pnut

The pump with the tube at the bottom is a little larger but the one pictured above with the tube attached to the handle is the one I have. It works but I got a real blower and soon as I could. If you have access to electricity the AC pump from the same company works great but it makes too much air so you have to use a ball valve or a waste gate. Are you going to be using the kitty litter dry? Pnut

Hey what do you know Thomas, that's where I get my clay too. Hope to see you there sometime. Pnut

There are two types of whale oil. Oil made from blubber and the more sought after and cleaner burning spermaceti oil made from an organ in a sperm whale's head. Pnut

A treadle hammer is not a substitute for a power hammer. Pnut

I am a firm believer in reading the MSDS for the things I use also. I don't use borax for welding but like Hans said I have used it in a pair of shoes that I stepped in stagnant water while wearing. I washed them and after they were dry I put a sprinkle of Borax on the insoles and let them sit over night. I did take for granted that it was safe to use for it's labeled purpose since it's been around for nearly a hundred years but like talcum powder containing asbestos you never can tell. That of course wouldn't have been covered in a MSDS though. Which makes me wonder what type and amount of exposure is considered dangerous when it comes to Borax. I'm going to have a look now. Pnut

I've never looked into what the risks are with borax. I've put boric acid mixed with water in the eye of my cat following my vets orders. Here twenty mule team Borax detergent is a sort of old timey product. I have not seen it used by anyone under 70 in their laundry. They used to sponsor a cowboy TV show in the late fifties early sixties here called "Death Valley Days". Most things are dangerous. I think how and if it's regulated depends on how dangerous and how much influence that particular industry can bring it's influence to bear. I will use the words alcohol and tobacco to illustrate the idea. I don't want to stray too far down this road though, but I will look into the dangers of borax as I have never thought of it as any more dangerous than any other detergent. Thanks for pointing it out. Pnut

That seems a bit extreme. People still use borax as a laundry detergent in the US. You don't need to go to a drugstore to get it. It's sold in the cleaning aisle of most supermarkets here. Boric acid powder is also available at large supermarkets and hardware stores here as roach poison. You can get 100% boric acid powder at Walmart. It's used in some medical preparations also. Pnut

That's a good question. Since the volatiles have been cooked off it would seem like there'd be less of a chance but I'm not sure. I'll try to find out though and report back if I have a result. Pnut

Burners 101 is more than one day of reading for me. Pnut

Using a 3/4 inch pipe I have a hot spot about as big as a softball. If you visualize a softball sitting on the top edge of the tuyere and against the side of the forge where the tuyere is you'll have a pretty good idea of where the hot spot in my jabod is. The reducing area is about halfway up the hot spot in my forge. I use charcoal mainly but haven't seen a noticeable difference between fuel's regarding the hot spot and reducing or neutral zone. Ymmv. Pnut

I use a shovel and dig it out of the ground. You can mix it one part clay to two parts sand, but I just use straight clay from behind my house in my jabod forge. You could also use 100% bentonite Kitty litter and sand mixed in the same proportions but you have to hydrate the clay and let the water evenly disperse throughout it. Clay out of the ground just seems much simpler to me. Pnut

Same here in greater Cincinnati. The place I go hasn't had any hot rolled 1018 lately only cold rolled. I haven't had to have any so haven't paid the extra for the Cold rolled. 1/2 in. round HR goes for $18 and change. You can also buy remnants or partial sticks that are in the remnants rack for less than 75 cents a pound. I want to say forty cents a pound but I can't remember for sure. Whole lengths of cold rolled 1/2 in. round is $21 iirc but as stated above it's only 10 ft. bars. Pnut

Look through the jabod threads in the solid fuel forge section. I'm not sure where eastview is but I'm in northern Kentucky. If you're close let me know. Welcome aboard, be safe and remember it's supposed to be fun. Pnut Just looked up where Eastview is. I have a sister in Elizabethtown. I'm in Dry Ridge. It's probably a couple hours away from you. If I get down to visit with my sister I'll let you know.

I don't know why I typed 3/4 inch. I figured you were using the larger sized pipe in your pictures. Pnut

I seen you said they were tie rods. I was just posting a general warning in case someone in the future doesn't know. They will make good tools. I love free metal. I got a coil spring and some tie rod ends the other day. Haven't decided what to do with them yet. Pnut

A gaff or boat hook is what I was leaning towards. The goads I have seen were pointed also. Pnut

Hope you didn't get burned. Pnut

Gazz, that looks like a gaff. I don't know what it was used to move or catch but the round tips make it look like they didn't want to mar the finish or Maybe puncture something. It just occurred to me that I have seen something like that used for animal training in a circus but I don't know if that is what it is. Pnut

The Josh greenwood video titled the beginner is the video that made what many people were trying to explain to me finally click. I actually needed to see it to understand.. Pnut

I agree Randy, hexavalent chromium is nasty. I stay away from plated metal unless I can be sure I know exactly what the plating is and can easily remove it. You can't be too safe in my opinion." In rust we trust" Pnut

Did you grind or forge the bevels? If you don't think it's cheating you can always make a jig for grinding them in. Being able to forge even bevels is not a strong point of mine. I don't make knives though really, but I'd still like to be able to do it well and consistently when I do get the urge. Unfortunately my time at the forge decreases drastically in the winter as my smithy is outside. The sad thing is I actually have time in the winter since my job slows down but the weather doesn't cooperate. Time for a temporary tarp shelter perhaps? Pnut

When I seen your first post I thought you were building a water-cooled side blast forge. In my forge I use a sch40 pipe that I left extra long to push in as it was burned away but after nearly a year it's only lost about a quarter of an inch. It was completely encased in clay and the end was flush with the side of the trench. I just tore it apart recently to rebuild the wood box. I was surprised how well the clay protected it. Were you using a 3/4 inch pipe with multiple holes as a tuyere in the tub originally? Pnut

Glad to hear it. Pnut

Triphammers are usually used for one operation in the production of an item. The drawbacks that I can see are that you can't change the force of the strikes and adjusting the distance between the hammer and anvil for different tools and stock sizes. Wherever I've seen them in use they did one thing and weren't really a multipurpose tool. I guess you could adjust the anvil height for different tools and stock sizes but it still makes a full force blow every time. Pnut

Make sure you have it broken into small enough pieces. I had the best luck with pieces about the size of a thumbnail, around an inch or a little less. Pnut