DavidF

I have seen two methods, but I bet one of the experts will come along with better information. If you have an existing anvil without a hole, the method would be to measure out your lines, then use a drill to get the majority of mass out. Then it is using whatever next best tool, maybe a Dremel, to get close to the corners, and finally some good old fashioned elbow grease with a square file. If you are adding a top, you weld pieces together to for the hardie hole in your strike plate.

The tension is killing me... such suspense... maybe ideas will pop up and keep you floating on the right path

Lol! I have spent some time in Seattle. I think the best answer for your question is that it is similar to the light from a street lamp! How many consecutive days of no sunlight do you have in Alaska? I remember a movie “30 days of night” and a documentary where they showed sunlight during the night and no sun during the day. In the documentary, they actually talked about how it affected residents physical health. I can’t sleep if it is not pitch black. But I could probably live off of UV light emitting sources. So I would go crazier during one phase and be just fine for the next.

For my burners, I put them in vertically. After using them, I will eventually move them to an angle like you are using. The biggest reason is that heat rises after shutting off the burners where the flow is not forcing the heat down. So from my experience, I would recommend using an angle like you show in the pics to avoid overheating the burners when I turn off the gas. There may be other factors that the experts can advise on ( Mikey is one of the best and Frosty knows a thing or two as well).

Thoughts and prayers from my family to Dave and Eric. The healing from community and social ties are the strongest X factor in these times. Hopefully being back home and surrounded by loved ones helps Dave to recover fully. Best wishes

Frosty, you have a great point. I saw the octagon and just thought about the ease of placing walls together. But a flat side (rectangular or square) could do the same thing. Not sure about cylinders, but I know from other feedback from you that if you see it as doable, you have much, much more experience than me. After building my cylinder, I almost immediately thought that I should have gone with a square design. I love the idea of a modular body because I use only a small portion of mine for almost everything. But if I could “snap on” an extension to allow for larger stock, mostly for hardening, normalizing, and annealing than I would probably put a large value on that feature. As I say this, I have a grand total of zero projects where I would have used it to date. So I may be overthinking the whole thing. What are your thoughts for being able to extend the depth of your forge? Is it a requirement as you work on different projects? This is one of those areas where I don’t have enough exposure yet, so I would love to hear from someone like you that has real world experience for projects where the stock becomes longer. Do you focus the areas you work around what you have? Or do you solve the issue as it presents itself? Since my projects have been under one foot, I like having a small area to heat up for the forge. I can run it for ten minutes and I hardly use any fuel. Btw, have I mentioned I owe that to the feedback from this forum, for a small space and best refractory and IR? I saw a post tonight where an individual had used a different refractory and no Kaowool, and his forge was taking 30 mins to heat. I know that if he changes to what I would call the IFI best practices, he will heat up that forge in 5 minutes. Had to give kudos to the brain share here because in that one post, it shows how much I have gained from brains here. Anyway, I really would love to hear your feedback Frosty on the “modular extension” question. If it has value, I may look at something for my version 2 design.

Ok... WOW!!! Speechless... incredible!

I think the hex portion of the design is brilliant. Especially if the shape allows for additional modules to be added for larger forges (thinking these could be modular for one, two, four, and eight burner options). For the flooring, I like the concept of even heating, but there would need to be a flow from one floor section to the next. Otherwise, this design would have one area that could be drastically hotter than the next. I like the concept, but I think it needs a little refinement for even flow from back to front to deliver the even heating you want from the design. Personally, I think you are onto some great concepts and I hope you bring them to life. If you produced this and gave yourself the ability to make pull outs and inserts of improved versions of the flooring, you would end up coming up with a killer design. Version 1 is some great new ideas and with some tweaks, you could have something revolutionary.

I have seen many many MANY concrete videos of these beasts! You will believe one day!

Ouch! Get feeling better. I bet you moved like you were a teenager again when that hit your skin!

This may need to become it’s own thread. I am excited to see more updates Das! Maybe a URL for us to access the night cam too!

I actually had a CJ7 I rebuilt three times. I love Jeeps. The reason I went to the FJ was because I needed five seatbelts and a shorter wheel base. The four door Jeep was too long. But the Jeep in the back of the shop caught my attention. I will probably pick another one up to rebuild. They are tanks and best of all, highly customizable!

Too bad I am not closer to you. I could pull that Jeep wherever you needed it to go I am trying to start the old FJ versus Jeep battle if it isn’t obvious! This is a pic of my FJ after I completed the blackout a couple years ago

Me likey! Well done!

Built a forge at the end of the year and made a few knives. I am definitely a greenie. I have to say, I don’t think you will have competition from me for an anvil on the KSL site. All of the damaged anvils are overpriced and the guys won’t budge. So I have given up on it as a resource. I will be using a plate for the time being. I missed the ABANA conference unfortunately. I have seen pics from it and wished I would have stumbled upon it before it occurred. I am keeping an eye out for future events and will attend when they are scheduled.