John Kelley

interesting idea for sure.

Thank you Stash. I should have included that I do plan on using an old hairdryer for the air. I have read that there is something to having enough air velocity..not just volume. Would you think that a 2" would still work well with a hairdryer? I understand...I can always change the size if I feel it will help. ...I'm just trying to do this on a shoestring and I'd rather not have to buy two pipes...lol ...On the other hand...I do have a squirrel cage fan that I could use...but it pushes WWAAAYYY more air than a hairdryer (which seems the cheap standard), even when intake and exhaust are basically plugged and the motor is struggling. Can't read any specs on it...but the intake is 3" and the fan is about 7" in dia and about 6" long. This fan is like all the air flow of a good sized box fan going thru a 2.5x8" hole....seems a bit much I would think that there is a max air as well. Thank you very much for the help. John

Hello, I'm building a bottom draft 55 forge this weekend...gonna give this forging a go. Judging from the pictures and comparing to the 2" bung...I'd guess about 1.5". My question is what Diameter of tuyere is recommended? Thank you for any help you'd be willing to give. John

lol... Just updated my profile..I'm in Shelby, MI All good ideas..Thank you

You may be correct about experimenting. ....though at my level of ZERO experience I don't even know how to tell if it works good or not. Sure I can see if the metal gets hard by running a file over it, try to break it etc...but that's about it with my limited knowledge...lol Just part of the fun I guess!

yes it is..lol Fact is we have a few companies that swear by it and have been using it for years. Basically, the previous maker died, his kids wanted nothing to do with the very small company and sold it to the company I work at for a reasonable price. It is just a very tiny side to the company. Literally only make about 55 gals of it a year....sometimes less. ...it's almost done as a favor to the buyers of the stuff...lol

Thanks for the reply Mr. Powers. Your idea certainly has merit. Fact is the man who formulated it has left this world. It is now made by following the old recipe, so the knowledge behind the formula has sadly been lost.

Hello, I'm just barely getting started down the forge road. Plan on finishing my makeshift anvil tonight. Making a 55 forge (actually a 30 forge..lol) this weekend. I'm trying to do everything with minimal expense. Anyway..my real question today is.. Would water based machine tool coolant/cutting fluid work well as a quench for "cheap" steels like 1075? My company actually makes the stuff and I could get a few gallons of concentrate for about nothing. My thought is it must be slower than water though not as slow as canola (which is my next best cheap quench from what I've read) and it's not going to flare up. The main components of the coolant is water, some water soluble oils, soap, and some sodium nitrite. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thank you John