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I Forge Iron

Welshj

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  1. I think my time here is done. To those who helped me, I give thanks for sharing your knowledge and advice. And hope I helped someone along the way... if not, I can only apologize. But I will always be me, and will continue to swing a hammer on some type of metal.
  2. I do... and I still have a tendency to hand file my blades bevels most of the time. I have more control, and feel for it.
  3. I've been to your part of the world in my life time natkova. It was 20 some years ago, and at that time... recovering from a war. Some people can change their minds about much when it's survival- or feeding their family. Still- a good find to work with!
  4. If you're looking for a good even darker color- leave it in for a couple minutes at least. 30 seconds might be enough to show you the steel differences, bring out a hamon line... but that depends on how good your dilution ratios were. Lol... Like das said- I'd try sharpening it first and see how it holds an edge. If you don't like the results from there- then you have your decision to try and re heat treat, or start again.
  5. It's tempered now right? Its not going to skate a file the same as it is when hardened & not tempered. Tempering draws down the hardness... in moderation?
  6. "When someone talks... listen. You can learn from anyone... I don't care if they're five, or ninety.... when they talk- listen, every body has done something that you haven't. After you've heard what they have to say- then decide if you're learning from an idiot." - my grandfather Joel
  7. And you wouldn't be the first! Lol... I did the exact same thing. That forge in my picture above has since been through several revisions and tweaks... the first of which was to cut it in half and drop a burner. Per guidance from the guys here... I've since just recently made my first hand hammered "damascus" blade. Leaps and bounds from my barely burning slightly dark reddish first attempts. I'd much rather see you as a fellow smith- get frustrated, get answers, and figure it out... and be safely doing it for years to come. 'Cause then I get to see your results, and inspirations.
  8. "I'm absolutely here for the learning opportunity to become more proficient in forging and blacksmithing as a whole." Then you've come to the right place. There's alot of very knowledgeable people on here. You've gotta understand that there's many who just come asking the same questions repeatedly... versus researching a bit, or any. They just want the quick fix answer. Not that you have- but you can then see why some responses seem... snippy.?? The guys who stick to it, and come back with a response like yours above- then recover, get it figured out, and move on to doing some awesome stuff. You said it best when you said- "So I'm gathering that there is allot more to this than I originally thought. Hahaha!" there is. But you're alot closer to the fix than you think. Whoever you got that burner from on amazon- failed you I think. I used a pipe cap welded into a pipe- with a 1/16" gas orifice for my burner. But I'm running a forced air setup on a 1" mix tube. Still a burner- but apples to oranges in design and function. That won't work well in a venturi style t burner like yours. As you've found out. Check out frosty's t burner design here. And you'll see what I mean.
  9. Well, horseman- I'm going to leave the burner to the guys that are the experts on them... the one who designed the style you're using- you've already met. As in the FROSTY "T" burner. I'm going to comment on your choice of forge build. You've seemingly combined two different styles of build into one. Lol... most people go with fire brick, or kaowool ceramic wool. You've combined both. The firebrick will work. Just be aware that its going to be costly to run, as you're going to spend more time heating the forge to temp than heating steel. Firebricks like that are less insulating, more heat sink. You may never get to forge welding temps with that. Ceramic wool is much more of an insulator. Two inches of 8# ceramic wool will keep a forge shell pretty cool, while keeping the inside nice & hot. However- there's two concerns. 1. Eventually, used as is- uncoated and raw... it'll kill you. It needs to be coated in a refractory cement. 2. It won't last long... uncoated and protected- in flame it will slowly degrade and come apart releasing microfibers that get released into the air you're breathing... where they become embedded in your lungs and mucas linings in your throat & sinuses. The killing you part. There's alot of information on the forumn here on refractories. Glenn actually sells some on here. Google kasto-lite, satanite, mizzou then look up plistix. You could very well use the existing fire brick make it a little bigger, and then line it with 2" of wool, then rigidize and coat it with refractory cement... and be good to go once you sort out your burner. My forge as a poor example of coated lining. After- And before-
  10. From all the research I've seen, done, heard- even the "h" marked spikes are on the lower end of carbon content. Doesn't matter now anyways if you forge welded in an edge. Lol... Just a note for you if you haven't figured out a tank for the ferric yet- i just took a 2" diameter piece of pvc pipe about 14" long. I glued on a cap on one end, and a threaded clean out cap on the other. It will be my ferric dip tank, going to solidly mount to the wall in my shed, where I can hang & dip my blades to etch without being in the way. Lol. Most use 3" pvc for blades that might have more curvature... but for now 2" will cover what I need.
  11. Barring finding it else where- its on amazon canada. I know that doesn't help you today... but, its findable.
  12. Not sure where you are located... but by any chance you still have a radio shack around? They have ferric chloride. Barring that- a really higher tech computer parts shop? Ferric chloride is used in etching copper circuitry.
  13. What you didn't mention was as Thomas kind of stated- is it quench hardened yet? Thats going to preclude etching yet altogether. And I second Thomas on the tempering- as soon as possible... that high carbon is going to pretty brittle compared to the lower carbon steel in the spike.
  14. Not home yet... but a buddy of mine calls and asks if I could use some a2, d2, o1, & s7 flat stock steel to make knives... sure can!
  15. Welcome to home of hot Iron, hammers, and headaches! Glad to have ya.
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