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I Forge Iron

WoodFireMetal

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Everything posted by WoodFireMetal

  1. In what way should I explain how I intend to use it? In a brake rotor with a hairdryer on low, with a Harbor Freight rheostat low-medium, and for stock less than 1”. Mostly 1/4-1/2”. No chimney, so the coal smoke will be in my face off an on, and in the faces of guests when I do the occasional demo out and about. I thought coke burned clean once the periodical table of yuck burned off. I also have heard a lot of people say coal doesn’t light well, to use coke. I start with shavings and twigs and add coke on top. How is charcoal cost effective? Most of what I’m seeing in a search is approaching $1/lb, and maxing at 20-30lb bags.
  2. Is it worth it to buy coke online, instead of coal locally? I see that it’s much more expensive. I locally bought a ton of coal a few years ago for the museum where I smith and it came to about $8/50lbs. It’s probably more expensive now. One website has coke around $20/45lbs, one has it $43/50lbs, and one has it $55/50bs. Shipping is probably extra. I’m sure it’s better for the lungs, having already been processed, so there is a long term cost benefit in the form of healthcare. I did a demo for the museum with my DIY dirt box/rotor hybrid forge at a street festival tonight and I’m sure the neighbor vendors didn’t appreciate all the sulfur in the face. But I also doubt my lungs appreciate all the sulfur in my face.
  3. Wow!! That poor car! That would definitely be a double take for me!!
  4. I bought a 24” bolt cutter and a hack saw, for starters. I won’t be buying large quantities any time soon. I may take an extra long 2 by and see how it straps down to the cap. I can probably wrap the 20’ pieces to it. Thanks!
  5. I guess you’re right...better to get new and know it’s good quality. Does shipping kill you on top of the new anvil prices? And as a small female newbie, what size range and style should I look at, taking into consideration that my forge and anvil will be toted in and out of a garage to the yard for use? I figured 75-125 because I could probably still wobble and roll it around on a round stump....or maybe use a hand cart under the stump to move it. I’m not expecting to do large scale projects. But I guess who knows what the future will bring. What kind of goats do you have? I have 7 Nigerian Dwarfs. :-)
  6. There is an auction tomorrow that I sadly can’t go to and it contains a number of anvils. I’m a newbie and on the hunt for my first. I know that prices can quickly get out of hand at an auction, since I watched it happen a year or 2 ago at one. Even the junkiest, smallest ones went for several hundred. Looking to the future, what is a reasonable price to pay for a 75-125lb anvil, in decent shape? Also a post vise and swage block. And what would you consider “auction overkill”? Thanks! -Bridget
  7. What are some DIY methods of cutting your own bar stock to fit your vehicles when you buy them? The cut charges were high the last time (which was also the first time, actually) I went to buy bar stock. I’d rather spend that on steel, not their torch gas. Would a 24” bolt cutter work? Or is it not strong enough? Angle grinder and a portable generator? Or should I try strapping the 20’ stock to a 2 by on the top of my pick up’s cap? I’m a newbie, so I’m mainly interested in 1/4-1/2” square/round stock. Thanks! -Bridget
  8. That’s brilliant. I do find every once in awhile that my 90* stock-flipping strikes leave not so 90* tapers, so the anvil at the museum needs to be adjusted. Thanks, all, for the help. Hopefully I have time this weekend to make all adjustments and stump sizing.
  9. Wow those leaves are neat looking! That is my intention. I couldn’t add a shelf until I knew how far down the pipe would go. Glenn and pnut- I was under the impression that ash build up led to a dirty/inefficient fire, which is partly why I used refractory in the firepot. The other reason being protection of the bolts connecting to the flange. Wouldn’t physically blocking the airflow from the hair dryer put more pressure on the motor? The anvil height seemed to be really comfortable with that amount of blocks (I’m short), so that height was where I was intending to cut a stump.
  10. Pnut- to protect the bolts in the fire pot and to round out the bottom corner of the rotor to reduce fuel usage. I assumed dirt and clay would be kicked up each time I stuck the poker in the fire pot to loosten the coke. Would a rheostat work to cut the power down even further? I see one for routers at Harbor Freight for about $20 Irondragon- I realized yesterday that I would need to cut notches in the wood.
  11. Hi all, and thanks for the welcome! I ended up digging up some more dirt from the yard and pounded it in on top the previous layer. And yes, I made it flush with the rotor. I fired it up yesterday and it all worked like a charm! The only problem is the refractory cement I used has craters in it. That explains the tiny pops and burning bits that kept hitting my arm. I used 3000* cement and had a chicken brooder heat lamp on it on and off with a timer for most of the week. I guess that wasn’t enough. Can I patch it with more cement? Or will it eventually crater itself to nothing? Having never worked with an electric air source, I couldn’t believe the heat and power coming from the hair dryer on low (cool setting)! I definitely need to upgrade to real tongs because my pliars are all too short.....and not the right shape for holding anything, of course. I have fallen oak trees in the yard and I need to cut one to size for the track anvil I was given so it doesn’t rattle around so much. It has a nice base to strap it down, at least. I also have a block of granite I was given. Hopefully they both last me until I can afford a real anvil. I don’t have a wide repertoire of things I can make yet, but I make a xxxx good leaf keychain since that’s what I demonstrate most often at the museum. Suggestions for items to practice making would be appreciated. Hooks and bottle openers are on the list. The cross was a pre-cut blank given to my by one of my museum mentors to practice with. Thanks again! Bridget Oh, and I made a round grate with holes in it from 16 gauge sheet metal. It survived, but I made a 2nd if the first burns up.
  12. Thanks for the advice. My name is Bridget and I’m in northeastern MD. Should I rip out the mix while it’s still soft and try ramming it in when it’s the right consistency? Or wait till it’s completely dry and, as Irondragon suggested, ram in a top layer?
  13. I’m building a dirt box/brake rotor hybrid and I combined some clay-filled dirt from the yard and a box of cat litter with water in a wheelbarrow and layed it smooth in the box. As it dries, it’s shrinking...which I expected. Is there anything I can do now, or should I wait till it’s dried all the way through to try and patch the top layer, or should I rip it all out and try a different method? It was flush with the rim of the rotor, but I squashed it down to try and help compact it. First time poster, relatively newbie to blacksmithing. Been dabbling at a museum for a couple of years, but YouTube/self-taught. Thanks.
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