genesaika

Mine is about 4 inches deep, total. The heart of my fire is usually right at, or just above, my tuyere. I ended up digging out the sides to get my stock into the fire and level. The sides are also lined with bricks to block the wind and bank my charcoal against. I use a hairdryer for my blower and can get it well past welding temps.

It's all personal preference, I like 8 inch blades, but my friend loves her 10 inch chef knife. I think that for a chef knife 10 inches would be the max, with 6 being the minimum. Now you could make a longer meat chopper, but it would mostly be used more like an axe. So ya, find out what she likes and make that. It will already be special and, if you do your job right, will be her go to knife.

I lined my BBQ grill with sand and red clay from the yard. I recently added in some hard firebricks just to give it something a bit harder, hopefully it stays together a bit better. Here is the thread on mine.

I generally just use grade 8 for anything that will hold weight. It's probably because I have access to all the grade 8 bolts I want for free. I guess check the prices at your local hardware and go with what you feel safest with.

Cranes and heavy equipment, which rattle and go through infinitely more abuse than forges, are held together with bolts. Get some grade 8 bolts and make sure they aren't coated with zinc if they are near the fire. My forge is one of those cheap BBQs you can get for like $20 at the corner store. It's still held up by the flimsy little nothing legs it came with. So I'd think bolted together angle iron would hold up.

Yup, I think my anvil is on that thread. Just been looking because you can never have enough tools, plus I haven't found anything to make a mandrel from yet. I'm hunting, it's going slow though haha.

I wish I could find an anvil near me, even one like that. I'd definitely buy that at the right price. Only cleaning up I might do to it is on the horn, but I've been wanting a nice smooth rounded area to work on lately.

Judging by how the forge flares up I'd say it's something flameable. Kerosene sounds about right to me, or some sort of degreaser.

I didn't even get to take either. I moved each year of high school and practically had to start over from the beginning. My senior year I was taking physics, advanced software development and intro to algebra. Mind you I had taken algebra and algebra 2, but the school required that I have intro to algebra ( which wasn't a thing in my other schools) in order to take trig or calculus. I should also note that I was teaching my class and the teacher in mathematics. I feel that one of our main problems in education is perpetuation of the idea that test scores mean more than actual knowledge. The worst part is that those tests are standardized and we do not all learn in the same way. It's like judging a fish on how well it can climb, just because 90% of the class are animals that can climb.

I wish I had access to shop classes, but at the same time I know I wouldn't have taken advantage of them. I was focused on programming and thankfully had access to classes on that later in my high school career. I learned those skills from my dad while on the job. You would be amazed how many people I meet who can't even read a tape measure. When we hire a new person for flooring the first day is spent teaching them to read tapes and perform basic math. It's sad how far our school systems have fallen. When I was in high school trig and calculus we're the advanced math classes that only gifted students took.

I made my first kydex sheath today. Only took one reheat to get it shaped right.... I did make it for the wrong side though... Might make another one just because haha.

I just what to say that for thousands of years beautiful swords we're made with whetstones, a lump of steel, and a small pile of coal. If you put forth the effort to learn how to manage heat and steel than you don't even need anything more. Infact larger forges are generally ill advised due to the huge fuel consumption. If you want to use more modern techniques and tools, then feel free to. Don't, however, assume that you need those tools in order to work on anything.

Oh man, I wish I had access to some crane chains. Them suckers have 1" x 2" links and often come between 3 and 5 links wide. I'd guess about 5 - 10 pounds per foot, but it's been years since I handled any. Might be worth looking for though.

For me it's rain stopping my forging. Hard to work when the ground wants to slide out from under you. Even with a roof my shop is a sloppy mess right now, plus it's 170 feet away through even worse sloppy mud.

I have personally seen springs break arms and legs. If hit in the chest or head it could cause severe internal damage, concussions, and lead to death. I have also seen springs shoot straight through the top side of cars and even leave dents in cement. If anything frosty is under estimating the damage they can cause. I have also seen pressurized fluids knock people out and send them flying 15 feet. Never, ever under estimate the dangers of anything under pressure. If you don't understand the dangers it is always best to consult a professional. Every mechanic I know, or have known, would gladly inform you of the dangers free of charge.

The tools you would need to make a forge would be; an angle grinder, a drill, and some bits to use on the drill. Ryobi makes great tools and you can get their angle grinder new for around $40. I'm sure they have a corded drill in that bracket too. The bits you can just buy what you need and get away around $10. The burner itself I believe requires a tap? I'm not sure, but you can get that at around $3-5. Over all I think you'd be better off getting the tools, you will use them often, and making your own forge. Are you sure a JABOD is out of the question? Take a look at mine made from a cheap BBQ grill. It runs lump charcoal and looks just like any other BBQ until you open it up.

I just don't understand. In the 3 or so months I've been running my forge, weekends only, my metal tuyere still looks the same as when I installed it. I'm expecting it to last me a year or more. When it does melt away I can get enough pipe to make 3-4 more for $12. So why spend more on something that doesn't last as long?

Don't charge minimum wage. I'd say no less than $12 an hour because what you are doing is actually skilled labor. Also why are you even talking about knives? You aren't ready to make knives yet, plus that is custom work which operates on a different pricing scale. We are looking at mass production, or as close to it as you can come, not custom work. You're doing this for an economy class, you should know that it takes overhead to make a business. In your case overhead is shipping, materials, fuel, working space, and the costs of sales. Unless you only operate on a face to face bases, you will have to spend some money somewhere to move your product. Another thing. If you don't know what you are making then odds are you don't know how to produce it at a pace that will keep your prices reasonable.

Online, that's where you sell things. Make an Etsy page, join your local Facebook swap group, find some local businesses that will let you sell in their store, post ads on Craigslist, etc. You need to build a reputation and the best way to do that is word of mouth. Go give out free samples to your friends, teachers, and the local businesses. Make sure you have your products marked and packaged so people can tell who made it, include contact information. I'd suggest adding keyring bobbles and bottle openers. Nails might be a hard sell because it's a very limited market that wants them. As to pricing, you need to calculate your cost in materials and time. How much in stock, fuel, water, consumables (cut off discs, abrasives, finishing oils, brushes, etc), etc. Then decide on how much your time is worth to you, put a dollar figure to it per hour, say $10. After you have an hourly rate figure out how much time it takes to make each item you sell. Add it all up and tack on a percentage for a profit margin, not too much something like 5-10%.

My metal tuyere is doing just fine without being cooled. Seems like a waste of time and materials to me.

I made me a dagger out of a railroad spike. Well more I finished it from last week. Got it heat treated and sharpened, then I went and trimmed some hedges with it to make sure it was sharp. I also managed to fail at making a sheath for it's curved brother, and probably failed at welding up a chain link.... It's currently resting at the bottom on my slack tub where I dropped it when I went to cool it off. At some point I'll fish it out and see how it looks... Didn't get any Sparks so I doubt it welded.

Since it was mentioned earlier in the thread, is walnut suitable for hammer and tool handles?

My go to hammer is a 3, or 3 1/2 I can't recall, pound cross peen. It's got a plastic handle until I can make a new wooden one. I will swap out to my smaller hammers for more detailed work or smaller stock. I have a 16 and 24 oz ball peen that both get regular use, I even have a wooden mallet for finishing and doing curves. In the end it's whatever you are most comfortable using to move the amount of material you plan on moving. I wouldn't take my 16 oz ball peen to flatten 1 inch round bar, I'd use my cross peen or one of my father in laws 8 pound sledges..

I'd say they best way to last longer is to reduce the weight of the hammer. In my experience using sledgehammers for my job, a 10# is generally good for most people. You want something that you can swing for the time you plan on using it and be accurate with. I've only met a handful of people who can swing heavier hammers for long. As to techniques, I've always used the first one you describe. I have seen people use the second one and have tried it, but for general use it seems inefficient.

Metabo makes a fine tool, but they newer ones seem to be made with garbage electronics. I went through 7 of them in a month due to them shorting out. I have used DeWalt mostly and highly recommend them. Milwaukee and Makita also make good tools and I know people who swear by their grinders. Personally my last one was a Ryobi and I loved it until last week when someone decided they needed it more than I did. As to the design, I like the paddle type and the rat tail type. I use a side switch DeWalt at work daily and that's a very dangerous design. My favorite is the rat tail, just more comfortable for me. My suggestion is to go to your local hardware and get your hands on a few brands and styles. I also have to firmly disagree with kozzy. I have seen more people loose fingers from using gloves with angle grinders than anything else. Gloves and guards are the most dangerous parts of them. Why? Because your natural reaction to getting hit with one is to pull away, which you can't do once you get a glove wrapped in the wheel or a finger in the guard.