Jim L.

...for my Dad's 78th birthday. Applewood scales, brass liners and pins, mild steel divider. The blade was forged from a tire tool. This is my first real attempt at file work. Comments, questions and critiques welcome! Thanks for looking...bart.

Will do! This won't be a fast project, but I'll keep y'all posted.

Jim L.

Why not reforge a new tang from about an inch from the break?

I was wondering if any one had ever used brake disks to forge a blade from. I'm told that these are made froma very high carbon steal (I'm thinking motorcycle disks).

My thinking is that they are exceptionally hard and after working can be configured via forging, treat and quenching might make an interesting blade.....or would this be a waste of time.

Jim L.

Must be boric acid that kills cockroaches.............opps !!!

The refractory that I came up with works OK, but I think I mixed it too wet from what I've been reading. I just used some whit brick mortar mixed with pearlite.

Jim L.

My little "Mk 2 coffee can forge uses a side blast that was directed alond the side. The result is a vortex that swirls the heat through out the forge. Right or wrong, that's what I have. Any suggestions welcome.

Jim L.

I currently use a coffee can forge lined with refractory. Well actually the "Mk 2" used a can for the inner liner (burned away fairly quickly as expeted )that formed the fractory inside of a larger container.
Air is forced via low pressure compressor through a 1/2 in. pipe. I do need to modify for ash dump.

Jim L.

howdy all:rolleyes:.....how much do you pay for your fuel, and or how much time do you invest in making, ie, charcoal?

and how much do you use in a day if time permits a day(for hobby), and commercial.

just out of interest if its an interesting enough topic for the forum.

here in brisbane, its costs me, $25-$30 a bag for charcoal.
it costs about $100 for a 44 gal drum of coal if they con you to be a member of somewhere or something i got told.
it costs about $25-$30 to fill a 9kg gas bottle.

i use very little gas in the gassy but when the big ones finnished i will pass it on.
i can use up to nearly a bag doing big steel all day.

I used to use one which used a mid-sized drum mounted into the middle of a 1/4" plate hearth which is 2' x 3' and legs welded on. Also scrounged up enough old bed rails from the dump to weld a nice lip around the outside edge of the hearth to keep coal, etc from falling off. Drum forges are quick and fairly easy to build, almost made for the pipe-flange that connects to the bottom for your air, but....
The cons are that you have the lip of the drum sticking up above your hearth which is a pain, not only for your stock being placed in to be heated, but also getting enough coal in. To slot the sides of the drum to allow your stock to sit flatter in the pot requires a lot of grinder blades or someone with an air-arc setup to cut it as it's a bugger. I finally got sick of the drum due to the limitations, bought more plate and welded up a new pot. Welded it flush with the hole in the hearth so the top is nice and smoothe with no obstructions to get in the way and I couldn't be happier. Plenty of coal laying about the hearth to pull into the pot as needed and no aggravating lip to keep the stock out of the fire. I didn't realize that the bigger stock would need so much room til I tried the drum and that's another I switched. Save yourself some frustration later on and get the stock to build a firepot or just buy a pre-made pot. Mount it flush to the bottom of your hearth and I bet you'll be very glad you did
Good luck with your forge

irontwister I make my own fire pots and make them for others If you want a set of plans let me know I will send you a set.

Very cool! How does one come across these? What was it's origional purpose? :confused:

Jim L.

My first thought was "Oh! Wow!

Jim L.

Beautiful work! I can't wait to start forge welding.

Jim L.

Here is a previous thread where I posted how I weld it. Good luck with it.

The place where I work just had some elevator work done. A little schmoozing with the workers scored me about 12 feet of 5/8 inch cable.

`Problem is I don't know the first thing about welding, much less doing it with cable (pre-lubed).

How do I cut it. Does it have to be welded before being cut or forging. What to use to clean thick oil off?????? :confused:

Any help/suggestions are welcome.

Thanks,
Jim L.

How'd you get bakelite that thickness?

Jim L

Come to think about it I tried this out first with some dead fall cypress from my back yard. It's not as hard as it should be, but harder than untreated. Beautiful wood too!

Jim L.

D. mike,

Have a look at the link about stabilizing. This should help, though I think most pines would be too soft.

Jim L.

Can someone explain to me how to build a vacuum setup I can make for home use? :confused: I want to stabilize some wood that I recently purchased. Also what are some of the products that can be used in this process? thanks, Bert

OK, here's a stupid question..... Any problem with the corn popping?

Jim L.

I've used corian with some success.

Jim L.