ILoveSteel

Good evening all- Sharing this Facebook marketplace lead on a good price on 52100 steel. I picked up 26 lbs at $1 per pound (I'm local). The business states that all of this stock had been on a railcar since 1985, the owner had purchased it for his business, retired, and just wanted to get rid of it. The business selling it now is Rescued Metals out of Kalamazoo Michigan. Ignore the description of "pickled and annealed" as they copied/pasted another website's description of their 52100. [MOD NOTE: commercial link removed per TOS. Interested parties can contact the OP or do a websearch for the business website.]

That is a bummer! Glad to have got mine when I did, would have kicked myself for not jumping on one. I haven't seen too many others in this price point that were USA made, which was a plus. One year of ownership now, just did a complete satanite recoat, and on second firebrick. Most fun things made so far are RR Spike Knives. I understand, not the most original, but I do enjoy making them.

Yes indeed, especially on yours IronDragon!

Good morning! Thought this was interesting enough to share! I knew that my Vulcan anvil has a 1/4" thick steel face with a cast iron body, as most Vulcans do. While hammering out some plant hangers yesterday, I noticed this jagged chip on the anvil edge. This break really highlights the difference in color and texture between steel and cast iron, as well as the line across the anvil face where the two metals meet.

This anvil has definitely piqued my curiosity as well. Don't need one though. Christ Centered Iron Works showed some pretty decent rebound on that with his ball bearing test. Much like my Mr. Volcano forge, if this is a better-than-average quality tool at a really good price, this could be a great deal for a beginner. With the aftermarket on used anvils still pretty high right now, good time to bring to market. If anyone here ends up buying one, I would love to know your thoughts.

Arkie, thanks for that! JHCC, I'm keeping my eyes open, trust me!

Good morning everyone, doing some additional digging on my own, there used to be a rail line nearby that was opened up in the 1890's, last used in the 1960s, and then formally abandoned in the 1980s. Definitely within the time frame of the Bessemer process. I just get excited, hoping to find legitimate wrought iron one day, I know that it could be purchased online/Ebay, and I was at a flea market yesterday looking at some wagon wheels, but I didn't want to have to buy a whole antique piece of farm equipment!

George, thank you for the reply. Your explanation makes sense.

Hello again all! While traveling for the job today in Northern Indiana on a country road, my eyes gravitated at an old section of rail sticking out of the ground. It appears that it was used as a post for some long-torn-down barbed wire fence on farmland. I stopped to take pictures, and noticed the pitting on the rails, the reddish color to it, and how very short this rail is from top-to-base (see pictures, my hand for scale). Could this be wrought iron? Can't cut or spark test in the middle of nowhere, plus it's not my property. Any thoughts are appreciated!

IronDragon ForgeClay Works, thank you! You were one person whose advice influenced me!

Hello all! Back after improvements made. First of all, my advice for other Mr. Volcano owners-be aware that low tank pressures will cause the flame to back travel to the burner tube, melting the hose (see picture). To remedy this, I installed a 3/8" flared 90° elbow to have a better angle for the hose, and to angle it away from any possible flames. New 5/16" I.D. hose too. Added a Harbor Freight tank level meter. Although no numerical PSI reading on it, the gauge shows "remaining" fuel level in the tank (I had a Harbor Freight gift card burning a hole in my wallet, so no $ of my own spent!) The biggest change was making the base heavier and more secure. I had some scrap railroad rail collecting dust, so I fabricated a square frame from angle iron to hold the two rails, and added casters to the base. I welded in a 3/16" plate between the two rails, and rewelded the pole and rest of the stand to the new base. I also welded in a back plate to hold fire bricks, closing off the back end for better heat retention. Definitely getting hotter quicker. Much much more secure now, I do appreciate the recommendations to make things better!

Mikey98118, well written question! My introduction to Mr. Volcano came from a childhood friend via a FB post. It got me curious, as welding and fabrication was already a hobby I greatly enjoyed, forging felt like something I'd enjoy. I also had the advantage of inheriting an 80 pound Vulcan anvil from my grandfather, and didn't know that my existing hammer selection already included blacksmithing hammers! What made me decide to purchase a Mr. Volcano single burner? Reviews stating that it was an unbelievable value for the price, that it would be darn near impossible to gather your own supplies and fabricate a propane forge for the same price, and more than a couple of YouTube reviews giving glowing praise. In my experience with the forge, I'm happy. I'm as green as they come with forging, only having forged six railroad spike knives of varying success, hammering out a railway screw spike into a machete, and attempting forge welding. I get about 8-9 hours out of a 20 lb propane tank, and bought firebricks to trap in as much heat as possible. Also fabricated my own stand (that's getting revised this weekend). I've never touched another propane forge nor charcoal forge, so I have no experience to compare to other forges. Much like my first welder (Titanium Easy Flux 125), the Mr. Volcano was an inexpensive way to begin in the hobby with the bonus of getting better-than-average quality equipment.

Good evening all-I know that this thread is approaching one year of no activity; however, a discussion I had with Paul Brown of Weld.com provided these webpages with exact proper filler material and techniques for welding Cor-ten steel. Very good info, and I hope of use to someone someday who comes across this thread. https://weldinganswers.com/how-to-weld-weathering-corten-steel/ This link below was previously posted by Irondragon, just to consolidate. https://weldingheadquarters.com/how-to-weld-corten-steel/

Les L, That's a pretty awesome setup! Nice job! Might borrow an idea or 2 from that. Thank you!

That settles it, the rotor goes (it was free anyway). New base to be made.