pnut

Outside it's hard to judge color. Orange in the sun is probably closer to yellow. Have you looked at the stock at orange heat in a dark spot like inside a pipe? I thought I was having the same problem until I noticed I burned some mild steel that didn't look hot enough. With that being said, what color does the inside of the forge reach? Pnut

LouL also posted a thread titled," My consolidated notes for first time forge builders." It's a tried and tested method. No need to reinvent the wheel on your first forge build. That comes later. Pnut

Sure you'll fit in. They didn't chase me off, so that bodes well for the rest of the population. Anyone with a genuine interest in blacksmithing and the motivation to do a little research fits in perfectly. Those that run into problems are the folks who think it's not worth their time to look for an answer to their questions in the myriad posts already here that answers that very question. Welcome aboard and remember it's supposed to be fun. Pnut

I had your forge confused with another one that was using a blower from a heater. Sorry. Still the same advice. Only use as much air as needed and as Glenn said, more fuel. Within reason I've yet to be able to put too much fuel on a charcoal fire. Pnut

I use a ball valve to fine tune the air flow. You may want to find a convenient way to turn the air off when you remove the stock from the forge. You'd be surprised how much charcoal it will save. Pnut

I have a pan from an outdoor fireplace I'm going to put in the top to make a more weather resistant jabod. I also have a third of a plastic 55 gallon drum to cover it when not in use to protect the clay. Sitting in the woods has taken a toll on my wood jabod. The only damage to the prep table is the weld between one of the legs and the bottom shelf has failed. My neighbor said he could braze it. I've only brazed copper so it'll be a good chance to learn something new. Pnut

Freebie from the restaurant next to where I work, soon to be my new forge table. Pnut

I don't know. I do know you can compress it into lumps and use it like regular coal. Is it a lot cheaper than lump? Pnut

I haven't seen one with a rodded handle like that. Very cool. Pnut

I walked up to the fire station Friday morning and spoke with them about my charcoal forge and the temporary burn ban here. I learned two things. The first was they told me the ban didn't cover my forge and the second was that one of the older firefighters does some blacksmithing. I talked with him for about two hours about forging. He seemed to subscribe to some of the myths of blacksmithing but I didn't want to be rude so I didn't contradict any of them. He also invited me to his forge. I'll have to take him up on the offer sometime. I still didn't light the forge. Regardless of the burn ban not including my forge I still thought it would be a bad idea to go ahead. It's raining right now for the first time in quite a while and supposed to continue until Monday morning totaling about an inch and three quarters by the time it passes. I'd prefer to wait and be safe rather than maybe cause a fire just because I'm not specifically prohibited from using my forge. Pnut

Im not familiar with inswool moldable. Any updates on it's performance? I wonder how it would work for lining an entire forge interior. Since it makes a hard flame face and requires less fuss than a blanket I'm extremely curious about it. Seems like it could be very useful. Pnut

The fuel should be above the top of the trench. The bricks help keep it in a pile. Give it a try and see if it helps. I missed seeing the size of the pipe you're using for a tuyere. It may be a little too big. I use a 3/4 to 1 inch pipe like Charles recommended. Preferably 3/4. Pnut

For hardy tooling you can cut a square hole in a stump and put a piece of square steel tube in it and use the plate as is. If you've already cut the plate in half use one half as an anvil and the other half you can grind different swage shapes and a hardy hole In to use as a bolster, dishing, and for hardy tooling. Pnut

You look like you have a good set up. It's going to take some trial and error to dial everything in. Ditto to everything Charles R. Stevens said above. The only thing I'd add is use only enough air to attain the heat you need. A hard push on the bellows can blow whole pieces of burning charcoal out of the firepot if you're not careful. You might want to put a brick on either side of the trench to help bank up the pile of burning fuel. Looks good though. Welcome aboard and remember it's supposed to be fun. Pnut

5.47 GPM sounds like it would definitely be enough, but I'm not very familiar with forging presses. Frosty is pretty knowledgeable about Hydraulics and JHCC recently built a forging press. They might be your best bet on finding out what you want to know. Maybe a PM to one or both of them might bear fruit. Pnut

Volume of fluid moved can be calculated by multiplying area of piston face x stroke length. Then volume divided by time of stroke= cubic inches of fluid per second. To figure gpm multiply cubic inches per second by 60 then divide by 231=gpm. Simple huh Pnut Math isn't my strong suit since the TBI. Before that really but especially since then. I hope I got this correct. If not please correct it as needed. Thank you.

What's the area of the piston face, distance of stroke, how many gpm will the pump move, and time of stroke? See if you can download Industrial Hydraulics written by Richard W. Vockroth it has all the formulas to figure out what you need to know. Pnut

Have you tried Walmart? The one near me carries EVAP-O-RUST and naval jelly. I know different stores, different stock. I like ATF/acetone Pnut

Dress the edges and use it as is. Pnut

Not mouse approved.

Sorry I can't help, but there's members who can tell you exactly what you have. It may have been made by another company and liscensed by Belknap tools. Many tool companies did this. Making an anvil is somewhat specialized and a lot of companies didn't make the anvil themselves. You also will want to put your general location in your profile. Many questions are location dependent and you might be surprised to find some members close to you. I put northern Kentucky in my profile. You need not use an exact location. Just a general area. Welcome aboard and remember it's supposed to be fun. Pnut

That is amazing!!!! Maybe he could send one my way too. I hear those hammer head sharks shed like nobody's business. Pnut

That home Depot weldable steel unless marked as 1018 is actually A-36. I don't think that has a lot to do with the weld failing though. As already mentioned above, your forge doesn't look to be in the incandescent orange/White heat range, but it's in full sun and photos are notoriously hard to judge color with. I've heard a lot of people having trouble welding leaf springs to themselves. I would try again after the sun is setting anit's a little easier to see the colors. At my forge in full sun a welding heat looks medium orange and a lemon yellow tends to look like a high orange. It's tough judging color outside. Find something you can put the steel in that's dark like a wood box with a small hole In for the steel to get back to where it's dark enough to truly see what color it is. Even being color blind it's more about incandescence than color. White light is brighter than yellow and yellow is brighter than orange. Pnut

A little quality time with a grinder and you will have a hot cut. Pnut

I'm still waiting on the xxxxx World series!!