Tinker B

Oof dah; Been a while since I was on here so I figured I would reintroduce myself. I’m finally getting back in the swing of things after buying a place in Morgan County Tn. It’s been a whirlwind year and a half after my wife and I were driving home from visiting Wayne out in Sunbright Tn and saw a farm for sale. Short story is I’ve been forging small things but they were all last second “needs done now” so I didn’t photograph most of it. I’ve spent WAY more time with a weed eater and chainsaw than I have with a hammer but I’m finally getting systems in place so I can start doing fun stuff. Got plans for an epic cleaver and a heavy breaking knife for butchering but they keep getting pushed to the back burner. Wife and I do Agritourism at our place so if your in the area stop by and say hi.

Between going to plant sales, building fence, planting the mornings purchases, fabricating a gate, tilling new planting space and on and on..... I found time to cast the shell. I leave tomorrow morning so I’ve got it all set up to spray it down tomorrow and head out for work. I also tried making a brick out of extra wool and Kast o lite.

Thanks for the kind words Dan. I resisted the urge to do more than a test heat. Up close the stand has lost of little things I wish looked better but lack of free time made me leave well enough alone. My fumed silica was waiting for me today when I got home so I finished the blanket lining and rigidized everything. Hopefully I’ll have time tomorrow to cast the inner shell so it can cure while I’m gone next week. I’m also going to be welding 2” angle iron on the back of the stand to keep my brick door in place.

Got the 6” pipe nipples, cut the wool and figured out my burner depth. I’ve got PVC ground down for my burner recess in the Kast-o-lite. Even with the rediculouse wind gusts it never went out and heated up some 3/4 4140 faster than I expected (3 min from full cold) with just wool in her guts, a wide open face and a little wool covering the back hatch. I’m super excited after I found out the EBay lister is FINALLY!!! shipping my silica. In two weeks I’ll finally have a cured and IR coated forge I can do stuff with. I made one little thing for my wife and the list began. Now I have new hinges for the gate, garden decorations, trellising for raspberries and garden fencing on my list

I’ve been looking at it Lou. I really appreciate all the work people here have put in to provide accurate info for noobs like me. Getting some work done on it today. I keep forgetting to get 6” pipe nipples and my fumed silica still isn’t here yet. Messaged the EBay seller and still haven’t heard anything back. And yes those are burner holes in the top because I started this build a long time ago before I did any homework and just copied what I saw on line. A search for liner ideas turned in to an entire rethinking of design lol.

Thanks Mikey. You and Frosty’s input about burners and forge design have made my brain jello several times over the last 6 months while I researched and planed out my build. Why oh why did I read forges and burners 101 back to back from post 1. I’m excited to get this forge finished so I can start my WAAAAYYYY!!!!! over built post vice.

Thanks Lou, I started tending a coke forge at about 4 or 5 so I figured it was time to get him spun up. I’m taking more time than I would like on this forge so it’s not just a pile of regrets and mistakes.

Played with the burners today. Got another free regulator. It worked for about a minute and gave up, but oh man did they put out some heat at 15psi. My American made super sexy one is still on back order. I got distracted by my boy beating on some copper tubing he found. Kids decided I needed to help them make their mom something. Wife got 20 minutes kid free and a budding leaf necklace charm so it was a win/win for her.

Just got done with a great visit to Wayne Coe’s place. Picked up some refractory, allot of good information and my wife and kids enjoy themselves. Seeing a ribbon burner first hand tempted me to start over, however that’s a significantly larger investment...... Ok bad jokes aside I’m sticking with my plan for a 20# propane tank build using 2) 3/4” T burners (thank you for the emails Frosty.) Follow the directions and go shopping without the distraction of 3 children and you can’t go wrong. Spent $60 on hardware I didn’t have or could get from a friend to make 2 burners. Waiting on my American made 30psi regulator with a gauge and stainless covered line to get here. I’m also waiting on fumed silica for rigidizing the wool and stainless flares. Considering using stainless for the mounting bracket but I haven’t decided if the extra cost is going to be that great of a long term investment. I’ve already got plans to build a ribbon burner and make the mounts redundant so share your thoughts. Finished internal volume I’m guessing will be close to 400 cubic inches give or take. This forge should be enough to get me tong and tooled up since last I heard everything from my pre USMC days are gone for good. It will also give me time to build a ribbon burner the right way.

If some TMC flatbed semi truck is driving back and forth in front of your place it’s just me with a pocket full of cash and 34hours to spare. Chances are i dumpster dove some sweet metal finds too.

The metal for the stand fallowed me home Thursday. Vice is an old Columbian I picked up Friday for $35 off CL. The small human just fallows me around doing whatever I do.

Some favorite pearls from my grandfather “can’t weld without coke and you can’t make coke without wet coal” ”quit fighting the tongs, make them fit or make some new ones” “Quit being an engineer, simple heat treats better” ”god gave you a brain and a strong back, you’ll live longer using the first one” ”give it a try, but put the Dexta and the square bailer in the shop so we make the most out of the insurance when you burn the place down”