Enewguy

Ok. In my "built my first Jabod" post, you can see I had it down at a steep angle. As the day went on, I was working it closer and flatter to the top in an effort to not burn the steel. Bean07 looks like a nice forge.

Not trying to hijack the thread, just a quick question. Does the positioning apply to anthracite coal as well? Might explain how I burnt up one side of the tongs I was trying to make yesterday. Really hot really fast. Poof, gone, melted in half. Less than a minute.

Hahaha What about KROIL? Anyone tried that as a long term treatment? It has a strong smell to it though.

I'm using anthracite. It seems to have a very distinct smell when burning. A bit like galvanized metal. Is that normal? I work for the d.o.t and on occasion we have to replace guardrail that's been hit. We usually use a blow torch to cut it up small enough to haul it off. Even though you avoid breathing in the fumes you do occasionally smell it.

So I decided to try building a Jabod today. I had a 4x4 piece of 3/4" plywood in the shop. Threw that on the ole saw horses, screwed on 2x4s then some scrap car siding (tongue and groove). Where I'm at in Kansas there's always a breeze or wind so I left about a half inch Gap on the ends so I could slide some plywood in just Incase the to block the wind off. Put a hard fire brick in the middle. Took the tractor to the pasture and brought back some clay/dirt. Dumped it in, shaped it and packed it down some. Using an air mattress inflator and 1/2 inch pipe and floor flange. The flame was going. After it ran for an hour or so, I pulled back on the pipe about an inch or so. I just wanted to keep the heat directly off it. The MAJOR lesson I learned today is not to put one side of a pair of tongs in the forge after hot punching it.and walk up to the garage to get a pack of smokes from the truck....Oops. when I came back I had a big sparkler show coming out of the fire and a half a tong. All said and done, I really had a fun day. I even made a small quench tank out of an old fire extinguisher. It was out of date since 2004.

While I realize what you're saying, I guess what I'm getting at is what kind of steel they are made of, then I can go from there. Or I might try the heat and beat to see what happens method. In the picture, it's only the part painted white not the whole blade.

I was more wondering about the 4ftx8" piece of steel that edge is on. Is it good steel? I know better than to even mess with that edge.

I have access to a few plow blades. The ones that are steel and bolt on the front of dump trucks. I've been searching here and the web to find out what steel their made of. They cut fairly easy with a torch (except the inlay). Someone told me that part was tungsten, someone else said carbon. At any rate you can heat it bright red and it will snap so you can cut the blades as needed. Is the steel any good for forging stuff out of? I've got one I cut up stacked and bolted the pieces to a 6x6 post to be able to beat on. Their very heavy as a whole 4' x8" blade, around 50 lbs. I was thinking about using some to make a trough for a coal forge instead of a square.

Irondragon, I'm just going to scrap the forge and start over like frosty suggested. I'll have to retune the burner anyhow at that point. Do I'm not going to worry about it now. I do have a helium tank I can use on round 2.

In the first pic, Does the interior look right for not having any kind of IR lining other than the brick? The first pic is after I changed the burner, it no longer has the big billowing flames.

Yeah the flame issue has been fixed. I'm not sure I got it perfect yet but it's better since I switched and am using a frosty t now.

Lol. I'm on the volunteer fire Dept at the township/City where I live. I'm the only one that doesn't live in town and since I'm one of a few guys that is medically qualified to run those calls get to keep a brush truck at my house. Wouldn't do much good right now for a fire it's been winterized since it sits outside. NO water or even a pump on it.

So I built my first forge. I REALLY wish I had found this sight before I did build it. Because as Mikey (I think it was him) said in another post "the ignorance tax on forges and burners is quite steep". The first picture is the forge. There's several things I wish I had done differently. Like not packing it with so much refractory cement. Not using an old air tank. Not "cementing" the bricks into the forge. However I think that one can be fixed in the future as they begin to breakup. The second is of the forge side view. The issues of the flames shooting out and so high have been addressed... (Kinda sorta maybe) I too used a YouTube design and beat myself up for messing it up. Then I found this sight and built a frosty t design with ease. Thanks again frosty. Turns out I didn't mess it up it was just a messed up design. Also the galvanized parts have been changed out to Black pipe. So now the questions... I am seriously considering using a concrete saw and chopping it in half. (Since I'm completely new to blacksmithing I really don't need a big long fancy forge right now, just something to start out with and practice.) Then reposition the burner of course. When I say concrete saw, some people call it a hot saw, or a rescue saw also. I have access to one that will cut both concrete and metal at once. Is that necessary? I'm wondering if it will help get rid of part of the heat sink issue I made. I know it will definitely lighten it up and make it easier to move around the shop as needed. The supply line is rubber for now so I remove it after shutting down so the heat doesn't run up my burner tube and melt it. I plan on changing it to copper at a later time. In the first picture it had been running for about 5 minutes before I put that piece in. It probably took about 5 minutes to get the metal cherry red. Does the inside of the forge look right for using brick without any coatings? It just don't feel like it's right. The regulator I have is rated from 0-60psi. Not sure what I actually have it set at. There's not a gauge on it yet. I'm going to get one this weekend for it and put it on after New year's. (Going out of town) however here's another question on that one. Is an air pressure gauge and LP one the same? I looked at a few at tractor supply but they didn't say they were ok for LP so I passed. Since then I have found some say ok for air and LP. Now here's a question that I just can't make sense of when you guys talk about it. It's been said on here that heat sinks (such as using such a thick wall of refractory like I did) use more fuel. The reason that makes no sense to my pea brain is 30psi for instance is still 30psi of flow into the forge. If the flame is a constant, why would it be a waste of fuel? It's still going to be putting the heat into the forge at the same rate. Thank you all in advance.

Using it outside wasn't really a thought. I was just doing some testing on it outside. I have a big enough garage that I don't really use, so I'm gonna turn it into the shop. The design has been great as far as the burner goes. I just wish I had done MORE research before building that forge. Yeah it'll heat and quickly too. However it is the first one and hindsight is 20/20

We use shop made post pounders all the time at work. Piece of Pipe with a chunk of steel on the top to cap it off and add weight, with rebar handles bent and welded on. All made from road finds. If you use rebar grind the nubs off before bending and welding. It will save your hands some wear and tear. It's amazing what people lose along the roadway.

Frosty: I just wanted to thank you for this post. I got much better results with your plans. When I get it moved inside out of the breeze, I'll get better pics. (First time messing with it, didn't want to blow up the shop if I did something wrong)

Very nice