Roudyroddypipper

So my uncle has a 100lb anvil that I have been using... It's a bit beat up but it works just fine. My very first attempt at forge welding was mostly a success, I took 6" piece of 1.5" cable and worked at it for 4 hours... I got it to one piece except for one line that didn't weld. I'm thinking that'll be in the tang and should weld shut while I'm narrowing and drawing it out. I was pretty happy with myself, having been my first experience.

Thanks, indeed it is to clean. I'll be putting it to good use soon enough, I'm pretty happy with it.

Should mention... My itc100ht came yesterday, I was home but they just left it on the step. Couldn't have been much longer than an hour. I think it may have froze a little. The bottom of the jar had a small crack and a very small amount of brown liquid leaked out. I sealed the crack with duct tape and set it on the lid in a dark closet. It should still be good to use?

No it's just on a sawhorse at work. My plan is to cut some 4*4's and use angle iron and flat bar to hold it all together. I wasn't sure about a horn... I could make one and weld it to the block, but if it's not necessary to have one then I'll just use it as is. Thanks again, I'm super happy about joining this fourm... Lots of great help.

So this will be my table... Any suggestions for a horn? Do I need to have one? Could I weld one on? I will be mainly using it for making knives.

Perfect! Thanks guys, I just gotta weld up a sturdy little stand for my block today and I should be all set to do some hammering in a little over a week.

Thanks frosty! I am now just waiting for everything to arrive and I'm set to finish the forge. I do have another question... I may have access to an anvil, but it's not 100%. What I do have is a block of mild steel 8.5" long * 6" wide * 4" thick. Can one hammer steel on something like that? Or would I have to harden one surface?

Between the kast-o-lite and the Mizzou which is better? I've read up on both, and each seem to have their own pros over the other... One insulates better, while the other is tougher. My problem is the kast-o-lite is out of stock everywhere I search, and I don't need 55lbs. I've sourced 13lbs of Mizzou from Canadian forge and farrier. It's all I need to finish my forge, and I'm thinking about pulling the trigger... Thoughts?

I'm hoping I can send the mortar back and not take too much of a hit. I'll be ordering some ridigidizer, kast-o-lite and some k-26 fire brick as soon as I get things sorted. I also have some itc100ht on the way as well. As for the oil burner, that was just a suggestion my uncle made when he saw it... I'm leaning towards propane anyway. I came across the uni-bond 33 while searching refactories, a company called the sounding stone. I didn't know the difference until I joined IFI. The kast-o-lite and other similar products are sold out most places, or are more than what I need. As this is my first forge build, and really my first experience with forging steel, I want to just buy the correct products and save more headaches.

Yes I am in Canada, Saskatoon Saskatchewan to be specific. I have the mortar coming already so I'll use that to join my bricks for the floor. As for the plistix, I'm having a hard time finding it anywhere and have some itc100 on the way also. My uncle said he can build an oil burner for the forge as well, would that make a difference? I'm also in the process of ordering the ridigidizer right now.

This all very helpful thanks again, I appreciate all the advice I can get. Franken burner, as for ridigidizer I am picking up a product called uni-bind 33 from a company called the sounding stone. It's a high temp mortar rated for 3000°f. Is that the same thing, I've seen actual "ridigidizer" online since reading this fourm. My thought was to coat the blanket with the uni-bond, then paint it with the itc100. I have also had a very hard time finding the Plistix 900F . I've been reading up on both and it sounds like it's more of a personal preference for most Smithies... Regardless, I'm ordering the itc100ht from the supplier's in the states as everywhere in Canada is out of stock. And yes the floor brick would be because I'd be welding with flux.

As shown in the pictures, I have ceramic fire a blanket, 3 layers... About 2 inches thick total. I'm going to then layer the interior with the mortar and refactory paint then set the bricks on the floor. My problem is that the forge is round, and I'll have gaps under the brick. I don't know if that's a problem, this is all very new to me.

So I'm in the process of building a forge I saw online... The Zoller forge I believe it's called. I'm just waiting for the mortar and htc100ht to be shipped. My question is, when I'm applying the mortar, do I put my floor bricks in then mortar to seal everything, then paint the htc100? Or coat it then set my bricks in? Thanks in advance!