wyvern

Dodge is right about the rods but the thickness of the auger teeth or blade has to hold up to the material being dug and hardfacing something as thin as paper will only last until the material its on buckles under pressure the rods require no hardening go to your local rock quarry and ask what kind of rods they use they may give or sell you some they use them for wear surfaces in crushers all the time don't sharpen to thinly though because the weld can snap off

my father was a welder and worked with metal and my grandfather's family has been in metalworking since 1700's in Germany its not like an unbroken chain or anything like that but pretty much until the mid 20th century it gives me inspiration to hold up to a sort of legacy for me and my children I've been metal working since I was 15 and proper black smithing since 1998 I'm 37 now

a tire rim without the rubber is a good forge and plywood and vinyl are good bellows material and need not be expensive and neither are explosive just an idea I operate on a budget and still have to feed the need to smith the joy of being a smith there are so many options and ideas , and from the responses I've read I can say you have good friends on this site

a tire rim without the rubber is a good forge and plywood and vinyl are good bellows material and need not be expensive and neither are explosive just an idea I operate on a budget and still have to feed the need to smith the joy of being a smith there are so many options and ideas , and from the responses I've read I can say you have good friends on this site

I've made one similar out of leaf spring but I cut it out with a torch if I can ever figure out how to post pics I'll send you one ,technology seems to be my adversary ,good job ,if to blacksmiths think of it we must be on the right track

though bronze is not my forte' outside of hilts you do fine work as far as my humble opinion goes

with a piece or two of plywood and leather or thin vynal you can achieve a bellows of fair size relatively cheap its not a blower but it will give you air after all this is a craft that survived up until the last 200 yrs or so without hand cranked blowers or electric, just an Idea

amen Frosty ! a blacksmith is not made by his tools he or she makes their tools

some thing I read about carbon steel welding was that the fluxes used was as important as the fire because the higher the carbon the lower the heat of the weld and maybe search centaur forge's fluxes might help in a lower forge weld heat

corn starch applied before doing any work gives the barber affect with hair or dust and in shops where I've worked people have used spray starch for spark protection on the outside of their clothes and I've read an article on coal smoke residue turning to sulfuric acid when sweat or water comes in contact with it causing a rash on the skin

as for refrac I use the cheapest all clay kitty litter with a little portland cement it gives it a little more plasticity avoid perfume or the green scent crystals they may contain metal impurities that may oxidize and get caught up in your work ,and I second that on the cure of the clay if you can't heat it a little 'give some quality time with a dehumidifier in a closet

they sell carb cleaner by the gallon at autozone if you want it to soak

I've worked and welded alot of stainless on the industry side of things and found kind of stainless a man or woman is working has alot to do with ease of how its worked

I'm new to this site but I have been in metal working in some way for almost 22 years and I try to adhear to old ways of doing things but unable to do all of my hammering by hand and unable to afford a large automatic hammer I converted a 4 ton flywheeled press to give specific blows to my laminated steel useful in chainsaw ,cable and layered tool steels