Hans Richter

My dear Thomas, have no idea how you come to your traumatic experiences and opinion on reinforcing steel? As an assessor for product compliance in construction products, however, I can guarantee that the alloy/element mixture of the various types of reinforcing steel up to and including some 0.00..% is under control (at least at the electro-oven steel plants I know in Europe and Asia). This is valid for all relevant alloying components such as Mg, Al but also for the unwanted P, N, Cu and S, which are washed out by means of the Besemer method until the chemical analysis meets the desired chemical specification. With a tensile strength of> 550MPa and a yield strength of 500MPa, the steel itself is sometimes stronger than normal mild/structural steel but equally forgeable once the martensitic outer surface and ribs have been brought back to austenite/ferrite after heat treatment. It is also use for rebar-couplers, and is in this case many times forged (threat heads) and forge(friction)welded thousand & thousand times. To give an example, there is even micro-alloyed reinforcing steel (Al) that is/must be used in earthquake regions. The steel is high ductile and announces its collapse due to high elongation, with the result that a building will not collapsed immediately but gives residents time to escape. Rebar will/have safe(d) lives Sorry for my fiery argumentation for/pro reinforcing steel, but for now I think it is an excellent forging steel especially for decorative elements. Kind regards, Hans

After 4 unimproved interventions of police enforcement and 3 call ups to the local government (in the last two months) -I prepare myself for a future law suit against the already mentioned neighbor (with the power hammer aversion and too much time). Covered recently the adjacent wall against his property with extra noise insulation bevel mats which brings the cost of the wall of 1200 bucks and a noise reduction to 70 db(A) (sound of a passing car) for 3 minutes of use in between of 6 minutes re-heat of the work piece to prepare the rough stuff before finishing by hand on the anvil. Even the mats already fire retardant I will cover them with an extra layer of impregnation and heat resistant blankets. Wish me luck. Hans

Dear gents, and ladies of course, Still busy to build version 3.0 of my new furnace. Some data -two pressured air forced 1 ¼ in Inconel burners (if necessary? already made a two propane hoses ‘splitter’ with all the appendages) -capacity of a A12> crucible which contains +40lbs of bronze -made from bottom up 2 ½ in soft bricks 26 covered by 1 in hard bricks layer to let a tripod rest on -wall from 2 in Superwool layer and covered for all flame face with 1 in hard bricks below and on top with 1 in of 26 soft bricks -stich the brick panels together with lantan / NiCr wire -so every part will be replaceable in case of damage -the lid is insolated with 1 layer of 1 in Superwool blanket and 1 ½ in layer (exhaust) of soft bricks all hold together by a AISI 316 wire mesh Use a new garden weed burner drum and lid as body (prefer a round one to let the flame 'swirl around the crucible). After final assembly I will coat all the wool with ridgidizer and after that the whole stuff with Satanite. If successful, a new propane 25lbs fuel tank stay’s ready to undergo the same treatment as a new forge. If you have some feedback & improvements, please let me know. Cheers, Hans

Guy's, guy's ................ See my next cast project,

BGD -in my case a T34 Russian panzer (tank), whats your offer

Good day friends, I have a grenade shell here that I have inherited from my grandfather, this one is engraved and has served as a flower vase. It is a Russian grenade shell (I do not know which caliber) and faded in the WW II. All this, to give Chris an impression what he can expect on the inside (nothing, except the channel of the weft pin) Also I have a spicy offer of a whopper from the WW I excavated in the Flemish fields. If you are touched by one his missing chips from this boy? I do not know - incredibly that once the brass ignition mechanism is polished, you can still recognize the grading of ignition and name of the producer (Krupp) after 100 years.The airtight containment of the Flemish clay has benefited her work well. As for the coating inside, I will go for a food approved layer of silicone. I hope that I could be a little helpful. Cheers, Hans

Funny thing, BeCu(Al)-tools are made to avoid sparks a nice contradiction for a blacksmith BTW nice balls...........

BGD -Please be careful, Beryllium dust or fume exposure are quit dangerous while grinding, heating or pollishing. Stay healthy. Cheers, Hans

Ya, ya ................. messing around ..............

A very nice (‘bling-bling’) forge and burner . Especially like the size/length of the mixing tube, the rigidizing of the mineral fibres and the compact measurement. Seeing some points of improvement -like: -some doors in the front of back of the forge to concentrate heat and save fuel -some extra safety features like ‘hose break’ valve and ‘flame killer’ valve (in case of chimney effect) on the appendages -some ‘spacer’ of stainless steel between the burner on the very close and worn able rubber hose. I use them in case of heat contact after shutting down the burner and crawling up heat from forge and burner (in my case even with the spacers the hoses getting soft like chewing gum). That’s the reason I detach the hoses from the burner after every session to spare the life time of the hoses. Regs, Hans

Das, -that was the same question rise in my head after seeing this fantastic shop on the picture comparing to the pics from the past. With some little patience he will bevel & deburr and even paint the stuff. Then its definitely time to visit the doctor . What did I do in the shop? –after the emotional happenings past week –nothing Set up the swimming pool to please the lady’s and give them the chance to relax. Das, JHCC, Slag, Frosty, Mark, Thanks for the tips and encouraging words. Short update about the situation. After the garage fire, I prayed-asked to Saint Eloy (and use a little bit of blacksmith magic ) to punish the sinners. Since yesterday I know he heard me. Was wondering wye his family car is missing all night since the last 1 ½ weeks. His wife moved in to here mothers home to take care of her (93 y/o) after she has repeatedly refused to move to the/an retirement home. So gents, your right is only a question of patience and believe . Wish all of you a very nice work/forging week, Cheers Hans

Made my first ‘lady’s/blacksmith/Viking’ knife yesterday to set my mind on other things after 5 audit- days and a week of really hard psychic work. And of course I made it from 10ChroMo still to oil quench and anneal it at 480F. (I know, blade to long-handle to short –but a good balance) Was busy at the power hammer after 3 weeks out off use -to forge the blade and handle, -however my psychopath neighbour called the police again (18.00h) to complain about the noise -even the hammer is sheltered behind of 8 inch insulation and an average noise emission of 75dba (noise of a passing car). This time it was the (4th) police visit (this time) from the county police after his complain, -also this officers give me the compliancy =I do nothing wrong. Like the local sheriff did after his visit several weeks ago. I’m quiet cool to it, but seeing Lisa crying after this new cowardly attack, made my hard bleeding!!! Already told in another treat (neighbours’ complaints) about him, which is the one cried like a baby after they drive flat his cat at the street -but looking several weeks later from the street (without any action) how my garage is on fire (with Lisa and Diana in the house), and described by his own wife in public as an ‘couch potato’. Please advise, I have to react to show him the borders. Thinking about to invite the local Harley Davidson Chapter for a beer and Hammer In -to intimidate him to and show strength, or something else. I’m not intending to move, the rest of all neighbour like wat I’m doing an see it as an added value to the community. What should I do? Cheers, Hans

Hi Colton, nice stuff this swing arms and this ‘looks like a pump house’. Chop them in to pieces fitting in your crucible and start real melting. Before you add new cold material to the crucible place it over the chimney of your furnace to make sure there is no moister in it anymore. Start with lost foam or a simple sand form. Add some flux to take care of the dross. Skim the dross an replace the furnace back to the furnace to let the liquid ‘spin’ and pore. Regarding the crucible, you only ones have to pre-heat the graphite crucible (slowly heat up and cool down) after that the possible inner material tension of the crucible is gone and you can use is as usual (but never ever place a ‘stone’ cold crucible in an already glowing furnace (temperature chock) Till soon, regs, Hans

Thomas, thanks for the sugestion, I will do and sharpen the 'Dremel' keep you informed

Hallo Colton, nice to have you here (especially in this treat) so don’t worry. Setup looks familiar to me. After every cast you will develop more and more and get more feeling for the material. Indeed some tongs will be fine instead to ruin your gloves (Two holes on top of the steel crucible will be fine to attach hooks with handles to it, before you get the tongs). Some constructive & safety feedback on your set up and technic. -Put some dry wood a fire resistant blanket or brick layer under your furnace and ingot mould because of the enclosed (dangerous) moister in the concrete floor (cause spattering of liquid metal if contact) -re-adjust your burner and let swirl/circle the burner flare around the crucible instead to ‘aim’ right on the body -Your insulation interior of the furnace is made of mineral fibre, do you rigidize it to avoid emission of burned loos fibres (ones hotter than 1400F, they can cause cancer when respired)? -Use Flux (powder) to peg down dross and impurities and prevent oxidizing of the alloys in the melting metals (specially brass and bronze) In my case pure/clean Borax from the local pharmacy store -Use base material from the Al 1000-4000 alloy series (pure or silica AL) but also a set of old aluminium-magnesium car rims (6000 AL-series) are a nice material source. Save the money for the pyrometer for later. I have some nice indicators to see when melting temp is reached or it's to hot -If slowly stirred there is no resistance or massive part in the crucible -If the clean liquid surface in the crucible slightly start to spin around -To hot, if green, yellow smoke appears from the furnace chimney just before you want to cast Cheers, Hans

Hallo E, dear Mr.Read, (do you have a first name too, make it more easy to address the PM’s and posts more personal) Yes I made several flasks (wooden sand moulds) to use for my castings. There simple to made, only attention points are, -make them strong, -make their surfaces straight fitting to each other make the drag and coop easy attachable to each other. Made my choice for Brussels clay (oil sand) after another wise recommendation (“play in the sand box first”) of a very unpretentious ‘improbable’ Curmudgeon . You will find an assembly of the needed tools and equipment (on a humble dwarf scale ) below this post. If you need some specifications or measurements, don’t hassitate to ask by PM or post. Cheers, Hans PS. -regarding the moulds for your brass or bronze ingots don’t use the muffin forms that works fine for aluminium but in my case not for hotter materials, so make some solid self-discharging steel moulds too.

Hallo C, This is what happens to my cast iron (pseudo) crucible after my second attempt to melt brass. I strongly advice to use clay/carbon/silica crucible for every metal with a higher melting point then 1300 F. Please find also the melting points below. At your service, Hans

OK Frosty, will doubble it, it will also made a closer connection between the tail sections around the burners. However I THINK you are being wrong, -to think to being wrong Always better to listen to an expert and obey his (indirect) advice. Kind salutions, Hans

Wild guess, -the wrong welding adding supplies?

Sold one of the 16lbs melting furnaces on CL and started to build a bigger furnace ‘New style 3.0’ -hope to use them with 2 burners and a A12 or A16 crucible in it. Will build them from thin hard stone refractory tails as direct flame face on the bottom and soft bricks higher up. The backup and insolation will be a 1in Superwool layer. Cheers, Hans

Hi Mr.Read, I very gentle pre-heat all my crucibles before first melting action. That means put then empty in your furnace and bring the slowly up to yellow-red heat temperature. After that stop your burner and leave it in the furnace to slowly cool down to room temperature. If you start melting ‘full power’ with a brand new crucible I will be an expensive hobby to by new ones over and over again. Another tip for future melting on other materials, please buy a separate crucible for every different material you intent to cast. Reg Hans

Seen again a lot of precious ‘bounty’ passing by in this post (cranes, presses, anvils, materials). But are the most jealous of the also shown pickup trucks hauling it. Missing my Chevy C1500 Silverado I used in the past for the professional shop very much. However nice to see all the trucks and will suggest to Glenn a new topic ‘Show me your transport appliance’ if it’s not already discussed in some treat from the past. Chopped the bronze pump rotators in to pieces and used the 9in angle grinder after all -and was the whole afternoon busy with ‘ingot mass production’ still 44lbs to go.

Hi, made de little fellow complete, totally forgot my friendly neighbour and his big lathe in his big cellar. He found a chunk of bronze and turned the washer according to the earlier mentioned drawing within an hour. I think he was even happy as I, to use his lathe with a purpose and supply me with the missing part. Will make a nice crafted fire poker for him to say thank you.