Frosty

Is anyone here going to be terribly surprised when I say I warm my handles up good and apply . . . Wait for it! . . . Trewax. I make hickory slab handles and after shaping and sanding I hot wax them, it provides a secure grip without holding hard and doesn't cause blisters like the typical friction aids like tape, etc. Frosty The Lucky.

How about an ant carrying something really big like the little real? Say a beer mug sized ant carrying a V8 engine? Cool creepy crawlies. Frosty The Lucky.

A tripod is a MUCH more stable stand especially for an anvil. The load is top heavy and you're going to be putting a LOT of force into it. Nice job dressing the anvil's edges, she's just begging to be put to work now. I'll give you a call as soon as the litter's weened Matto. Frosty The Lucky.

Gas welding, brazing, cutting goggles, glasses shields are IR shields. Molten steel isn't really bright enough to do a lot of harm but it sure puts out enough IR so that's what the glasses, etc. are designed to filter. Gold lenses are de-BOMB for gas or arc but darned are they fragile and EXPENSIVE. Frosty The Lucky.

I've been using an All States oxy propane torch for close to 30 years and it makes oxy acet look like a weak sister in every process BUT welding steel. All States let the patent lapse a few years ago so the company that manufactures their torches was able to sell it under their name. http://www.harrisproductsgroup.com/en/Products/Equipment/Torches.aspx It costs approximately 2% as much as oxy acet in consumables for the same amount of work. I bought a W oxy bottle and just exchange it at the welding supply, costs about $30.00 US. I also bought the W bottle for 75/25 I run in my wire feed, costs about %50.00 to exchange. I haven't seen the bottles I bought since the first exchange but the ones I get are always freshly certified and or conditioned. Frosty The Lucky.

Try standing it on end it'll have a much better depth of rebound and move metal a LOT more efficiently. You don't really need much more anvil face than the size of the hammer. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard Marty, glad to have you. If you'll put yor general location in the header you might be surprised how many IFI members are within visiting distance. Casting Ti isn't something for a home shop. Get it to melting temp in ambient air and the fire will do a fair impression of the China Syndrome. If you're dead set on Ti armor take Thomas's advice, buy sheet stock AFTER you learn how to work sheet metal. There's a LOT more to it than just beating on it with hammers. It's a skilled craft. Frosty The Lucky.

A foundry burner is a different thing, not a lot maybe but different. Fingers crossed, Frosty The Lucky.

Benne: An anvil's main function isn't to look good though I do understand how a craftsman doesn't like using tools that look like they've been abused. Some of that damage is normal wear and tear, the small chips on the main edges is in that category. My Soderfors has chipped edges. The big chips on the tail are from someone using a sledge on it and if you get a chance slapping them around would be forgivable. The torch cut REALLY ticks me off, even on a junk cast iron ASO it's unforgivable abuse. Unfortunately it's pretty common abuse. Still they aren't serious damage to it's utility. Believe me nobody who matters is going to think you as the blacksmith took a torch to his anvil. If someone asks just tell them it you rescued it from people who'd do that to a fine tool. I'd LOVE to have that beauty in my shop though I wouldn't trade my 125lb. Soderfors for it. Wouldn't even think about it I love that anvil, heck I'd have it's babies. Frosty The Lucky.

If you were at Earnhardt Racing's level, making forge burners we'd be asking you questions. Not being snippy, I misunderstood what you were doing and asking. Sounds like you have a pretty good handle on things. Frosty The Lucky.

I'm sure the cameras were for safety's sake. Frosty The Lucky.

The IPS faries disappeared my reply AGAIN!! ARGHHH. I'll have to get back later. Frosty The Lucky.

The IPS faries disappeared my reply AGAIN!! ARGHHH. I'll have to get back later. Frosty The Lucky.

You are making WAY too many changes at once. Change one thing at a time and note what happens. Yes NOTES, take notes! Another mistake is trying to build a device from two sets of plans. Pick ONE, either Wayne's or Dave's. For example, a silly exaggerated example to make the point sure but the point is the same. Would you rebuild an engine using both Chevy and Ford manuals? The openings in your forge are WAY too large. Even if the burners are running rich the high velocity gasses flowing past the openings will induce outside air into the chamber. Close off the openings as much as practical to maintain a positive pressure in the chamber. Forget what I said about re-orienting your burner in the chamber. Once closed up it'll get plenty hot enough, make burner orientation experiments in a later forge. This one only needs a little tuning not a rebuild. I do have one point on which I differ with Wayne. My experience has been that there are too many variables to be able to say what PSI range someone's forge should run under. Barometric pressure is a biggy whether elevation, weather pattern, wind pattern, etc. driven it's probably one of the biggest variables out there. Believe it or not my ears pop if I drive the 1/2 mile across Lucille cr. valley north of me or over the ridge 1/4 mile south of me and it takes several inches of mercury difference to make my ears pop. Humidity is another major factor though not nearly as great. Then there are individual burner build variations that affect it's operation. My recommendation is to use the gauge to note what pressure makes your burner perform in what way. NOTES! Notes are really important when a guy is learning how to work a new machine and yes these burners are machines, engines in fact. Once you've built a few, learned to tune them and understand what's actually making them work keeping notes isn't so important but for now. Take notes. Frosty The Lucky.

O D: That looks like one of my really early T burner builds where I cobbled a fitting on a piece of lamp rod to make up to the mig tip. I had a lot of trouble moving the end of the jet far enough back from the tube to induce enough air. There is still a concept drawing of my second generation T burner here on Iforge I'd sure like to see removed as it's so out of date. Give the new illustrated directions a shot, they're much easier to make and get right. I don't clean the threads out of the thread protector / coupler, they actually reduce friction. I know that sounds backwards but air blowing across close spaced ripples like internal threads makes turbulence against the surface that allows the main stream of air to pass with less resistance. It's counter intuitive I know but it works. ---------------------------------- F C: There are welding suppliers in NJ, I know there are. There isn't any real advantage to buying them from Amazon. I can get a 10 pack at either of the welding suppliers within say 20 miles of me for under $15.00 tax included and that's here in Wasilla, Alaska. There's also no reason to buy the tapered mig contact tips the air flow in which you need to consider turbulence is generated well after the gas jet. Sure those would work but if they were too short it'd be tough to lengthen them where standard mig tips are too long out of the package so shortening them to tune is a given. Frosty The Lucky.

I know how it is trying to get good shots unless you're set up for it. I took a number of photography classes starting in high school, really got hooked and I have trouble not sounding like I'm being critical. There are so many things to see when shooting pics you really need a few classes to recognize what'll show and how. I just deleted a long windy photography ramble. I used to be pretty good at it and tend to get going. If you have an old pale solid colored blanket they make good backgrounds for photographing details like your piece. It doesn't need to be straight, flat or well lit. Hang or lay far enough away it's out of focus and the subject isn't casting a shadow on it. Pale green, mauve or purple are good colors for iron / steel, black, brushed shiny or temper colors, they won't mask or contrast too strongly. Believe it or not I deleted a LOT more than the last paragraph. Frosty The Lucky.

Thanks for the link Bill, that is some eye candy. Now coarse material makes sense for the visual texture, Thomas. It's not so much a case hardening for hardening sake as patination. Okay, now I'm on the page or at least dipping a toe in the puddle. Does the bone have to be carbonized, would raw bone work? Would the generated hydrogen cyanide be good or bad? Frosty The Lucky.

I like the big blows too, they really make the steel's plastic nature stand out a person can the see it's transformation without the specialized experience of being a blacksmith. Nice, how do they sell? Frosty The Lucky.

That's a nice piece of work. The background in the pics is pretty busy making it hard to see the iron work as well as I'd like to. I can't help but feel I'm missing things. Frosty The Lucky.

No, you don't really want the burner perpendicular to the floor if you want even heat in the forge. The more tangential the flame impacts the refractory the more even the temperature and the longer the refractory will last. I'm thinking the easiest way to realign the burner would be to shift the floor to the point the flame hits the close edge and crosses at a shallower angle. Yeah, I know that would mean pulling the liner out of the forge and moving it over say 4" and reattaching it. Or, pull the liner and flip the forge over so the burner is aligned across the top tangential to the liner. I wouldn't really rip the liner out and change it now. Liners are wear items the burner WILL burn it out eventually and the way it's aligned now, sooner than best. That will give you plenty of time to see how it works as is and when you reline it do so a little less permanently so you can shift it after you see how it works. Frosty The Lucky.

Does experience count? I agree, dust and dirt are bad for cutting tools, I wire brush stock before cutting for that very reason. Scale not so, so long as it's not dirty too, HSS handles scale without problem. The grit shed by grinders is typically carborundum or harder and tends to grind cutters as well, heck it will even damage carbides. I grew up in Dad's metal spinning and machine shop and have seen just how fast a little grit will dull a lathe cutter. You can see the edge go in the way the work looks after the tool passes. If you're running a lathe sometime set up a cut and partway through the pass shine the stock with a little emery cloth ahead of the cut and watch the results. Just one spot, not the whole bar, that way you can see the change and how it affects the cutter after it's passed the "ground" section. Das: An argon plasma column doesn't penetrate as deeply as 75-25 the CO2. isn't inert. In the heat from the arc is disassociates into carbon gas and oxygen. The oxy and steel burns raising the temp IN the puddle and the carbon replaces what is burned out of the steel. This makes for better penetration and more importantly better edge wetting for smoother beads. Straight argon may not be ideal for welding steel but being inert the carbon won't burn out of the steel so that's not a factor. Anyway, it isn't ideal but it was there and you could have finished the project, just turn the power up a little to make up for the penetration factor. Frosty The Lucky.

Try calling a paint manufacturer, bone black used to add black to paint. An art supplier will carry graphite, best of either bone black or charcoal. Make a tumbler and use bearings for a ball mill to crush your charcoal if you go that route. #6 is kind of coarse for case hardening isn't it? You don't want ANY oxy to get to the steel so why have any more porosity than necessary? Also the more complete the contact between the steel and carbon the more uniform the carbon migration. No? Were I attempting to make blister steel I'd mill to -200 for that reason. And mill the charcoal, lime and toss in something with a little cyanide say peach pits, at the same time for a uniform blend. That's just me though and I don't know what you mean by "color?" case hardening. Frosty The Lucky.

It's starting to get nicely overdone, just needs another board or two on that shelf to make a proper desk. I'm really liking your project. LED, good choice. That oil can is getting a little carried away though. Frosty The Lucky.

Well DON'T use a roast! A small piece will make lots of maggots and they eat the meat as it rots so smell is minimal. Geese are not only excellent alarms they eat things like ticks, chiggers, white socks, no seeums and such annoying bugs. They also keep the weeds cleaned out of the garden though crop selection can be a factor, you don't want to grow a crop the geese like. I liked Deb's geese, they had distinct personalities and would sometimes sing with me. I found if I sang a little ditty when I did barn chores it'd quiet the geese and after a while they'd occasionally join in. Hard to believe MY singing would soothe ANYTHING but that's geese for you. Frosty The Lucky.

Use the Yellow Pages, the paper book not internet search! Call a steel supplier, NOT mill, the mill makes the steel, suppliers sell it. Anyway, call one close to you and ask. If who you call either doesn't carry what you're looking for or isn't the closest the person you talk to will tell you who is closest or carries what you want. The telephone has a LOT of advantages over the internet. The internet is too impersonal people don't answer beginner's questions in emails but they will for a human voice on a phone. Be polite, tell them you don't know exactly what you're looking for and thank them for their time. You'll be amazed how much people WANT to help nice folk. Frosty The Lucky.