pnut

Those pull it yourself auto salvage yards prices are as actual replacement parts not scrap metal. I called a place near me for coil springs and they wanted way too much for them. They sell to folks who are looking for car parts not scrap metal. Pnut

Glad you finally got it. I've read many posts where you say you've been trying to get one for about four years. When it comes to saving moneyI'm with you there. I'm much more of an ant versus a grasshopper. I put a hundred dollar bill in an envelope every paycheck. I'll have enough to get another used car to replace the one that just recently died soon. If I want something I save for it versus using credit if at all possible. Pnut

I forgot to mention the sparks. If you're getting lots of sparks with lump charcoal you're air is blowing too hard. When I want to get up to welding heat in my jabod with lump charcoal I turn on the air just enough to get the stock to forging temp and when its at forging temp I increase the blast a bit to get it to welding heat. Easy peasy. There's some fire fleas but really I don't see too many when I'm forging only when welding. Pnut

I second covering the crucible and you can just load the charcoal through the top with no problems except maybe needing a vent to in the side near the bottom to draw air. Pnut

Mr. Slag, I'm glad you found proof of this. My grandmother used to tell me to fill a sock or rag with catnip and give it a squeeze and rub it on to keep the bugs off. I've done this many times, mostly to humor my granny. I didn't get any mosquito bites but refused to connect the catnip with the lack of bites. She grew catnip in her yard and later on when she moved into our house all over our yard and said it kept the mosquitoes away. I just thought that there weren't any mosquitoes around. I'm glad she was right. She told me she learned this in the mountains when she lived there as a young person. Pnut

You probably have everything you need to build a jabod laying around or can scavenge it close to home. I built a jabod about six months ago and I can't say I've stopped looking for a forge but it would have to be too good of a deal to pass up to get me to look twice at it. My jabod does everything I need it to do including reaching welding temps. I've used charcoal, anthracite, and corn in it with no problems. Just have to put a brick on either side of the trench when I need a deeper fire depending on fuel. I'd like to find the time to build one with a bigger table but I'm satisfied with what I have now and it cost no money at all except the eight bucks for the hand pump. I also spent twelve bucks for an electric mattress pump I plug into a portable jump starter/power station when I use anthracite or I'm feeling too lazy to pump by hand which is most of the time. Pnut

And an old beater van is good for hauling it back to the house. If it breaks down you no longer need a scrap yard just cut up the van, lots of good scrap just waiting to be used. Pnut

Is it propane or mapp gas. If you can heat it to glowing it's around 900F. Steel at black heat can be 800F. Pnut

I've used it before. I just thought I'd post some pics when I get around to doing it again. I like it except you have to keep an eye on the fireball or it'll burn away and leave you with a hollow cave. I'm surprised more people don't use it. I see people posting all the time that they can't source coal and charcoal is too much of a hassle to make. Corn seems a lot like bituminous to me. It behaves about the same and I think everyone in the US can get feed corn. I'll be sure to check out your videos by the way. Pnut

That's what I was thinking. The burner is the hard part I think. Others may disagree. Pnut

Cool, I don't know how long the clay will hold up but cross that bridge when you get to it. It might take a while to get up to temperature also. Takes clay a while to heat up. More experienced souls than I will have some advice for you soon I'm sure. Pnut

I'm going to go get another bag of dried corn this weekend. I'll post some pics and results when I get around to using it. Might take a minute though. I still have about 15-20 lbs. of charcoal left at the moment. Update to be posted soon. Pnut

Hoo-Ray Pnut

Don't forget to put a couple drops of food coloring in the spray bottle when you rigidize the blanket it makes it easier to see where you've sprayed. When you put the castable on have you thought about making the shape of the interior of the forge like a capital D with the flat spot on the bottom? Don't get discouraged now. You're almost done. You'll feel like you accomplished something the first time you fire it up and get the interior up to a nice high incandescent orange. Keep at it. I don't know anything about gassers except the crazy amount of reading I've done here but others do. You can see the finish line now. Pnut Oh yeah nearly forgot. If you see a post with cuss words let Glenn or the mods know. They don't catch everything. Glenn wants a site that your kids or grandkids, Mom or grandparents can look at with out having to worry about what they might see. I think it's refreshing to see a place on the internet not filled with foul language and foul ideas.

Good work, is the horizontal on the bracket connected with a tenon or welded? Either way it turned out great. Pnut

I have been silently hoping for a DVD or some such thing to be released by you. I watch a lot of videos but seem to learn the most from yours. People forget to explain the why that goes along with the how. Your video format seems to penetrate my thick skull more so than others. Pnut

They don't call it stainless for nothing ;-) try blueing it again and then clear coat it. That would be what I would try before moving to chemicals and such. Pnut

I had a 69 Dodge van I drove to California and back. The starter was going bad so I couldn't turn it off from about St. Louis to Cincinnati. Before St. Louis I could whack it with a tire iron and it would start. After St. Louis even that wasn't really working. I wish I was still as bold as when I was 18. I'd never try to drive a 200 dollar van across the country and back. Pnut

My Mom was a truck driver back when I was really young. "Lil' Bit" was her CB handle when she was working. My stepdad had a goofy one too. Too silly to repeat here. Pnut

The indigenous folks raise them for food in the Andes. Mmm mm. Just kidding I don't know how tasty they are. I like the little critters. They do make a bunch of different noises. I could imagine a herd of them could get a little annoying. Pnut

No problem, hydrophobic means it doesn't like water. It doesn't readily absorb water. Hydrophilic means it will readily mix with water or it likes water. I feel likeI've learned so much in the last 8 months it's crazy. It's a pretty steep learning curve in the beginning and easy to get information overload. It helps me to get a pen and paper and take notes. I'm 44 years old and that's how I studied when I was growing up. We didn't have laptops but however you do it I find taking notes helps me remember things and it makes the information much easier to retrieve later when you need it instead of trying to find it in the Mt Everest of info here. I'm glad you're making progress and remember it's supposed to be fun so don't let it stress you out. That's why I have hobbies, to relieve stress not create it. Pnut

Struck out at the yard sale. I did see a piece of 3/8 in. mild steel about 3ft. long and two fair clips laying in their driveway that they gave to me for free. So it wasn't a complete waste of gas. Pnut

Subscription live streaming classes. The future is upon us. Pnut

Caught my eye when you said you got on the bus. I probably went to at least a hundred shows between 89 and spring tour 95. Hey now! I still need a miracle. Pnut.

Nice forge Das. When you get it finished I'm sure you'll be happy with it. I keep my eyes peeled for deals always, but unfortunately I haven't ran into any good ones in a while. I'm going to a yard sale in just a few minutes so fingers crossed. Pnut