whitewill1412

Butter? Salted or unsalted?

Screenshot of label. It is silica

This is the stuff I bought. It's out for delivery today. Brand REFRATECH Compatible Material Ceramic Item Form Liquid Special Feature High Temperature Insulation, Hard Surface Finish, Erosion Resistance

I bought some rigidizer with good reviews on Amazon. It should be here tomorrow. I can apply it after work tomorrow and let it dry for 24 hours. Should be forging this weekend. I'm off work. Thank you guys for pointing this issue out to me. Now I know and maybe I'll be able to pass on this wisdom to some other poor fool. You're right. Sometimes I turn the gas down while I'm not using it just to keep it warm. That must be when it is getting the burn back. When the gas is turned up it burns great. I guess I should just turn it off when I take a break instead of turning it down so low. Then I can just relight it when ready to get it hot.

Ok that kastolite 30 is sold all over the internet. Amazon and other places. Why do people act like something is bad because it is made in China? I bet whatever you're using to read and write on this forum was made in China too. Mostly everything I own was made in China. I have some old tools made in USA, but most tools aren't even made here anymore.

Ok ok. I get it. What is the best thing to use to seal it? I thought people use refractory cement. But you say not to use that. What do most people use? I'm not saying that I don't believe all of this, but the listing for this forge on Amazon specifically says that the lining doesn't need to be sealed. This is quoted from the listing. Extremely High Thermal Insulation and durability: Interior of forge is insulated with 1400 grade ceramic fiber blanket rated upto 2600F, helps you to quickly heat and maintain optimum temperature, you can work directly without the rigidizer or refractory. Direct Use: The high-quality ceramic fiber insulation blanket can start working directly without using rigidizer or refractory. It is more convenient to use Is there something sold specifically for this purpose?

I don't think that's why it won't get yellow

Here's my forge. It seems to work fine, but I don't get yellow More pics

Thanks for the tips. I'll keep that all in mind for the next pair. These ones are done. The rivet is wrong. I couldn't get it to not bend. I think it was too long to begin with. It does work though. The tongs actually work quite well. I wanted them to grip a quarter inch Allen Wrench and they do it very well. I chiseled slots in the jaws and they don't line up at all. Next time I have to make sure the holes line up when drilling. That will be a big help in the slots lining up. Overall I'm not disappointed in my first go at making tongs More pics Oops I put those last 2 pics in the wrong thread

I'm working on making my first tongs from diy blanks. I have a pair of tongs from Amazon. They don't really grip anything well and it's hard to hammer something while using those tongs. I want to make something a lot more useful. So far I have drawn out the reins. I probably should have rounded them first. I tried rounding them after drawing out and they just kept twisting. I know I didn't drill the holes the same. I'll have to make that work. Now I have to figure out how to make the jaws. These are small tongs, so I reckon I should make them to hold small items.

In just about every video I watch, the steel is very yellow when taken out of the forge. Mine is never that color. It is more orange. Am I doing something wrong? Is it my forge? Does the color just look different in a video? I'm using a propane forge

The whole vise doesn't actually fit IN the forge. You can open the front and back doors and put the vise through to heat whichever section of it that you need to work on. I'll eventually take some pictures. Maybe after work today

Swage is one of those big tables with all the holes in it right? I've seen those in videos and pictures, but haven't actually seen someone using one. Do you use like hardie tools in it?

This is the blacksmithing basics video that I mentioned in an earlier post. Daswulf. I am using a small single burner gas forge. It's pretty nice. Both ends open up so you can fit big things in it. I stuck a whole leg vise in to straighten out the hinge plate parts. I don't know what they are actually called, but it was very loose and I got it much better now

If you are say, raising a bowl for a ladle using a swage block.... You're speaking Greek to me. I'm new here lol. I was gonna start by making some vise jaw covers for cold work grip. I'm on very basic right now. I get what you're saying about keeping a close eye on things in the forge

Thanks George. I didn't know all that. Still gonna give it a go. I think it will be fun. About how long do you heat in the gas forge? That's what I'm using

Yeah I thought you were saying my mount was poo poo. I think it's really good(aside from the spring). I even have a chunk of steel under the leg to transfer blows to the ground and the plate can double as a quick striking surface so I don't have to turn around to make a quick swing here and there. I was using the vise yesterday. It is an awesome tool. Everyone should have one

Yeah Daswulf I understand what you are saying about cutting, drilling, and bolting. As far as the spring you are right. I read all over that you can use mild steel for a spring. It definitely failed this time. I won't do that again. I'm working on a spring for my other vise right now. Using spring steel from a railroad anchor. Frosty. My vise isn't welded to anything. The mount can slide up and down the leg. The only problem I see is that the spring didn't work. What else is wrong with it?

This is my track plate anvil I spoke of. It's 2 plated epoxied together. I had them lined up perfectly so I could use the holes, but after I got it lined up I put a big cobblestone on top to hold it tight while it dried. Came out the next day and the top plate had slid over a little and the holes were all uneven and it was cured. I just had this mount in the forge to straighten it out a bit.

Ok here we go. This is the mount I made. I didn't forge it. I welded it. It's made of railroad spikes and a steel plate. I don't know what the plate is made of. I found it laying somewhere. It is very hard. I tried drilling the holes and couldn't do it. The holes would start and then the bit just spun. I tried several different bits. Since that didn't work I decided to heat it up and punch the holes. This worked, but the plate cracked a couple times while punching. Stick welded up the cracks and good as new. When I tried tacking the spikes to the plate with flux core I had a heck of a time. Wasn't getting penetration on the plate. I had to hold the tack for more than a second to get it to stick. Once I got it tacked I switched to stick and still was hard to weld on. The welds look terrible, but it is definitely not coming apart. My experience with the spring was quite disheartening. It was the first thing that I actually made by forging. I got it perfectly shaped with the ears at the bottom and everything. I was proud of my spring job. The problem is that when I closed the vise with the spring installed the spring didn't spring back. It just stayed compressed. The way I made the mount the spring is not gonna be easily replaced. Right now the vise is mounted to an old piece of 4x6 that was laying around. It's buried 2 feet down. It's not a very beefy thing to mount on and will soon be dug up and replaced with a log.

Yeah I ordered a small 1lb crucible for melting down copper. I want to try shaping copper since I think it would be good forging practice as it should be easier than steel

I was also thinking they might be good for grabbing a crucible full of molten metal

I already mounted it. I went totally out of the box, but it's a solid mount. I'll get the pics up soon

You read my mind. I was thinking the same thing. They are some cool looking tongs too

I'm thinking I might end up shortening the handles and modifying the jaws to make them more useful for me. I have a whole set of do it yourself tong blanks to work on as well. So many things to do and so little time. If only I could hit the lottery and retire