Chris C

I know a lot of people wear gloves to avoid cuts and abrasions..............even blisters. (in the case of a surgeon I read about) I've got so many scars on my hands from such that they look like a Hong Kong street map! I'm all the time sticking my hands up against a knife blade, sanding belt, band-saw blade, motorcycle exhaust or most any other thing that could possibly leave a mark. But when it comes to forging, I want a glove on my tong hand that gives me extra protection if it takes me too long to get hold of something in the forge. I presently use a welders glove. (I don't wear anything on my hammer hand) But it's beginning to get "toasted" and stiff from those "it took me too long to get a good hold on the danged piece in the forge" situations. And I've had to crawl out of the glove in haste (à la hâte ........ironic the French word for haste sounds like hot!) too many times because of the heat. (I'm a real pansy when it comes to heat) So I'm looking for a good heat resistant glove that doesn't cost an arm and a leg and part of the farm. I was working at a friend's forge the other day and he casually mentioned hot mill gloves. We didn't talk about them because we were busy doing other things, but the title stuck in my head. In searching "hot mill gloves", I find a huge number of choices, but no real definition that means anything without being able to actually try them on. They come in many ply variations and go from about 300 degree F (1-ply) to 700 degree F (3-ply) resistance. My first thought is the 700 degree is a 3-ply construction and I wonder what the flexibility of the glove would be when it comes to holding/manipulating a pair of tongs. ??? A good friend (we all know her) here on the forum told me in a PM last night I way over-think things and probably take too much time making decisions.......................and she's right. But at the same time, I don't want to lay out hard earned money for something that doesn't work for my needs and have to turn around and replace it later. Anyone on the forum use hot mill gloves who might share some input about them?

Yup, gotta get that fencing back up asap. Protect those kiddos. Storm got us also, Don. Had a 12" diameter, 25' long limb blow down and almost hit our covered back porch. Had to cut it up this morning. "Was" planning on lighting the forge today, but danged it's hot and humid. I'm wringing wet and I took a shower right after cutting up the limb. All I've done is planed a 10' plank of wood and cut a 12" chunk off it for one of my students. Too hot for man or beast, so make sure you've plenty of water handy.

We just say "Shot another yote today, honey!" Saves all that tongue work.

We needed the rain, Thomas. But I'd send it your way if I could. I know what Central, NM is about when it comes to "dry".

Well, Thomas, it rained buckets today. We had a heck of a storm come through. Put 100 year old trees down on houses and wrecked havoc all over the place.

Thanks, Luke, but as I said a month ago, I've got two buckets..........brand new ones.

Whoa, there, KHuff. Don't know what triggered your response, but not a post in this thread was meant to make you feel as if you wasted your time coming here. Good group of Blacksmiths here with a whole lot of experience and more than willing to share it with new people. No need to take offense at anything posted so far. So don't pick up your marbles and leave. You'll learn a whole lot here if you are willing to listen to those with actual experience. Your local organization will also be helpful and you'll probably find a lot of it's members are active here on the forum. Send me a PM if you want to talk about it privately.

Well, I'd say you are right!

Well, Don, I don't have a "second stimulus check", but I've got Gerald Franklin's business card in my hand and I'm calling him right now to see what he charges.

As I said, Glenn, "burning up steel" was meant as wasting it, not literally burning it up.

If I back up on the air, the steel will be too cool to move..............or at least that's what my ignorance level tells me. I probably just need to find someone locally to take lessons from.

I know Don was addressing me when he was talking about burning up fuel. Don't know if Glenn was referring to me when he addressed burning up steel. When I say "I'm just burning up fuel or burning up steel", I'm basically saying I'm getting no-where...........spinning my wheels..........don't feel as if I'm accomplishing what I'm intending to when I fired up my forge and started hammering. Same thing as burning up time. Guess I'm going to have to quit buying supplies and equipment and invest some money in some instructions somewhere. Don, I"m using a forced air ribbon burner, not naturally aspirated...............but don't have any idea if that changes the fuel usage because I've never had any other forge. I know I've got the propane choked way down. What I've got a lot of is air volume.

No "fuel hog" here. Just trying to make a point I'm a real slow worker. I watch videos where guys can forge the bit of the tongs in one heat. I have to go back so many times I'm just wasting fuel and burning up my steel. Can't seem to get metal to move like some of these guys can. I watch guys like Brian Brazeal (I know, I know..........he's a pro) who mash steel as if it were clay. I pound until I'm blue in the face and seem to only be able to mark it. Just getting a little frustrating. Sure wish Korney would fire up his Thursday night group once again. There was always someone there who I could ask "What am I doing wrong?"

I agree, Thomas. It's better to strip that paint than to try and burn it off, Don.

Went out today to finish working on my first "good" set of tongs. Looking pretty good until I burnt the flat blade off one of the halves while trying to lengthen the reins............so it's off to the wall of shame, once again. I've spent more money on fuel than any three pair of tongs would cost me. Don't want to toss in the towel until I complete at least one usuable pair that look decent enough to post a picture of. Have a 2:00 dental appointment in Oklahoma City, so going to toss in the towel for today. This is getting pretty frustrating.

Same here, Thomas. Today's high is only 89...........but it starts going up each day until we are supposed to be at 104 by Sunday or Monday. Figure on going on right now and working at the forge for a little while before it really gets hot. Stay safe and drink lots of water.

Back in 1970, I took a Dale Carnegie Class on "How to win friends and influence people" because I was going to be taking a place in a sales position at our family's company. During the course, we learned how to remember names. There were 35 people in the class and I ended up getting one of the "coveted" Dale Carnegie mechanical pencils as an award for being the only student able to remember every single name in the group. The test was to start at one end of row #1 and go through the 5 rows of people and then go through them in reverse and THEN start in the middle of the middle row and go left and right alternately until you jumped back and forth through all 35 people in the room. Got every single name right. Today, I can shake a new acquaintance's hand and not know his name 30 seconds later!!!!!!!! Irritates/embarrasses the heck out of me. And, like you, I often am not real sure who I'm looking at when I shave in the morning.

I prefer using my real name on forums. I went to a lever-action rifle gathering one time and it took me the entire weekend to connect all the strange forum names with everyone's real name. I have enough trouble remembering names...............people shouldn't try and confuse me like that!

Tyler, I'm no guru when it comes to these forges. I read everything I could find on the forge forum here at IFI and took notes. I sent PM's to a lot of the people who it was obvious knew what they were talking about. I think I pestered some of them to death and in their defense, they wanted to help. They ALL told me to stay away from the fireplace brick. I hope some of the more knowledgeable guys will chime in and save my bacon here, but in answer to your question, I honestly think just getting rid of your brick and exchanging it for K26 and coating that was KOL30 and then the reflective coat will bring you up to a super heat you'll be happy with. Also, much of it has to do with how many cu in of forge space you are trying to heat. I typically run my forge at 1.5 psi and though I don't forge weld, I have no doubt it's hot enough to weld. It's so hot that with #5 welding goggles protecting my eyes, it's so white hot I can hardly see texture on the walls inside. I can also turn it down to a much lower, bright red. I know I can bring "sparklers" out of the forge when I have it cranked up. Wish I could measure the temperature, it would be interesting. So to directly answer your question, I personally think the majority of your problem is your brick is just soaking up too much of the top end of heat you want for forge welding.

As much as it pains me , (because I personally understand ownership of an extremely light pocket book) what I was trying to say is all your brick needs to be light K26 brick. It truly insulates and doesn't store heat. It's not inexpensive by any means, but like I said I only meant to build a forge I'd be happy with............................ and what I didn't say was I didn't want to replace it any time soon.

KHuff, If those were pictures, none of them came through.

Well, I'm no guru on forge building. I've only built one................but did a whole lot of research so I'd be happy with what I'd built. First off, I give you a double thumbs up for having built a really good looking forge. But I think I can make a few helpful suggestions. The first thing I notice in your 2nd and 3rd pictures is you've way more gas than air. You shouldn't even be having a noticeable flame coming out of your ribbon burner when it's up to temperature. Second thing I notice is in your last picture. It looks as if you have regular hard firebrick on the floor of your forge. About all firebrick is good for is soaking up heat. NOT something you want to put inside a propane forge. Question: Does that mean "all" of your firebrick is hard? If so, that's going to be a major obstacle in getting enough heat out of your forge to forge weld.

bnewberry, I really like your knife................in fact, I like everything about it. The blade looks very user friendly for a lot of purposes. Was a little surprised at the inclusion of antler on this knife but have to admit it goes well with the over all "look". The handle is gorgeous, in my opinion.........and I really like the shape. I'm working on a knife now (long, slow process) that will have a similar handle shape, I think. Wish I had some Birch to stack...........it really looks nice. As for your peening of the tang....................well, I like it, like it a lot. Gives the knife an earthy, organic look it might not have had with a fancy, finely finished pommel nut. Over all, sir, I'd say "well done".

Ouch!!!!! Bet that broke your heart when it happened. Youngan's are "eye-level" with an anvil, so I'd be very wary of letting one that small anywhere near mine when striking it unless they had a face shield, cap, full length sleeves, etc.