Emmi

Thank you both! I will just grind it flat here because I have so much material I’m not worried about losing that tiny bit. I could also see not having the steel hot enough or not hitting it hard enough. I’m quite new so my hammer skills are still in the works.

I’m working with 1095 flat stock 3/16” x 2” x 9”. When I try to forge out the tip and tang i get what I’ve seen called “fish mouth.” I watched a few videos and saw smiths only hitting one edge of the steel to form the tip. I realize I had been hitting both edges. How does one avoid the fish mouth on the tang though?

Sorry about that! I included a link to the website of sale, but I’ll just post pictures in future forums so people who are helping don’t have to go out of their way. One burner is good for this forge, it’s ≈ 350 in^3. Once I add the second inch of kaowool and other refractories it’ll be further reduced

Thanks to both! Ya hate to hear having to toss equipment but that’s learning the hard way. At least I can mend bricks with this stuff!

Hello everyone, I've set out to get my single atmospheric propane burner forge to foster forge welding temperature. I started by blocking the ends with fire brick, no luck. I saw mixed but generally good reviews for Meeco's Red Devil Refractory cement, so I put a thin layer over my 1" kaowool. It has bubbled an cracked, and I'm still not at welding temp. I think I have a few options to try from here. 1) Apply another thin coat of Meeco's to seal the cracks 2) Apply Meeco's for the cracks and then on top of that, another refractory product like Kast-O-Lite 3) Apply Mecco's for the cracks, then another inch of kaowool, use rigididizer, and then kast-o-lite Those are just 3 ideas I've come up with, any suggestions are welcome! Here is a link to the forge: