Frosty

Welcome aboard Cole, glad to have you. Don't worry, there are smiths in Nebraska you betcha. I'm sure a few will be speaking up any time now, I'm just online right now. Don't take this as a warning but blacksmithing is addictive as all gitout and it's a life long learning curve. Enjoy the ride. Frosty The Lucky.

Use it for a while before you start modifying things. Unless you have experience with the things you're running a high risk of doing damage that will take time and money to correct. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard Lee, glad to have you. It wasn't too long ago and someone was advertising here, with a position to fill. This is a pretty good place to hang a sign there are something like 45,000 members across the planet so it's good exposure. While you're waiting for a position to show how about posting some pics of your work. Not only would it be good marketing for your services we LOVE pics. Any pics you'd like your pre teen daughter looking through that is. Projects, shop, tools, pets, most anything is good. Frosty The Lucky.

Yeah, a person needs to keep an eye on what comes in their solid fuel, finding rocks is pretty common with coal. I forgot your question about breaking up the charcoal, YES. The smaller the pieces the more surface area so the more space to react with oxygen. This does two things that are important forging: First it makes more heat in a smaller volume and the covering fuel contains it better. Secondly It consumes the oxy more thoroughly making it easier to keep your steel from scaling or burning in the fire. Breaking the fuel up also makes it easier to find foreign . . . stuff. Frosty The Lucky.

I have didymium glasses I'd be happy to give someone if it didn't maybe give them the idea they were serious eye protection. They filter sodium yellow light bands and the tint if more hinderance to judging temp. That is this pair though others are different I'm sure. The gold shields are excellent but fragile. If you buy the flat or single curve safety glasses you can buy clear plastic "tear offs" to protect them from physical damage. Or just wear them inside a face shield. I don't stare into the fire so I don't worry about IR damage and it works for me. If it didn't I think near 60 years playing with forges would've had an effect. Of course all that's my opinion YMMV and I could just be wrong and lucky. Frosty The Lucky.

Look around the yellow pages for a drill supplier they usually carry bentonite drilling mud in 50lb. bags unless you want bulk they you can get it in supers or truck loads. Don't get the specialty stuff like Easy Mud or Sea Mud, they're for special situations and are WAY more fancy than you need for binding green sand. You can use plain old ground clay for green sand just be careful to clean out the weird stuff. A little sand is nothing but worms, roots, old leaves and finger bones can do . . . interesting things. No need to do a hydrology separation, just screening it over a 80 screen should be more than enough. One of the guys in our group is a caster and uses river sand for his green and prtrobond sands. It more takes a feel when you make it than s formula. You need to know how good sand feels, more than just in the temper. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard Seek, glad to have you. A blow drier will work a charm just forget the heat you only need the air. Smoothbore and I agree about first forges, don't sweat it you just need a safe, hot fire for now. Most of us tend to design and build sore really grandiose equipment when we're getting started at a new craft. All normal stuff. I hope the "Normal" remark didn't come across like an insult. Just slow down a little you'll shed less blood. Frosty The Lucky.

Nice. I like doing things for the dogs they deserve it. I'm not sure what to do for the cats who like watching TV, we'd get them their own but they just don't get using a remote and get tired of the same show. The rescued feral, Quiviut loves trying to catch fish on Deb's Kindle game "Koi Pond" he learned to change games and turn pages. We know what to get him but . . . You will post a pic of the table in position with a beeah on it. Yes? Frosty The Lucky.

I've never used a forge configured like yours. I don't know about what size fire ball to use I judge my fire by how it's burning and what I need. I've never had anyone tell or show me how to use charcoal, I just mucked around till I figured it out. What I was saying about a duck's nest is what works for me and in general what I've seen. Were I to need to design a fire pot like you have I'd model it with fire brick till I found a shape that worked then copy it in clay. My rivet forge is a bottom blast but most of my charcoal forging has been in camp fires occasionally with a side blast either by funneling a breeze or a 12v inflate all blower. I had pretty good luck with a trench forge dug into a steep embankment and covered with flat slate. The natural draft was pretty impressive I can see how they made pretty good smelters and foundries when scaled up. I don't know how to answer some of your questions but what I'd do. Please believe me I don't intend any as challenges. Frosty The Lucky.

Prayers for your Father and family sent from the far north too. I don't know how I missed it in your last post, too intent on sillyness I guess. Humbly yours, Frosty The Lucky.

This is a fun read! I'm staying out of it. Frosty The Lucky.

Very nice Darryl. Just tell me you put the burnished leaves up under the table top so nobody not laying on the floor can see them. Frosty The Lucky.

That's how I was taught to burn coal Gote. Now if I could only get good coal. Oh well. Say how about a pic of your Field Forge? Frosty The Lucky.

The station owner with the wrecker kept telling me not to carry gas on the truck! Thank you for reminding me of just what a crummy wrecker drive I was. He insisted there should NEVER be gas on the wrecker or service truck unless called specifically for gas so we could put the expensive gas in the cans. I used to have customers stop by and give me some darned nice Christmas gifts though. Funny those same customers followed me to the new station when I got fired. Frosty The Lucky.

That's a clamshell forge, the name's already assigned. Well, on second thought that's if you're going to hinge the halves together to open and close. Frosty The Lucky.

We weren't trying to make anybody feel dumb some things are easy to overlook and easy to correct. When I was called out on a wrecker call to retrieve a vehicle that "broke down" or wouldn't start it was routine to ask if it had gas. The gas gauge was the FIRST thing we checked and always had a couple 5 gl. cans on the truck. More often than not they were out of gas. It happens to everybody, you should've seen the look on my face when the shop mechanic flipped the fuel switch to the tank that was full. Frosty The Lucky.

Ian's retort is elegantly simple hopefully he'll get back to his lap top soon and post. The system I used the one time I helped build an indirect method retort was as simple as I could make it. yeah, I'm a BAD engineer, I know. It was a 55gl drum with a clamp on lid I replaced the rubber gasket with stove rope, probably over kill. We laid it on it's side in a piece of pipe that was about 6" bigger around. We kept it on the bottom by laying pieces of rebar (it was at hand) across the pipe under the drum with the 2" bung at the bottom. We screwed a 2" street elbow into the bung, a nipple that cleared the side by maybe an inch I don't recall, an elbow and another nipple a few inches long. This was aimed back under the center of the drum. The back of the pipe was blocked completely with sheet steel and dirt. The front was blocked by sheet steel with a little gap on top and a draft hole directly in front of the 2" pipe burner. The inside of the drum was packed with alder and willow in the 2" dia. range left in the round so gasses can circulate. We packed the space around the drum with the branches and twigs from the alders and willows we filled the drum with. Well we pout a couple pieces of pallet wood in too but I don't think it mattered. We lit it off with a little charcoal lighter fluid a LITTLE like a 1/2 second squirt and a match. It smoked till the brush got rolling and then it settled down to a nice burn. WE could tell pyrolization had begun when we started seeing white vapor (steam) coming out the smoke hole. The wood gas was burning and when it stopped a couple hours later we blocked off the draft hole and smoke hole and let it cool. It doesn't really matter what you use to contain the drum so long as it won't burn or be damaged by the fire. Wood gas burns HOT so cinder blocks are a bad choice. Digging a hole for the drum and covering it with a piece so sheet steel is a good choice. Frosty The Lucky.

Good point copper is softer so it conforms and makes better physical contact for better electrical contact. I think you're right. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard Eric glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in the header you might be surprised how many of the IFI gang live within visiting distance. Telling us in one post isn't going to stick in our heads after we open another one. That 5' shaft will make a sweet anvil, lots of bladesmiths are using shaft anvils. A horn is over rated for most smithing. There is a large blade section here, lots of reading worth reading. Same for blacksmithing, forges, trouble shooting, etc. Lots of top shelf info available for the looking. Frosty The Lucky.

The ones who'd make up a story about a hot flying hardy to cover for them ironing and talking on the phone at the same time? Frosty The Lucky.

That's a fair dinkum spoon. Looks about right for ice tea or flux, of course that's just me. Don't stare into the fire, keep an eye on your steels and the fuel but do NOT stare into it. It can cause IR cataracts. Glenn's warning is too true pupils are open wide so more IR is doing it's thing. Also looking at the flame will really throw your night vision off and you may trip. Forging in dim light is good, dark not so. Frosty The Lucky.

Make the local CBA meetings as well, it'll put you in touch with tools, materials and more blacksmiths. They do demos and depending on group have open forges so you can take a slash at the day's demo. My parent's last Cal. house was on Lake Davis in Plumas County, you could see the big tree near the house from Portola. We used to watch the lightning storms scouring the top of Mt. Beckworth from the living room. Nice country. Frosty The Lucky.

Oh come on, you just answered the phone while ironing! Try a different leg. Frosty The Lucky.

I'm not a teenager and can make a reasonable guess? Please feel free to disprove my guess, I'll look forward to your results. No pics necessary thank you. Frosty The Lucky.

Okay, don't think I"m making fun of you, I've done this too many times to count. Was it grounded? Was ground clamp on clean steel? Sometimes laying a piece of work on a grounded steel table isn't good enough. I've taken to grounding the work directly whenever possible. Frosty The Lucky.