Hammahead

This kind of graphite is fairly heat resistant. It's used for heating elements and extreme high temp purposes, up to 3,000 degrees c. at those temps an oxygen free atmosphere or vacuum is nessesary. This is just an  experiment on a low budget. The material is free, to buy it is outrageous(2 grand plus). If it doesn't hold up I'll get the welder out and fab something out of steel. So far I have less than $50 in it mostly for air supply. Will fire it up soon for an hour or 2 and see how it looks. Will post pictures of firing. Hammahead

We are starting small. The fire pot is 13 1/2 inches. I.D The first fire was more of a test since we didn't have an anvil. We had the coal level to the top and all of it was HOT. I've put together a piece of 1/2 inch steel plate on a stand so we can try some real stuff. The firepot should big enough to start. Hammahead

Unit togeSorry to take so long to figure out the pictures. This is the fire pot .next is the hearth plate. Next are the standoffs, and side view of hearthplate. Next standoffs in the firepot. Next Unit assembled. This is a modified chop saw frame with support struts.Now the unit is locked into the frame. This is the air supply pieces. That's everything but fire. Rain is coming soon, but when everything corporates I will show you the real first working fire and first attempt to form steel with heat and hammer. Thanks for your patience. Hammahead

Hi biggundoctor

Sumitomo was one of our competitors in the semiconductor industry, lol. Ibiden, sumitomo and another got $ 15 million fine for price fixing around that time. That material as you say is wicked abrasive and nasty dust wise. We used diamond tooling almost exclusively in turning large diameter (12 to 50 in), what I mostly did. Crucibles and heater elements. You are right the stuff will degrade at high temp, but as long as my buddy makes a minor screw up now and then he'll keep me in forge material. It is also just an experiment. If they burn out to quickly I'll have to get the welder out and go more traditional route. My ex employer was good to me and gave me an almost new Bridgeport and a pretty good 14x40 engine lathe. They went all cnc years ago, except for me and a few old timers. I retired after 39 years 2 years back. Only 1 small fire so far, going to really crank it up Sunday and try taking pictures of the whole process.

Cool talking to another graphite machinist, nobody knows what it's like till you do it. Thanks for responding

Hammahead

I wanted to show it working, but my pal Ratatatt thought correctly clean it up first. So wire brushes and spray paint first. Although almost everything is used or junkyard, it doesn't have to look it.

Anyway hopefully I can get the pictures out of the phone and on the site. As noted I'm a newbie to the site. Thanks to all, Hammahead

Ps. No luck with photos. Can't access recent pics from this page. It will only accept new photos taken while here. Maybe some of you have same experience. Stupid LG phone..Hammahead

Thanks for the interest guys. Arc meltelater graphite is a different grade called low density, this stuff is high density, made to grow silicon computer chip material. It is also useful to make resistance heaters, both of which I have made a boat load of. It is made in Japan by Ibiden industries, owner of micro mech the company I worked for now retired.if you ordered a similar piece of material it would cost about $2000. Thankfully mistakes are made and this stuff was in the scrap pile.

Going out to take pictures now.

I'm a newbe to the hobby, 65 years old with time and a friend who want to try banging steel. I'm a retired graphite machinist with access to the material. Having looked at what's out there I thought of a kind of new approach. My ex employer gave me a couple of crucibles 15" od x 14" Id 9"h made from electronic grade graphite (very strong and heat resistant). We put a 3 " hole in the side and blow air from a dog hair dryer from the junk yard.we put 4 3"x3"blocks in the bottom and rest what I call a hearthplate 13.9" of x1" thick with 16 half inch holes in the center area. Crucible is contained in a chop saw floor stand. Our first fire went beyond expectation. Paper and kindling to start, with coal added in about 5 minutes. With blower going mostly restricted.we had enough heat to get a 3/8 rod to temp and flattened in a minute or 2.

Has anyone else tryed this approach? Does anyone have an interest? I'll keep my eye on this site. If interested I'll send pictures to visualize the project. Iforgeiron has been a great help so far, so thanks and keep forging.Hammahead