DJW

Thanks for the info Gents. I'm still building my small press . I was trying to figure out what to use for my flattening die . I have some 1.5 X 1.5 mild steel bar I think I will use , it's not going to get used to much being this is just a retirement hobby to keep busy not a business, so that should work fine. Plus it's only a 30 ton hydraulic to flatten hot metal " trying to save my shoulder replacement a little wear and tear" . You all have a safe and happy new year ! DJW

Lol, no not lately Frosty but my filter is broken and I have been warned a few times already on here by the moderator who makes sure to tell that they never go away . I have a habit of being strait forward with colorful language shall we say , I guess it comes with being a construction worker all my life. There was usually more F's flying in the shop than a Ford truck factory. lol

Yea I figured that but am watching my P 's & Q's so to speak my filter is broken lol

Flux in TIG welding ? Ok thats a new one on me in 40 years of doing it for aluminum, stainless and steel never have I used a flux or needed it ! Clean your work , tight fit, match your filler wire to the work and Argon Purge gas is all you need as far as I know ! You'll have to explain your theory on this because you never want to add any contaminants especially to aluminum , your just asking for trouble if you do ! Yes heat management is always important in all welding but aluminum especially if you let it get to hot it will fall out on you " burn through" ! I'm still learning about forging and understand the need for flux but never in TIG, MIG or even Stick welding . The closest thing I can attribute to it is an anti-splatter spray for mig welding but that is to protect the work and does nothing for the weld. Now I am always open to learn new tricks but this just doesn't sound right to me at all . Now I could be missing the point "maybe your trying to push welding machine's" so please do explain sir ?

Well my head is totally spinning ! I now realize I should have paid more attention in science class all those many years ago in school ! I'm going to be another year deciphering all this lol. Thank you gents , I've been attempting to follow this conversation all along I haven't added anything because I don't know anything about it yet ! Again thank you for your knowledge . DJW

Wow and I get upset when mine hits 120 . I can keep it around 114 with meds but your numbers were off the charts , glad you made it back my friend . Oh as for putting my boot in a bucket of water when slag or spark went down my boot , I probably would have done it instead of taking the pain while welding " you can never get a work boot off before it cools I be tried lol" ! But oh I can just hear the guys busting on me now, esp walking around with one wet boot in the shop "I've tried" darn phone

Now that is funny lol

Oh well just got another point guess I was bad but never considered H*** a bad word . If it had been the F word I would understand and agree ! I guess I need the new George Carlin list of the 7 words you cant say on the forum lol. JSMH Yes I'm being sarcastic ! But it's your little sand box so I will attempt do better but I was a construction worker for 45 years not a priest and sometimes "crap" happens !

Yea they are like having kids especially our puppy if you want to call a 100 lbs year old a puppy , but he is trust me ! But I know what you mean frosty I kept saying "what the xxxx were we thinking" after having to take him out to pee every two hours all night long ! It's all good now but I wasn't a happy camper for a month or two it was like having a baby again lol

That is a funny commercial I have two Chocolate Labs so I can definitely relate . You should see us trying to pick up branches and sticks in the yard after a storm . We throw them in the woods and the dogs bring them back ! We even try to throw them when they aren't looking but you just can't beat the nose , it reminds me of the 3 stooges doing a job lol .

Hi mikey I guess I missed that part somewhere , what do they need to be coated with ? I haven't started forging yet so no harm done still trying to catch up since my back problem and it's now 95° and humid here so no hurry to stand near flames till the heat wave breaks . I will go back into the forum and see if I can find it . But thanks for the heads up sir .

Guess I should add I used 1/8 aluminum for the shell and ceramic fire brick . I used a old propane grill cart I had to mount it on for easy movement in & out of my shop " I don't throw anything away ,to a point lol" !

Finished my forge awhile back just been to busy with other things to mess with it . Throwing my back out for two months really set me back "no pun intended lol" on things around the home. But here it is.

Well thank you for all this information gentlemen when my head stops spining I will read again lol. I just remembered there is a reason I swung a hammer and and melted welding wire for a living and didn't become a nuclear scientist ! I'm reading as much as I can on here so not to ask dumb questions and if I do ask one it's because I couldn't find or just didn't understand it . Unluckily I threw my back out a few weeks ago so I have plenty of time to read . You guys are doing a great job and thanks again . Dennis

I'll be she told me what my problem has been all my life " not enough cubits" ! If I had know that I would have gotten some ! Your right though I can listen to Dr Michio Kaku all day . He has a way of telling it that I can ALMOST understand ! lol . I think I will stick with history , that I understand completely especially our civil war ! Ok I forgot we are world wide here so let me correct " the American Civil war " but I love all history .

Well darn Frosty I was going to bring beer ! Science can be interesting for sure as long it's not to far over my head lol .

Thank you for the information being a beginner "almost I haven't actually started yet still building my forge" so I am reading a lot . This definitely helps me to understand how things work .

I like your idea but being a almost beginner " still making my forge about half way done now" I can't say for sure . But as long as your welds are good and you add cross bars don't see why it wouldn't . I've been trying to figure out what do do in that line myself , I've been kicking around doing something in line like you have done . I've also thought about just cutting a big stump to mount it on , I have seen a few like that. To be honest I didn't even think of the 2x10 idea that would work too. Decisions decisions lol . I kind of like your idea best because it would be easier to move than a heavy stump and I have lots of scrap metal I could use and what I don't I can get at a place near by that sells it's drops . How will you mount your anvil so it won't slide ? I was thinking on mine I would make a angle frame for it to sit in maybe like 1x1 angle welded to the stand top . What are your thoughts sir ?

Well thank you ladys & gentlemen " I'm not sure if there is ladys so covering my butt lol" for the the useful info ! I'm a beginner even though I have been a metal worker & welder my whole life this is different and I do not pretend to know anything yet . I figured I would start by learning from everyone's mistakes before I even really start. I'm still building my forge so it will be a little longer before I heat any metal which gives me more time to read ! I am a proponent of doing along with reading it's how I learned to weld some 45 years ago and how I tought my apprentices to weld . I gave them the safety and the how to and put a stinger in their hands and let them go " very few do well first time out me included" but it gives them a taste to make sure it's what they want to do , no sense wasting a lot of time on someone who doesn't really want to do it . Of course I am talking younger people 18 - 25 yr olds on average but not always. I am now a apprentice again it seems and will learn at my own pace which is slow " I'm retired what do you expect lol" . But as soon as the forge is done I will heat up some steal & be swinging a hammer again just to get the feel of it with no visions of grandeur that I will make anything of quality soon ! You gotta crawl before you walk right ! But I would like to thank you all for sharing your knowledge in this forum " I've got a lot of reading to do " ! I will say in ending I will be following all your safety ideas . I've seen lots of stupid in my time in the trades and tried to tell apprentices how fast injury can happen " some from self learning the hard way" and can honestly say I have saved a few's lives . Not bragging just proving you need to listen to those who know and not from those who don't ! Take care Dennis

Frosty man that sounds good to me it's one of the best tasting fish along with Red fish in FL a few years ago when we were down for bike week . We can get halibut here but it's not as fresh as what my friends bring back much better flavor by far . You know I understand treating animals with dignity I don't like to see any animal mistreated but they go overboard sometimes . I'm a hunter and have had some dealings with them on a hunt to thin out the deer in a park that was getting over run luckily the game wardens kept them at bay so as not to have any trouble . I do my very best to take a deer with a quick kill so it doesn't suffer and I don't take bad shots I would rather let it walk through , a wounded deer does no one any good esp the deer . I am a ethical hunter and don't take more than I need and follow the game laws to the tee. They have no clue about different dogs and you are correct in saying sled dogs love what they do I have seen it first hand. I myself have Lab's and they are at their happiest when jumping into a cold pond to retrieve a bumper or a real duck or goose and that's just a fact . I can hear them now " look he's making that poor dog jump in that cold water lol" . As for the stopping in foreign port my wife tried to explain that law to me I had never heard it so now I know a little bit more about it thanks. Seems like a old law that needs to be taken off the books since it's not relevant now you know I read Chicago still has a very old law on the books at least it used to be that you can be arrested if you're ugly . So I stay out of Chicago since ugly means different things to different people " why take the chance "LOL . Maybe you can answer this ,we wanted to go to Denali on the train but found out you had to take a bus back to Anchorage . It's a over night trip and I told her I wasn't riding in a bus for that long so we scrapped that idea . I can't figure out why you can't take the train back , I mean it has to go back at some point right lol ? We didn't know if it was the train rules or the cruise company but we wanted to stick with the cruise because if something happens " I have bad luck when it comes to vacation's lol" it's up to them to get you back on the ship if it leaves without you ! The train thing just didn't sound logical to me . Probably a good reason though thats why I'm asking . Have a good day my friend . Dennis

Frosty I don't know all the details my wife set it up I know we are going from Seattle to glacier Bay with stops in Juneau and Ketchikan and a few others. You don't like halibut? I'm pretty sure that was on the list I guess it depends on the time of year ! Friend go up every year for a few weeks and bougt home some fresh halibut and it was the best . I liked it better than the salmon and I love salmon ! Lol Well I thought it hit post but when I got back on this morning here it sits lol . Any how it's all moot now with Canada shutting down the boarder for ships like slag posted. I don't blame them one bit , to be honest I wasn't looking forward to the petri dish Cruise to much unless I had the shots but even then you can still carry the virus and spread it . With all the people who still don't wear masks or believe in the virus Canada made the right choice since they have been able to keep a handle on it there for the most part. So maybe we'll go to the Outter Banks again instead for some surf fishing where no one is near me . Plus we can take my dog's " the puppy has never seen the ocean yet so thst will be interesting lol. Ps : my wife who booked the trip said the reason the cruise is out is because by law a cruise ship must stop at a port in Canada because most ships are under a foreign flag . I don't know all the ins and outs of the law. So she just booked it for the following year sp we don't lose our deposit . Take care all. Dennis Please excuse the mistakes in spelling and words some are mine most are spell check . Also thats a American law about stopping at a foreign port " I think we were to stop in Victoria for 4 hours " !

Hi pnut , Yea I've looked a many photos of Alaska and the hwy and like you I can't remember the name either " I have enough trouble remembering the road I live on lol" . I'm sure that would have been a great trip when I was younger but now my idea of camping is a Quality Inn . My back would divorce me if I slept on the ground again ! We used to love camping we did it for vacations for many years and still have tents and everything . Was hoping my son would get it out of my attic but there it sits . But I have no doubt that would be a great motorcycle trip in the summer . Like you I'm not a big fan of the cruise I call it the floating petri dish . You ever notice one person catches some bug and the whole ship gets it ! I swear the first zombie of the zombie apocalypse will come off a Caribbean cruise , I'll put money on it lol. I'm doing the cruise for the wife " along with flying to Seattle & I hate flying" and already told her it's the only one for me unless I get godsmaked and fond I really like it " but don't hold you breath it isn't gonna happen " lol. I ment ferry not hwy , but see whatbI mean lol

Oh and Frosty I was wrong on the gentlemen's name it was Lou L on the first time buildeds ,not sure where I got Mel from ? I'm terrible with names always have been but I never forget a face

I did find some of the k26 bricks on Amazon with free shipping . They had the choice of the 2 1/2 or the 1 1/4 thickness 9 x 4 , not sure what I needed yet , still reading lol. I will check on here to see what I can find before I order . I'm still hoping to use the box I have mainly because I may have to put it outside while I put my bass boat in the shop to work on it . Funny how shops & sheads are never big enough , I wonder why that is ? Lol . Using the aluminum box will protect it from the weather much better but we will see the one in the pic would be a lot easier for sure. I don't know to much on the Iditarod but I do watch it when it's on TV but I can understand the covid shutting it down . I worked with a guy that had sled dogs down here , he used a gig " thays what he called it pretty much just a 3 wheeled sled" because we don't get much snow. He actually moved up to Alaska to do it. Don't lnow how he made out never heard from him again. We are taking the Cruise from Seattle up to Alaska . My wife has been trying to get me on a cruise for years . To me a cruise is nothing more than a floating city and I don't like cities " just to many people" . So this Cruise is a much smaller ship than the Caribbean cruises so I gave in on this one ! But the deal was we book a fishing trip which we did for when we got up there . Now we have to rebook if we go this year , I was looking forward to some haddock and salmon fishing. I was definitely going to take rain gear other than that I wasn't sure what to take clothes wise , I guess it will be a little bit of everything by what you said. I imagine it would be chilly near the glaciers . Well gotta get busy so talk to you later Frosty . Take care , Dennis Oh and I was wrong on the gentlemen's name it was Lou L on the first time buildeds ,not sure where I got Mel from ? I'm terrible with names always have been but I never forget a face

Yea as I heard about the quote's I'm already in the dog house but surprised it took so long, I guess the next time it's out to the wood shed with me lol. Actually I am taking your advice about the bricks " I did my own experiment with a burning torch to one of my older bricks and yep it ain't going to work . It started melting it , I gotta learn for myself sometimes . I'm trying to find the K26 bricks locally " not havong much luck because first they are expensive and then throw shipping on that YIKES $$$ !! But I am reading up on what you wrote in the first time forge builders post I believe it's in "Mels notes" post I think I could be wrong on his name ? I'm going to cut my box down to use less brick I think . I was using the 9x4 x 2 1/4 brick to take up space but it will be much cheaper if I cut and reweld for sure. I'm also reading about the ceramic wool , I have a lot to learn about it all most of it's like hieroglyphics to me lol. But I went through it with welding on what rod and Purge gases to use on different typs of metals so I will figure it out I'm sure if I can get it to stike in my hard head lol . Yes like you I just go with it and take ownership no sense arguing with the wife over that " I've got better things to argue about " ! As for Alaska we were supposed to come up there this year for our 40 th anniversary but the covid stomped on that one but we are rebooked for this August if it all clear . I do know you have weather thats all over the place depending where you are and when and the climate change is playing hell on you. I saw they have had to change the iditarod a few times for lack of snow but it's the same here when I was young we got lot's of snow and used to play hockey and skate on the ponds but it hasn't been cold enough to do that for about 25 years now , we took my son one time when he was around 5 and that was it " he's 30 now" ! I'm hoping to get my vax shot soon here in MD their in phase 1C and I'm in phase 2 so we can make the trip , I want to see it once ! Again Frosty thanks for all the input and guidance my friend . I didn't hit quote this time so things are looking up lol . Take care , Dennis