john_zxz

Thanks for your answers. I will still give a try with propane. Coke is hard to find in my location and and I don't like charcoal that much because of the sparks.
I usually work with stock from 1/4" to 3/4" square, some flats like 316"X 3". No big scrolls. I will keep my coal forge for larger pieces. I would like to do damascus in the future too so the forge will have to be able to heat at least 1"X 2" square.

Hi, I've been blacksmithing with solid fuel since 10 years and want to switch to propane forge to prevent any health issue in the future (I lost my grandfather and my young aunt cause of lung cancer recently).

The problem is, I know almost nothing about gas forges. I read a little on the internet but wanted to get advices from you guys. I would like to purchase a propane forge to do general blacksmithing, including forge welding. I was looking for this model: http://www.mightyfor.../TheMighty.html (it is canadian so I can save on shipping)
I don't know if 2 burners are too much but the specs says that they can be individually controlled so I guess it can be turned into single burner if I want. Any of you had the chance to try it or have some suggestions on any other brands under 800$ that fit my needs? Also by your experience, is it more effective to heat with a cylinder forge or with a square shaped one.

I don't want to build a gas forge myself because I'm afraid of things with gas, if I make a mistake in the building process... etc
I never touched torches and things like that.

Waiting for your advices

John_zXz

Thank you John B for the pictures and explanations on your link. After a brief reflexion I will use rivets and collars.
The middle part of my candle stand will look better with collars, for the rest, I will use rivets.
I will make a tool like yours. Thanks for the idea. I'll post some pictures of the finished project when it will be done.

Thanks for your replies everyone. I guess I'll go with the collar then. It will be easier than riveting as the scrolls are a bit small.
Thanks for your ideas.

John_zXz

Hi,
I have a project that I want to forge but I have a problem with it. I want to make a candle stand which have a couple of small scrolls. Habitually, I weld them with my stick welder but for this project, I want it to be done " in a traditional way". I want to rivet them. I'm okay with riveting (when I can hit the head directly with my hammer) but when the scrolls are already formed, how can I hit the head without deforming the scroll? I never seen anyone doing this and never saw a picture or drawing in my books. Is there a tool that I can make to do that? If someone has a photo, a drawing or a link so I can see how it is done, thank you in advance.

John_zXz

Ok! Great
That is more logical than my explanation...
Thanks for the fast answer guys.

Hi
I recently saw a type of coal forge that I never saw before. It's like the hood is right over the fire but has no chimney...My question is, how does it works?
When I saw this, I first thought that the hood was connected with the air entrance of the blower so that it can suck smoke directly from the hood and blow it
in the fire from under... but not sure if it works like this.

If anyone as explanations, please tell me. I'm very interested in this type of coal forges.

John_zXz

Ok thanks for the answers. I'll have to try them one day...

Hi, I saw these types of forges many time on czech blacksmith's sites and saw that the "clinker breaker" isn't like the ones we have in north america.
They have, instead of the clinker breaker, a swirling thing. We can see them on Branco's site: http://www.branco.cz/smith-forges-spare.htm
My question is, does it swirl when the air is passing through the pipe or it is only turning with a handle to break the clinkers?

And, if it swirls with the air, what is its purpose? No accumulation of clinkers? Creates a better blast on coal?

Thanks

http://www.lespac.com/d-outils-materiaux-outils-st-jean-sur-richelieu-divers-LPCaZZ22088153

I found this on lespac.com ... don't know if it is sold or not....worth a call or email at that price.

There is also an old powerhacksaw for 45$CND

It is located in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, Canada.

I can't find an old bench shear like the Edwards one. The ones that I saw on ebay don't ship to other countries.
I tried to find new ones here so I recently found this bench shear on Bosstool at 250$CND.
Does anyone know if it is a decent quality tool?
I never bought any TJL tool so I don't know if they are good.

Specifications:

Round Steel: 1.1" (28 MM)
Flat Steel: 1.6" x 0.5" (40 x 12 MM)
Square Steel: 1 x 1" (24 x 24 MM)
Size: 18 x 11 x 17

I guess that the 1" square is cut by turning the piece in the shear to cut it from every side.
Also, does a bench shear leaves a "V" cut like when cold cutting steel on anvil with a cold cutter?

Thanks

I finaly got time to try the flypress. It works very well and silently. I just made a fuller and it can handle 1 inch bar easily. I'm very impressed.
Now it is time to make a lot of dies...
Thanks for your comments guys.

John_zxz

Oh that's sad he didn't delete the item on the page... Sorry for that.

I found this add on Kijiji. It is located in Jonquiere, Quebec, Canada. Seems to be a very good price if anyone is interested.
Around 300 lbs with base for 250$ CND and negotiable...

Heres' the link: http://montreal.kijiji.ca/c-acheter-et-vendre-outils-Enclume-environ-300-lbs-W0QQAdIdZ209235749

ok thanks. I'll try it tomorrow.

I just bought the fly press today. The screw was in good condition. The only missing part is the key to lock the wheel but its not a problem to make a new one.
It was a bit challenging to unload it from the truck by hand as it weigh around 500 lbs and I was only with my father. Now it sits in my shop on its original base
and only need new tooling. Can't wait to work with it.

I have a question for you guys. Do I need to bolt the base on the concrete floor or with the weight it'll be okay? There are holes for this in the legs but wanted to be sure if I really need to bolt them down before. I'm scared to try the press without bolting it. I don't want to receive the ball on my head if the whole press swings...

Thanks for the comments. I'll probably see it in person this weekend and if it is in good condition, I'll take it.

Hi, I finally found a screw press that is near my town and wanted to know if it is good enough for what I want to do.
The description says:
ADAMS SCREW PRESS.

TABLE 12 X 7,5".
MAX. DIE HEIGHT 5,5".
SCREW DIAMETER 2".
OVERALL DIMENSIONS 28 X 22 X 64"H.
Cast iron table included.

The screw seems in good condition. It has big threads on it.

It is priced 650 CND $...seems good to me. I know there is a lot in USA that are cheaper but with this one, I can save on shipping. It is only 45 minutes from my home.

I want to slit and drift eyes for hammer head (1 1/2" mild steel stock...I forge weld a tool steel face on it). Is it powerful enough to draw a little of the same stock dimension to make a cross peen hammer?
I also want to use a screw press to make tenons, slitting and drawing out a 1/2 inch mild steel bar.

If it is not enough for the work I want to do, will a #5 Flypress from OldWorldAnvils is better?

Thanks

John_zXz

Thanks dablacksmith for the shear link.
I'll try to get one as it seems to be great for what I want to do.
I'll have to find one that is nearer of me or the shipping will be a little high.

J.A. I already tried the angle grinder. It works very fine but I want to do a lot
of cutting so I'll have to buy a lot of cutting disk. Also I like to work with only mechanical
tools. The less electrical tools I use, the best for me.
(I'm doing blacksmithing as a hobby so I don't mind with the time thing...)

So I guess the solution for me is the shear.

Thanks for your help guys.

John_zXz

Hi,
Does someone know if there is a hand slitting shear good enough to cut a flat bar of 2" x 3/8" (or 2" x 5/16") and 1/2" rod? The metal is mild steel.
If there isn't any model that can handle this material, what can I use to cut it without electricity. I don't want to heat the long bar and cut it on my hardy.
My shop is too small to move 12' bars around. I tried an electric metal cutting saw but it sucked too much electricity that the breaker jumped.

If someone has a solution for me, thanks anyway.

John_zXz

Here in Quebec, Canada I use anthracite which is around 10$ CAD for a 40 lbs bag.(I get free 40 lbs bags if they have some holes in it sometimes...they say that they wont sell it like this so take it free:D)
I can get 100 lbs of bagged blacksmith coal for around 25$ CAD.
Charcoal is 20$ CAD for an 8kg bag.

To John B

No I don't have any air regulation or speed controller. When I'm forging I just shut down the fan and restart it when I put metal in fire. It may eat a lot of electricity every time I turn it on...
I should put a speed regulation on the fan, but not sure how to do this...I'm not very into electrical things. It is a fan of an industrial heat system that was a gift.
I disassembled the heater thing and now it is just a big squirrel cage blower with a motor. I guess I have to know the amps or watts of the motor to choose the right dimmer.
Hm...not sure if the label is still there. If I am not able to do this, I'll probably go with the slide valve.

Hi Dickb. I too use anthracite for forging and forge welding since a couple of years. It works great for me even if it doesn't coke up like coal.
The anthracite I use is from Keystone company. It comes from mines in Pennsylvania. It is anthracire sold for home heating. It does not smoke but smell a little bit weird.
I'm using nut size because pea size tends to fly too easily in the shop and it blocks my air entry too often.

To light it up, I use charcoal. I tried wood but it tooks me like 30 minutes to get it hot enough to add anthracite. So I switched to charcoal wich burns hotter.
The method I use is to put a ball of paper in the firepot, then I add 2 handfull of charcoal (to cover the paper ball). Then I light the paper and turn the hand crank blower slowly. When the charcoal has turn yellow, then I can add a little of anthracite.

Not too much like you can put with coal because the fire will turns down. Then when the anthracite has began to turn orange, I keep adding more and this is the moment where I switch from hand crank blower to electric blower. (The reason is that my electric blower is too powerful for the beginning of the fire. The paper ball would jump in the air if I turn it on too early.)But you can stay with hand crank the whole process. Its just that you have to crank more often than with coal, but you know that already, your using pea size.

After that, you keep adding more and more anthracite as the burned anthracite is red hot. You have to do it a couple of time to get used to the "when to add more" thing. My fire is usually 2 to 3 inches over the firepot. By experience, if my fire is too small, the anthracite has tendencies to turns down easily. So I make bigger fire.

Oh and you can't add water like coal as it just kills the fire because there is no coking process. It works like a charcoal fire.
I made a video on youtube where you can see how I light it. It is a little dark, sorry it was filmed on a photo camera. In the video I use electric blower all the time. I was lucky that the paper stayed in the firepot.

I see that there are different qualities too in anthracite. I use it for forging and forge welding since 3 years or so. Mine comes from pensylvania and doesn't stink or very very little (a lot less than bituminous). It produces less smoke than charcoal and heat a lot. It is also cheap where I live in Canada.

The only disadvantages that I found are:
1- It does more clinkers than bituminous coal
2- If you stop the air, the fire will go down very fast (15 min and you have to light it again)
3- It doesn't coke. It will change aspect from black to grey white but doesn't stick together to form a dome

I use anthracite for forging and forge welding since 2 years. I love it! Its a little bit difficult to light and maintain but it works great when you got the twist. I dont know how you guys get a lot of smoke with it....mine does absolutely no smoke at all. Charcoal does more smoke than my anthracite. Maybe its the quality you use. The anthracite must not have brown color or grey...all black.

It is cheaper for me than any other fuel because they sell it at my hardware store near my home. There is a little bit clinkers, I have to clean my fire 1 or 2 times in an afternoon. I light anthracite with 2 handfulls of hardwood charcoal. The air supply I use is a #400 champion blower. It works fine, but if I have some filing to do, I must crank some turns to maintain the fire.

I use nut size anthracite beacause I can't find pea size, but I break them to pea size by hand. But it works too if it is nut size...It's just little more difficult to light and maintain.

For the ones who wants to try it, use a deep and heavy duty firepot. Mine is the "extra heavy duty coke firebowl" from centaur forge and it works just fine for it.

John_zXz