed as cheap as it comes. same with the wool, i think we can understand that im a cheap skate and need to be told when to spend the extra money. for now im drilling a piece of 1 1/2 in pipe and hooking it into my fire pit out back.

That claw hammer is fantastic! i would use that any day. been looking through here, you are quite impressive!

Well, my plan is to make a coat hook first and then one of those bottle openers out of a bolt for a buddy of mine. both can be done from a head bolt. think of something you can make for someone else as a gift!

IF all of the parts were in hand, you think it could be done over the course of a weekend plus a few evenings?

I already started off by asking something in the Forges section, but this looks like an appropriate place to do this My name is Matt, im in Long Beach, WA (next to Astoria, OR). Im currently a Building Inspector after being a custom home builder with the family business for about 15 years off and on. Im also a volunteer fire chief in my home town for the last 2 years (firefighting since 2004). Ive gone to school for diesel technology and completed about half of the AA Course. I can make jsut about anything out of wood and i deplore plumbing. Im not a smith, i simply am just starting to play at it and wont degrade proper smiths by claiming to be one. Hopefully one day i can. Ive gotten a lot of feed back already that is very positive and i much appreciate that. i know a little about a lot of things, and a lot about few things as most of us can claim. I love learning new things and im excited to learn how to smith, lord knows my town could use one. Im really a swell guy and i imagne you all are as well.

you might want to consider trimming your beard back. Even in the 80's firefighters were not supposed to have beards to wear SCBA. Dont use patrolium jelly either, it just becomes a mess and its a pain to clean your mask afterward. When you put your mask on, cover the air inlet area and suck in. if the mask sucks to your face and you dont get leakage its a good seal. If not, then get a bit of a sweat going and try again and tighten it up. If still no joy then, youre makin a date with a razor friend. make sure you get the proper respirator too. if your worried about very small particulates like asbestos, get the p100 filters. nothing else will be good enough. if you are worried about fumes and toxins like zinc fumes, you are getting some sort of full face self-contained breathing apparatus and those are VERY expensive (like $4000+). Or if you have SCUBA gear use that for fumey work. its the same thing just rated for under water. OSHA and WIISHA and whoever your local safety people will say no beard, period. I have wolverine style sideburns (more like he has Bubba Nash style sideburns) and i was told to shave by Labor and Industries. remember, you cant work without your lungs. be safe.

does anyone here plan on going to this one in Longview?

Im not sure if Canada works the same way, but check your local community college or vocational school for welding programs. Also check with your version of an unemployment office for late life job training options where you might be able to curb some of the financial hit of changing careers. Or you can start at the bottom and get a job in fab shop that will teach you some rudimentary welding. remember that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. There is crappy stuff in every job, even the "best jobs". If youre good at sales, sell public safety equipment. Try LN Curtis to start

Well, just got back from the dentist with a $700 bill and a new crown. Looks like i might be making one out of dirt... Irondragon - how long did it take you to build your tank forge?

did someone say cake? Im pretty set on buying one. big part of my decision is because i have so many (wait for it) irons in the fire. Building one is going to happen and was the initial plan, but time is a gold-premium until November. Frosty may understand, we firefighters really want to jump in head first with new things. waiting is murder and we have the attention span of a ... squirrel! My personality is which if i make it a lot of work to start something it will never happen, but if i find a way to jump in both feet forward and show myself some instant gratification on a small scale i can grab on to it a lot easier. I have plans in my head about the future forge build already. Just worried mostly about burner placement and attachment. my welding skills are pretty poor. I never took a metals class in school. I took drafting and then the shop teacher left at the end of the year. his replacement left much to be desired and so i just learned what i know now from family and working in the field. I took 3 qtrs at a Tech college for Diesel Tech and did some arc welding and cutting with a plasma cutter but thats really the extent of my welding. I can make xxxx near anything out of wood though! I could probably make forge out of wood and concrete thinking about it...

I dont know if im stating the obvious, but it looks like a metal punch on a handle. possibly meant for widening a hole after one is made. Its not too far fetched that it could be a specific tool he made because he needed it. Farmers tend to make a tool instead of going to the hardware store to buy something. Just a thought

So i have been peeking at this forum for some time, reading a lot of well justified opinions and experiences. So i decided to join the discussion so to speak. Im not technically even a novice smith yet. I own no forge, no anvil. Im a custom home builder and carpenter by trade and currently a building inspector for 2 small cities and a volunteer fire chief. There's my background, so dont beat on me too hard for being ignorant when it comes to smithing (or welding). These are skills i simply have always wanted to learn, and being a fairly new dad, i want to be able to teach my son some of these things when he gets older. Ive read about 100 posts or more over the last several months about gas forges after deciding that propane is going to be the best route for me to start smithing. because my county regularly has a burn ban in the summer and having an illegal burn call to the fire chief's house is rather embarrassing, i decided coal and charcoal will have to wait for better facilities at a later date. It seems that there are several gas forges available prebuilt; Majestic, Mighty, Diamond Back, Devil-Forge, etc. It seems like there is a lot of personal preference for whatever and individual owns... Personally im torn between the Diamond Back and the Devil-Forge because of reviews and cost. The other option would be to build my own. Seems that the cost variable leans in favor of building, but I am the sort that wants to do a good job and not just something that is marginally adequate and wastes gas at $2.60 a gallon. So the questions... What did you (the smithing public) consider when you went to purchase your first gas forge? what did you end up with? and would you do it again? Many Thanks ~ Matt (the Nash in Bubba Nash)