Frosty

Very nice, I like them all. A bouquet of pokers eh. shouldn't that be a "Pouquet"? Frosty The Lucky.

The gimme folk have been around all my life. They want the EASY answer, the one secret so they can do IT without having to study or work at it. Guys I worked with who spent all their after work time sucking down beer while I read and thought I was just lucky I knew so much. Guys who didn't understand something I said so I was stupid. Anyone here remember when Ron Reil was a regular poster on theforge list? He wrote a website to help folk build his linear burners the EZ being the most popular probably because it was "easy" it isn't, it's just more simple. Anyway Ron stopped replying to E-mails unless you're a friend because of all the folk who'd start asking questions without reading the FAQ. What really did it for him were how many got mad when he told them to read the directions. Heck, one guy got so ticked he drove Ron off theforge list altogether. In spite of all the chowderheads who waste everybody's time asking previously answered questions, sometimes several times in a row, or just say dumb things thinking they sound smart. The guys still trying to get the knowledge out deserve more thanks that I can articulate. I sometimes wish I had an E-rubber chicken I could reach through the screen and slap the snot out of the . . . Special ones. Steve, Rich, you have my deepest regards for what you put up with and how much you do. Don't give up please, I'd miss you and I'm not a bladesmith. I just value the real deal where ever I find it. Frosty The Lucky.

That makes sense. Like a resist etching or a chill plate to control weld bead. Excellent a new trick to add to my old mental tool kit. Thank you. Frosty The Lucky.

Coffee can works just fine but you won't be able to do much for bent or built up work. Eve a Fredric's cross has to be pretty small to fit a bean/coffee can forge. And if you make it larger you run out of burner so you find yourself building a propane burner. No reason NOT to go ahead on it, it's a gentle taste of having tools and equipment, no matter what you have something else will catch your eye, present itself or be necessary to do a job. Shop space is another ever growing need thing, no matter how large your shop is, it's too small. I built a 30'x40' steel shop and it was getting crowded before I got the roof on. You can never have enough power outlets, ventilation, doors, lights, storage, bench space, compressed air. On and on. Don't forget the tunes. Tunes are good. Frosty The Lucky.

The issue keeping your forge from coming to welding heat in a reasonable time is not insulation, it's the specific heat of hard fire brick. Think of heating and cooling like momentum in a moving object, the higher the specific gravity (density) of a given object the more energy it takes to raise or lower it's velocity a given amount. Specific heat is analogous but for a given amount of heat, energy is energy though it manifests itself in different ways. So, your hard fire brick has a much higher specific heat than isulating fire brick or kaowool insulating refractory blanket. Hard brick has two things going that make your forge slow to come to heat, first it's high specific heat, second it's low insulating properties, I believe it's R value is pretty close to 1 rather than R 5 for Kaowool. That's per inch and I could have the numbers all wrong. Still, it holds as an example. Simply insulating outside the hard brick is going to improve performance but not much in a small forge. What getting that mass of hard brick up to heat will do is impressive, it will heat your working stock much faster than an insulating refractory liner. We're using a reverberatory forge, meaning the flame heats the liner and the HOT liner heats the working stock by IR radiation. In this case the higher the specific heat of the liner the longer it's radiation will stay energetic. The working stock won't suck the heat from the forge as fast as it will in a Kaowool lined forge. You have a few basic solutions without having to go over the top. First, you can just let your forge get hot, maybe do some hand or prep work, clean and sharpen tools, have lunch or whatever it takes to keep you sane for the length of time and amount of propane you'll burn while it gets to welding heat. Once it's up to temp you'll be able to work fast as small stock especially will be sparking hot in a minute or two. Another option would be to split your hard bricks. If you have access to a tile saw it's pretty easy, split the hard bricks to between 1 1/4" - 1" and lay your forge with a layer of insulating brick as backers. The liner will be pretty resistant to flux, not proof but resistant, it'll be resistant to getting poked and scraped by stock and it'll have a decently high reverbratory quotient. (Whatever the real term is) Again leaving a free space behind the split brick liner and an outer liner will act as insulation to a degree. Not a lot but a whole bunch better than trying to heat a full brick. Using an insulating refractory liner, be it light fire brick or ceramic blanket, Kaowool being one of many, has issues of their own. Light refractories are relatively fragile, even cold a poke or scrape with a steel bar is going to mark or seriously damage it. Get it hot and it's more fragile. Silicate ceramics are susceptible to caustics and forge welding fluxes are generally pretty caustic at welding heats. Borax and anhydrous borax will dissolve soft brick and ceramic blanket like hot water through cotton candy. There are ways around flux damage though and those are generally kiln washes and the current favorite among the gas forge guys is ITC-100 though it's price is kind of taking out of the home forge market. There are others though and a web search for "kiln Washes," will find many. I'm sure some are available in Germany and everybody over here ships. An alternative I've adopted is mixing my own. ITC-100 is kaolin (porcelain) clay and zirconium silicate at about a 30%:70% ratio. Another fellow on Iforge likes a different recipe being zirconium silicate, colloidal silica and sodium silicate. This recipe is an established kiln wash but is so silica heavy I feel it's likely a lot more susceptible to flux damage. That's just my opinion, I haven't tried it so my opinion is suspect and a LOT of guys like it. He has how to videos on Youtube but I don't have the link handy. Sorry. Frosty The Lucky.

You WELDED graphite to cast iron? Those brushes couldn't've been straight graphite or it wouldn't've even looked like it stuck let alone welded. Of course I'd be a multiple PHD if I learned enough from all my mistakes, being wrong is a way of life for me. I'll be reading to see what's going on. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard, pilot error guy, glad to have you. If you put your general location in the header you might come to like how many IFI folk live within visiting distance. It's good to acknowledge mistakes, good on ya. NOW post the pic! <SHEESH!> Frosty The Lucky.

Nice looking bracket Gundog. Besides reinforcing it to take side loading from wind swinging signs. The suggestion I have is to tighten up the quarterfoil. As the main element all four scrolls should be more even AND connect. It's also the perfect place for creative collaring, band, twist, coil, etc. Twist or coiled collars can showcase some nice features, say a forged pea vine holding it all together. I like putting little touches that aren't obvious to reward folk for takig a closer look at my work. Of course that can backfire, sometimes more skilled craftsmen look and the flaws are standing out more than they need to. <wink> Without getting all wordy, my critique is to even (tighten ) up the quarterfoil. Frosty The Lucky.

No, it is NOT society. WE are society, you me and all the other chowderheads walking the planet. Thinking society should or should not be a certain way is delusional. If it's broken enough fix it. Bemoaning how things SHOULD be just makes a person a "shouldhead." When it gets down to issues the only thing we can really change is ourselves, we can influence others but not really change them. If nobody in your society wants to do manual labor the person who will can name the price. The king of the world has a backed up toilet, the plumber is going to get called and that plumber can demand a king's ransom for the repair. Plumbing is a high paying trade, so is electrician, auto mechanic, mason, carpenter, less so but a LOT of guys want to be carpenters, still as long as they don't get too greedy their family never goes hungry, mortgages don't get foreclosed, etc. A person who has good manual skills and isn't afraid to use them never goes hungry or sleeps on a park bench. Heck, thinking about it we ought to be hoping EVERYBODY decides to go to college, earn multiple degrees and never ever learns to take care of the dirty jobs. We'll be rich. And not just have lots of money, we'll be rich in the knowledge we CAN do whatever we need to and not depend on others for the basics. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard Shane, glad to have you. I'm afraid a 100lb Beaudry and a 380lb. Peter Wright are just not good for someone just getting involved to expose themselves to. Oh no you should immediately divest yourself of these dangerously addictive objects and start picking up tools in the traditional manner. Hunt, sometimes for years before you find a proper 100lb. beginner's anvil. Only in this way can we even begin to consider you a true devotee of the blacksmith's craft. To maintain yourself in good standing with the brotherhood of blacksmiths you need to find somewhere safe to hide those pieces of equipment. I will, at no extra cost to you, store them out of sight in a secluded back corner of my shop where no unsuspecting person can accidentally subject themselves to their evil charms. I shudder to think of how close a call you've already encountered, save yourself! I'll send you my address in a PM. When you're eyes stop rolling please be advised we LOVE pics, shop, tools, projects, works in progress, scenery, kids, dogs, cats, food. No joke, we LOVE pics. Frosty The Lucky.

Try blocking ONE side of the intakes, don't block both sides the motor relies on the blower for cooling. There are other methods that work well, like aiming the blower so the air only hits part of the tuyere pipe. A gate valve in the air lie works well too. Frosty The Lucky.

Nice looking blade, distinct pattern with good contrast. That saw chain comes off one version of a "feller buncher." Pretty awesome machines in use, watch from a distance though, they throw debris. . . HARD, like a brush hog. Frosty The Lucky.

Ivan: Thank you for the honor of asking us this, your trust is treasure greater than gold and gems. While my substance abuse never got to the level of seriously disrupting my life I did spend a few years in the, "live better through blood chemistry" crowd. I find smithing is therapy for my bad days. When I feel I'll never smile again till I kill something slowly lighting a fire and making something sets me right. You see, to get the steel to do what you want you must control it, the fire, the tools and everything that comes in contact, to control those you must control yourself. I've never been able to heat a bar and just beat it. Why not, it's not like you can hurt steel, it's nothing but highly refined dirt. You can destroy it but you can NOT hurt it so what's the point. Before the accident and TBI I was pretty darned good at the anvil, now I'm not much. I know what to do, the muscle memory is pretty much still there but I can't see well out of my left eye. Nerve damage messes with my vision so my brain doesn't have the depth perception to hit where and how I want. My glasses only help some but no correction can make the blear clear. What used to take minutes takes hours and doesn't come out right. <sigh> You bet it frustrates me, gets my back up and I just go after it till I'm too tired to go further. Seriously I can't head a nail straight but I make nails. Last weekend a friend and I went into Anchorage and spent the day with Teenytinymetal guy and I took a shot at something I'd thought of years ago but never got around to trying. It came out recognizable but not so hot. It wasn't nearly so frustrating, it was something I'd never done so I had no superior past examples to compare it to. It's still a pretty mediocre piece but it came out pretty well for a proof of concept piece. a little goofy but so far everybody recognized what it is. It makes me feel better. When I feel better about myself it's easier to control myself so it's easier to control the fire, tools, equipment and all. Still can't see worth beans but what the hey, I'll figure a work around. Heck maybe I'll invent a new tool. <wink> Rashelle: hitting the bags sounds good, I don't need close depth perception and I haven't hit bags since I stopped studying the martial arts. Maybe I'll set up a makawari(sp?) board, I don't need to kick. Then again I did really love the kicks. I've never used martial arts in a fight off the mats that is but I sure did love practicing. thanks, I need things to challenge me and maybe get my fat butt back in some kind of condition. Ivan: Thanks for starting this thread, I'm thinking we have a whole community of folk who deal with frustration, anger and general PITAs. Constructive coping skills are always good things to develop and I'm a sponge for techniques other folk find useful. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard Backyard guy, glad to have you! Please put your general location in the header there are a number of smiths in Anchorage. I'm about 50 miles north just the other side of Wasilla. to attach pics to posts click the "More Reply Options" button under the text window, Click the "Browse" button and select the pic file. It's a good thing to resize pics to a couple hundred kb. so they don't fill entire windows when the thumbnail is clicked in the post. Anyway, once you've selected a pic, click the "Attach This File" button and it'll appear in your post as a thumbnail we can all view in your post. John: The name of the place is E.J. Bartells on Witney Rd. I'll shoot the link in a PM. Be sure to tell them you're a member of the Association, we've been getting a great discount. Will you make it to the January 18th. meeting? It'd sure be good to see you again. Frosty The Lucky.

I have a number of pieces that have been outside for more than 10 years with no rust. The finish is from Alex Bealer, "The Art of Blacksmithing" 1pt. paraffin wax, 1pt. turpentine and lamp black. As mixed, in the can, it has a consistency like shoe polish and smells of the turpentine. I apply it to hot metal and it fumes turpentine vapor but leaves a well penetrated and durable finish. I've used a similar mix to water proof my leather boots using bees wax and neats foot oil rather than turpentine and it does a fine job on the boots. I've tried it on steel but the bees wax stays tacky and the neats foot oil doesn't help at all. Plain bees wax is popular and I use it but like a harder wax finish on wrought work. Treewax is my current favorite it's carnuba wax, the stuff used to armor bowling ally lanes and it's about as tough as it gets. Another that is very durable is LPS-3, it's a commercial aerosol product that leaves a coat of very durable and rust preventative wax. The stuff beats the socks off the wax mix I made and by a LONG shot. My Soderfors has a hot applied coat of the paraffin/turpentine/lamp black finish and it's kept her black and nice looking for a good 25+ years some 7-8 of it outdoors. No rust except a fine dusting on the face which has no coating that won't withstand hot steel and hammers. When I say hot applied I took a torch to her till she was fresh cup of coffee hot and rubbed her down with the shoe poliish consistency wax mixture. The turpentine has evaporated out years ago and I have to melt it to use it now and seeing as the samp black settled out a loooong time ago it stays where it is on the shelf most of the time now. Frosty The Lucky.

Okay, we'll forgive you. <grin> Everybody wants pristine tools, especially when breaking into a new craft. Nothing wrong with using that anvil, be careful of the edges with mushroomed edges and don't take a sledge hammer to her. Putting her back to work will rejuvenate her faster than a grinder. maybe a little wire brushing to clean off the loose rust and dirt but that's about all I'd do. If you have a pile of rebar use it, it can be unpredictable but it's plenty usable. It makes dandy yard/garden art and things like tongs, fire tools and fireplace tools and other general use things. For marketable items making them from with things a lay person, potential customer, can identify allows them to experience the transformation of the forge. This is why RR spikes are so popular after being made into knife shaped objects, steak flippers, toasting forks, gnomes, etc. Frosty The Lucky.

It's beautiful Tim. I love high contrast, low layer count blades, they're so much more striking and it's an excellent pattern. All in all an outstanding knife. Frosty The Lucky.

Same thing here, we spend 12 years in school to graduate high school but there don't seem to be any trade classes in public schools anymore. To learn a trade you have to attach yourself to a company willing to teach you on the job, attend a trade school or find the rare apprenticeship program. The education system has been pushing college since before I started and they teach kids you can't be anything without a degree. What they NEVER tell students is a college degree doesn't mean you have a marketable skill, just the tools to learn one. Teachers are folk who've spent their entire live in school and have a vested interest in passing that philosophy on. We have to have teachers without them we're nothing, heck today we might not even make it as savages, we'd probably be food. Anyway, I know what you're saying and I don't have a solution. What I do have for you is this. I have NEVER been out of work more than a week longer than I wanted to be. I have marketable skills and am jack of all trades enough to pick up a new trade quickly. As revenge I've enjoyed making almost twice as much as the other guy on the crew who had HIS position based solely on the fact he had the right degrees. The last time the section geologist, (guy who signed my time sheet) told me how lucky HE felt to have A job and I needed to suck up his latest abuse, I walked out his door, across the yard and came back in 15 minutes to sign my resignation. I loved the look on his face when I handed it to him and told him I felt for his occupational insecurity, he should've developed a marketable skill. Half an hour later I blew the truck air horn as I drove past his office on my NEW job. The best revenge on folk is to be GOOD. Over here plumbers are at the high end of the earning scale. Believe me the president isn't going to do it himself if a pipe breaks or backs up, ain't going to tune the car, rewire anything, Couldn't if he wanted to. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard, glad to have you. Put your general location in the header and we'll stop bugging you, that ad you might be surprised at how many IFI folk live within visiting distance. I spent I don't know how many years forging on whatever heavy hunk of something hard was handy. I was often silly happy if I had a piece of steel to forge on. I made a Rail anvil but that was in the last few years before I located a "real" anvil. It isn't the tools that does the work, without a skilled hand they're just highly refined dirt. It's common for folk just getting into a craft to think they need all the "right" or "real" tools but it isn't true. It's common to have your sights set on the perfect tools without knowing what you really need. I think most of us have been there, I know I have. If you ca hook up with a knowledgeable smith or club and learn from them. Even watching will save you much MUCH time on the learning curve, every hour working with a smith will save you days, weeks or even months learning on your own. I've done that too, I always learn something watching another forge, even the don't do THAT experiences are valuable, maybe the most valuable. Frosty The Lucky.

This is a tough one to negotiate. For low level public servants, making a judgement call can be a career killer if someone in mid management or above doesn't like it. So, it's always safer to say NO. Holding their feet to the fire can be bad too seeing as there's bound to be something else they can hassle you over. It can be managed but it can be tricky to do so without shooting yourself in the foot. Frosty The Lucky.

Yeah, construction needs to be armature and chased shell, fitted and welded. For a painted outdoors application I'd use stainless painted with an acid etch epoxy. I'm glad I read your post about who it's for before I commented about price, I've done a few worthy cause pieces and salute you. Frosty The Lucky.

Talk to the guy/gal in charge of public buildings and works. The market I think you have besides the one in a million citizen are public buildings and large corp offices. Libraries and public offices with a public image to maintain, say the mayor's office, city, state fed are my guess for markets. I'm thinking I'd approach the sell by pointing out what a fine public relations move buying art from a starving local artist will be for the official. Gvt. officers can always use a good PR piece to show how they're there for the citizen. As beautiful as your work is it's going to be a pretty small niche. Have you considered different configurations for the same basic subjects? For instance visualize a nice gateway with a trellis and your flowers on vines on it. Or perhaps a flowering vine covered lamp post. Just don't give up, don't break the bank but don't give up. Frosty The Lucky.

Very nice! I'm thinking first string wife, fiance, girlfriend, mother, etc. gifts. Well done in spades. Frosty The Lucky.

Very nice twist on the spoon handle. You need to work on the antler profiles though. Have you made RR spike steak flippers for deer camp? Steak flippers and toasting forks would be naturals at moose and caribou camps here. I ought to start hammering out a line eh? Frosty The Lucky.

Those will work Well done. Frosty The Lucky.