Frazer

I have a larger glass tupperware container with a lid that I keep full of vinegar for removing forge scale, rust, galvanization from various things. The glass is just so I can look inside and for easier cleanup, not because a plastic one wouldn't work. When it's used up, it seems to last a pretty long time, I just dump it in the woods.. maybe that's not the best disposal method, but considering what's in the container and the volume of liquid (about a quart or so) I figure the trees don't notice.

Anvil, that's pretty close to what I did, I just think my execution could have been better. Also, I am only set up for coal at the moment, but I think I can make it work. I do like all the suggestions. I sent a picture to the guy and he said he wants 50 of them, so any way to make them quickly and easily I'm open to, and I feel like I have gotten a lot of good feedback so thanks everyone.

BigGun, that's a good idea. Thanks for the tip!

Not sure why you quoted me there as your response didn't really pertain to my earlier post. You may want to remove the unnecessary quotes before the mods do. Maybe the cursing too. That being said, There is a good feeling that comes with a good weld. Nice job.

That'd probably be better. I have a little flux core hobby welder, gotta work with what you got. With a little grinding/filing I'm sure it'll be adequate. However we are perhaps a little off topic from RR spikes.. I'll let you know how it goes if I go that route.

I was thinking either tack weld the wrapped helper rod to the mandrel at either end or maybe even an appropriately sized drill bit.... But I don't know if the drill bit would give a nice round twist considering the cross section. It was just something that came to mind.

I was thinking of making something like that for making batches going forward. Especially after fiddling around with this one trying to even things up after wrapping it on a piece of round stock without any sort of guide. I am going to try Mark Aspery's method of closing up the coil on the step and then wedging it open with a chisel and compare that to just wrapping it around a form as you describe and compare which is faster/looks better.

First attempt making a corkscrew for a new client that provided me with a bucket of spikes pulled from a decommissioned line by their business. I'll probably have to make some adjustments on the helix. He wanted me to make some items where you could recognize that it was once a spike, starting with a corkscrew. This is just a prototype, I watched a Mark Aspery video after the fact where he shows a method way better than "mine". Still kind of cool for a proof of concept. Gives me an excuse to go pick up a bottle of wine for *ahem* testing purposes. Cooper approves.

It's been pretty hot even around me, last week it was 92-96 degrees everyday. Every hour or so I'd run and stick my head in the cold shower or turn on the hose and douse my head, neck and shoulders. Definitely helped a lot but still.. I was drinking twice the amount of water I usually do since I was sweating it all out as fast as I could drink it. It's looking like it's going to be a little better this week. High 70s & 80s.

Almost certainly, if you catch him in a good mood and ask the question with all the required specifics

I'm sorry, I think I misread your initial post. My mistake. I imagine you'll be fine skipping the second layer of the ceramic, especially if it sacrifices that much space in the forge. Still, I'd get a second opinion from someone who knows more than myself.

I've shared these in the past but Ill add them here since it's garden tool related. Here are a few shovels I've made in the past there have been several more but I didn't take any pictures of those And a couple hand rakes. I think you can probably tell which was v1 (before getting help from Frosty) and which was v2 (after getting help from Frosty).

How thick is your ceramic fiber insulation? 2" of the ceramic insulation should be sufficient to keep the heat in on it's own, but since you already have 2 layers of refractory, one inch or so will probably be fine. Then a quarter inch of refractory cement over that will protect the blanket. You could beef up the layer of refractory, but the ceramic fiber is a much better insulator so if you're going to go heavier on something, the blanket will keep the heat in much better.

Well that's good, you and Ilya both do great work so I'm glad you're able to expand. I just don't understand how that particular app has so much money to advertise almost everywhere on youtube. Same with Raycon, Simplisafe, etc.. Sorry if my previous post was a little abrasive, just my 2 cents. I don't mean to offend or anything.

Certainly pretty, but I'm not sure how I'd feel about actually using a hammer with silver and 24k gold inlays.. but that's just me, still pretty cool it exists though. P.S. A Raid Shadow Legends ad? I know they're ubiquitous on youtube, but still... first time I've had to FF through one when watching a video on this site...

I don't think I really know enough to weigh in on whether it's ok to use as is either. She's obviously seen a lot of work over the years. I just find it interesting how it broke so symmetrically. almost like someone broke an edge off and then just worked their way down, turned the anvil around and did the same thing to the other side. Or the top plate started to delaminate and someone decided to cut it off that way. No idea.

I just stumbled on this while I was poking around.. Really cool video(s).

Alexandr, those really pretty up the whole area! Really cool. And it will only get better with time! Finished up the tongs for holding my hardie tools. I now I have a pair for every square piece of material I commonly use at the moment. Finished the sand for the tree, turned out okay. A bit more wonky than I would have liked, but I had trouble getting the heat where I needed to to straighten some of the areas out. Poor planning on my part.

I know Jennifer (jlpservicesinc) loves hers. She gives some info in the Refflinghaus thread. There is also one on the 330#er

Glenn, I agree. I was doing a scarf, "drop the tongs" weld and probably ended up taking one (or maybe two...) more welding heats than I needed when finalizing the weld, so the thinner section up by the leaf had scaled away and became to thin. It actually broke off while I was wire brushing after everything was said and done. You can see in one of the pictures there is a leaf without a stem sitting on the ground. You're right about hammer control being very important in moving material efficiently and avoiding the need to take those extra heats that led to the break. It's something I've gotten much better at over time, but I'm sure it will be a while before I can move steel like some.

The hole saws you could probably cut open and forge weld into a billet to make larger pieces with, maybe more work than it's worth, but that's up to you. Might be cool just to say they were made with hole saws. The spade bits i could see becoming a cobra or snake of some sort. They can be just an interesting object or made into something, a bracelet or one of those rings that hold the cloth napkin/fork/knife place settings together at restaurants for example. Not sure about the masonry bits..

Sorry I'm not familiar enough with the overall build of The Pressciousss, hydraulics I can say a thing or two about. There is generally a primary pressure filter that filters the lubricant through the delivery section prior to entering the hydraulic device, in this case the press, which would need to be rated for your operating pressures. Manufacturers, especially of hydraulic equipment, add their own safety factor in their stated pressure and gpm ratings, but adding your own is not a bad idea. There is also a filter on the low pressure return side to clean the lubricant before it's returned the reservoir. Like Jennifer said, your return side should be metered to know what pressure your system is operating at. There are many ways to to squish a cat and different systems use different filtration methods. I know you have documented your build here in the forum so maybe I can educate myself a bit more and let you know.

HondoWalker, best of luck to you, get yourself well and you'll be back at it. Been working on a few things, first adding some more tongs to my arsenal. The ones I was able to finish are for 5/8th sq. The other ones I roughed out will be for 1" sq for holding the shank of my hardie tools. I don't like using vice grips for holding things. I got a nasty burn on my arm when I was first starting when a piece of steel popped out of them and landed on my forearm, now I don't trust them. A little uneven, but they work well. The last thing I did was cut the stock in half and I was going by eye on the lengths. Gotta get those things recalibrated.. Easy fix though. I have also been working on a stand for my dad's bonsai tree. It's... Unique? I don't know, still kind of interesting. Going to straighten everything out today after work. You can see one leaf was burned off the stem while forge welding. Oops! And here's a preview of the knife I've been working on for a little while. Low layer damascus, I actually like the pattern a lot. Still a lot of work to do on the handle. Pins will be copper as well to match the insert.

The "Read this First" tab gives you the best way to find info in the site, use your browser and add site:iforgeiron.com to your search. The hard part is knowing what you'd like to find ha! if you're just poking around, the pinned threads usually have some good info on some of the commonly searched topics. Looking forward to it and good luck! Hopefully you're able to connect with someone near you.

Matt, welcome aboard! If you put your location in your profile it will help people remember after leaving this particular thread. Also if you haven't already, take a moment to read the info in the "Read This First" tab at the top of the forum. It'll help you navigate the site more efficiently and avoid the all seeing eye of the Mods and Admins... or at least they will not give you as hard of a time anyway! I'm still pretty new to blacksmithing myself so I'm just going to share my experience on how I got started, and you can decide what might work for you. My first improvised anvil was just a piece of steel I found in the scrapyard, it was ~3" in diameter and hardened. Probably only weighed 25 lbs or so. I set it up as a post anvil and it worked well for my little homemade coal forge while I took a few classes. You'd be surprised how much you can get done with just a small working surface. I used that for the first 6-7 months while I saved up some money for my current anvil. It's a 150#er and about 4" wide. In my area, it was hard for me to find an anvil at all, especially one that wasn't ridiculously overpriced (perhaps I don't know where to look). So I ended up driving 10 hours round trip to get mine. Totally worth the drive, but hopefully you have better luck finding something local. I imaging an anvil that's 8" wide would be very large and very heavy, which generally comes with a big price tag. There are some anvils with a side shelf that might be closer to that 8" width, but that side shelf isn't really there for heavy hammering. I guess what I'm getting at is I don't know if something that wide would be practical, at least for someone like me. I'm generally of the opinion that you don't need to set up your shop all at once, it's fine to start small and build up as you realize what you need and what you don't. There is a thread on improvised anvils that may give you some ideas on what sort of things people use. When improvising there is definitely a balance between getting set up without breaking the bank and ending up fighting with your setup and making things unnecessarily difficult for yourself, but there is a lot of good information here if you know how to find it. Of course if you have the money and are willing to invest, then go for it! No one ever complained about having too big of an anvil or too nice of a forge, but they aren't required when starting out IMHO. If there is an option to take a class or attend a meeting near you, I would definitely recommend going. You learn a lot faster with someone there to point out the things you wouldn't notice working alone, and it's a good way to meet people near you.