Frosty

While fire clay or other refractory is good, it's not really necessary, plain old clay from the river bank is fine. Just dampen the clay so it forms a lump when squeezed hard without leaving a damp or dirty hand. If it breaks clean it's good, if it crumbles it needs a little more water. Once it's about right, ram it in with a mallet and smooth, then score it with a thin something, butter knife popsicle stick, etc., It's going to shrink check no matter what and the scoring puts the cracks where you want them. You can burnish it with burlap though isn't necessary but helps keep clinker, etc. from sticking. If you get the clay too wet it will shrink check as it dries like a pond bottom you just want enough moisture to compact. Anyway, if the forge pan says clay or clay before using. CLAY IT. Frosty The Lucky.

Hmmmm, I THOUGHT we were on the same wavelength an awful lot for just getting acquainted. Heck, getting bread raised can have me yammering. If I didn't spend so much time going in circles I'd forget what the other part of the house looked like. <grin> Frosty The Lucky.

That looks like a nice little utility hammer Pete, what's the ram weight? Oh and stop apologizing for all the useful salvage you have in your yard, we all have or are trying to develop such an assortment. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard Jorge, glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in the header we won't have to keep bugging you about where you are. I don't have any idea about carbon torches. Are you talking about an arc torch? You have me on that one, I've never that kind of action so I'll be watching for whatever you learn. Frosty The Lucky.

I set my shop up in a Connex till I got my real shop up. A connex has a wood floor so it wasn't like working in a steel drum but it wasn't the best shape. I ended up using it for my lathe, drill press and storage. It's still here and being used as storage, they're really tough units and make great structures with a little or a LOT of work. If necessary I wouldn't hesitate to do it again. Frosty The Lucky.

Outstanding work Peter! Is steel work/fabrication your profession? That is some very professional work. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard Damian, glad to have you. Do keep looking for a good anvil piece of scrap, I beam is good for a lot of things but is only a desperation anvil for the fellow who doesn't mind going deaf. Keep an eye open for a piece of shafting in the 3"+ range 3' long or better is even better. Axels are good, the flange has all kinds of tasty shapes and the lug holes are good for bottom tools, bending forks, etc. You want to mount shafting on end for the best available depth of rebound. Depth of rebound is how much solid mass you have directly beneath the blow. The rebound is the shock wave traveling from the impact and returning to the face, pinching the work between the hammer and anvil. The deeper the rebound the more energy is retained and returned to the work. what good is THAT you might ask, well the speed of soud through steel is fast, really REALLY fast so when the shock wave returns to the face the hammer is still compressing the work so the work gets a double hit. Okay, here's a bit of PR you can do with your Uncle, you want him to keep thinking of you when he sees good stuff. Okay, so the "I" beam isn't much good for an anvil but it can be used for other things. Stood on end with a little creative grinder work you can turn the different edges into handy shapes. For instance, Hot cuts, one double bevel and one butcher. A butcher is a fine tool for isolating a region for things like tenons, etc. a hot cut needs little if any explanation, it won't make a cold cut, you need high carbon steel for that. you can also make different radius ends for fullers. Different profiles ground into the ends, say half rounds like half a hole drilled in it will make a dandy ball tool, same for a "V" notch . On and on. Sure you may not use them much if at all and if you do, they aren't going to last a long time but you're Uncle will be happy as all gitout he was able to help and proud to see how innovative you are. It's a win win. <wink> Frosty The Lucky.

That is a head slapper of an idea Jim. I'm making a drop over retainer rim for my LG's new bottom die and this is just the kind of tool it's intended for. changing out the top die is quick but still more hassle than necessary, I'd probably develop a spring tool for the job, maybe with a much smaller bottom die to absorb even less heat. Maybe we ought to move closer together so whenever one of us got an idea the other can slap him. <grin> Frosty The Lucky.

Salutations Jim: A brain is a funny thing, I'll get up to do something and by time I'm out of my chair I'm off on something else. Then something will trigger a memory and I'll be living it again. Sometimes it's word for word and makes connections I hadn't considered till the question comes up. Other times I just wish I could remember to turn the dishwasher on after loading it. <sigh> High 40's sounds good to me, it's been in the 80's here and I did NOT move to Alaska for this searingly inhuman heat! Then again it IS a dry heat. <grin> Frosty The Lucky.

Father was a rock hound and did a LOT of polishing, out in the shop I have one of his boxes of compounds. Typically it took some 8-12 steps in grits as I recall depending on what he was polishing. It wasn't my thing so my memory could well be off and modern compounds could certainly make a difference. Okay, lapidary work isn't the same thing but the principle is the same. Shape the piece, define the shape and reduce scratches in steps, changing abrasive direction constantly till you get to the final polishing compounds from 2,000mesh on down to ridiculous fine. All of that applies here in the technique, not the polishing compounds or media being polished. Do the gross shaping. Then start reducing the blemishes while refining the shape using gradually finer techniques and tools. Change direction of abrasives as often as practical if possible. cross cutting is what Dad called it, it keeps grits from imbedding in old stria and galling them deeper. that can make it impossible to remove all the stria. (scratches) Oh yeah, the finer the compound the less the pressure! Given time and patience you finally get to the point there isn't a compound that will cut finer and you're done. Steel wool is good for a "brushed" finish and can be used to reduce some gross defects before moving onto better methods. The problem with steel wool is it follows contours so isn't really a way to refine the surface. This can be just what you need though so it's a situational thing. Just so you know, I'm not a blade guy but I do take a buff to . . . something on occasion. Frosty The Lucky.

Glad the epoxy xylene trick worked for you, I knew it's soak al the way through 3/4" plywood from one side but that's not made from hardwood so . . . Great story about the tree killing the car, glad nobody was hurt. . . Were they? WE can get severe winds here, not all the time but often enough to have a reputation. 70+mph for a week is just another week in the valley. I'm thinking it was 05 and we got a pretty hard blow, gusts in excess of 100mph. does get noted, even makes the papers. So, I get up to walk the dog and he goes nuts when I open the front door but it's dark and I can't see anything so I turn on the outside flood for a gander. On our property you just NEVER saunter out if the dogs are raising a fuss, moose are common and have been know to scratch their butts on the porch posts. Anyway, I flip the switch for the floods and when I look back out the door it's still dark. NOW my curiosity is piqued and when I focused on the darkness itself it resolved itself into spruce brows. See attached pic. Yeah, it got both our rigs, the Bronco II and the Saturn. Made the news but got the insurance CO hopping, homeowners just didn't want to pay off on two cars but we have THAT rider. <grin> Missed the upper deck by maybe 6'. We didn't keep any of it to make something cool from though. Frosty The Lucky.

Very nicely done Nick, the key is great. My pastor is retiring today and I was going to give him a slumped marble cross/bottle opener but thought better of it. A REAL church key on the other hand is perfect. I'll see him again, he's not going anywhere but fishing and funning. Excellent. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard Travis, glad to have you. the nice thing about a small kit is it's really portable. A 30lb anvil, coffee can forge, a few hammers, a couple pair of tongs, a couple chisels, etc. can easily fit in the trunk of a little car so you can find somewhere you won't bother anyone. Hooking up with the NWBA and the local group is a good move, they'll get you rolling on all fronts. Frosty The Lucky.

Sam: I'm so sorry to hear Boomer passed, words can't say how I'm feeling. I'm very glad he's on the doner list, he'll be making a all the difference in the world in people's lives for years to come. Who can ask more of life? Good man Boomer still doing good work. Lord rest and comfort you and your's. Frosty The Lucky. NO, web handles aren't for times like this. See you on the flip side, Jerry

Hi Jim: I see a lot of fluxes listing iron oxide as an ingredient and I've been putting it off as marketing bunk or typos. I know folk who us boric acid as it makes a good air barrier, melting so much cooler than fast scale forms, so being a weak acid doesn't make much difference. It's the iron oxide I question or rusty steel would weld easier than clean steel. What color iron powder are you buying? I know I can buy black iron powder at the art supply but they have black iron oxide powder on the same shelf too, so I don't know if there are two different products or mislabeling. the red ocre was fe2 O2, the black oxide was fe2 O3 and the can of black iron powder was fe2, just iron, no oxy. I've been mixing my own flux for a few years and I'd just like to find an inexpensive commercial flux that worked as well as Swan, Black Magic, Cherry Heat, etc. etc.. I know it's a dream but it's MY Scotts dream. <grin> I'm still hoping someone here's used the Petterson #2 and chimes. <sigh> Frosty The Lucky.

Larry: This Google hit said about all thee was to say. The Petterson site was less informative and accurate, probably written by a marketing guy instead of someone who knows about fluxes. Did I write Patterson? It's Petterson, I probably miskeyed an A instead of the E. Mia culpa. Petterson #2 is a good search term. The flux companies that list Ammonium chloride or any other chloride as an ingredient are either being written by marketing guys who don't know the subject or it's a typo. Both ammonia and Chlorine are powerful oxidizers, the exact opposite of what a flux needs to do. An acid is an oxidizer, not what you want in a flux, you're trying to remove or shield aganist oxidization. I know you've seen various chlorides in the ingredient lists, Petterson lists "sodium chloride" in one flux online it but that's a typo or marketing nonsence, not the real ingredients, there are no chlorides on the can's label, I've never seen a chloride on the list on the label of any commercial flux. I THINK this is an example of a clueless marketing hack putting stuff on the website to sound impressive. Borax is a strong base, caustic at forge welding temperature, making it a deoxidizer. Adding something that is or will make an acid would only neutralize the fluxing properties of the borax. Boric acid is added because it has a lower melting temperature forming an air barrier sooner and containing boron like borax so the weak acid is canceled out by the powerful base and the result is still a caustic deoxidizer at heat. Yeah, I read more than the cans. <grin> Frosty The Lucky.

I'm a little slow getting back, it's haying season and we're filling our barn and helping the gal who's helping us fill her's. That much gap when the door's closed is fine, that's out of the way. Rebuilding your burners won't be hard, it occurred to me I didn't now which we were working on and didn't want to confuse the issues. For consistency we want to keep both burners as much the same as reasonably possible. Let's take the burner tubes first. they should be 8-9" long, longer without stepping them up in diameter will impart undue friction and bad turbulence. so, shorten them to 8" or 9". You ca buy nipples threaded on both ends, it will make adding a "flare" or a "thread protector" less hassle though adjusting it's depth a little harder. We can work with either so shortening the tubes you have or buying new is fine. We can work with either. The bell reducers should be 1"x 2" for easier tuning later. Now for the real changes, scrap those jets and mounts whatever they are. The easiest way to jet a linear burner is to either drill across the widest part of the bell reducers using a droll bit large enough to pass the gas supply nipple. Drill and tap one hole so you can secure the supply nipple to the bell reducer. Be careful drilling the large holes across the reducer so the supply nipple is centered. Another method is to use commercial clamps to secure the nipple across the bell. Th supply nipple needs to be threaded on both ends and long enough to be capped on one end and have a 1/4 turn ball valve on the other and still reach across the bell. Measure and mark the center of the supply nipple directly in the center of the burner tube. Remove the supply nipple and drill a 0.045" hole on the mark centered on the nipple so the hole is perpendicular to the supply nipple. You want the path of the drill bit to pass "NOTIONALLY, NOT LITERALLY" through the center of the supply nipple so the gas stream will flow evenly in a perpendicular line from the hole in ONE direction. I'm sorry about the "shouting" but I need to emphasize the point, it's important and I don't express myself so well any more. So please excuse the "shouting", if I'm not clear enough let me know and I'll try to do better. Okay? Drilling the jet hole is the most finnicky part of the whole construction. Even though you can adjust the jet flow by rotating the supply nipple and moving it back and forth, if the hole isn't perpendicular the flow will be off center down the tube and can not be adjusted out. The bast way to make sure the jet hole is perpendicular is by using a drill press and "V" block with the drill bit centered in the block. A pair of pieces of angle iron angle up and touching, welded to a small flat plate will make a satisfactory "V" block that can be clamped to the bed of a drill press. Carefully lower the drill bit into the center of the "V" block before clamping. This will align the bit through the center of the supply nipple, when clamped in the "V" block. All that sounds complicated and if you're high school machine shop skills are good you're reading this wondering why I'm wasting time doing all this writing. However if you haven't taken metal shop classes like so many folk today, that's what you need to do to get the jets drilled correctly. Don't worry about the mig tips or any of the other stuff, adding them to a basic linear burner isn't helpful in a significant way. Getting THAT hole drilled right is THE most important operation for making one of these burners work. Getting the gas jet aligned correctly is the most important operation in any naturally aspirated burner. Mounting the gas jet this way will make adding a choke plate a little more hassle but the other jet mounts are more hassle it balances out to about the same amount of hassle however you do it just in different places. There are other ways to do the gas jet, take a look around and if you see one you like, get back and link me to the version you like and I'll walk you through it. Okay? I REALLY hope I haven't made this less clear that mud. <sigh> Frosty The Lucky.

I'm glad to be here and owe a huge vote of thanks to the gang here. Without the prayers and the support Deb got, things wouldn't have gone so well. No dents in the tree, two dents in my head. Tree's harder than my head. . . However, the - tree - is - D-E-A-D! <Victorious HOWL!> Frosty The Lucky.

If your forge is 6" dia x 17 1/2" long that comes to around 480 cu/in. Okay, that's before reducing it by 1" for the kaowool. doors are a good thing but you still have to leave enough exhaust port to let the gasses out regardless. the problem with using one burner to heat this length forge is it's length to width ratio, it'll be really hard to get even heat so one section will be HOT while the rest will be significantly cooler. two spaced 1/2" burners will do it though. The orifice on your jets is 0.030" Wow, no wonder it isn't burning well, that's small for a 3/4" burner let alone a 1" burner. Bump it up to a 0.045" jet and a little tweaking aught to make a HUGE difference. Once you get the jets right and aimed correctly a 1"x 2" bell reducer should be just right. The general ratios for induction devices are. Tube length 8-9x throat diameter. Jet setback = throat radius, intake ports = 2x tube x section area. the jet dia depends on what the inducer is for and I never developed a ratio for propane burners. what works for me is 0.025" for a 1/2" burner, 0.035" for a 3/4" burner and 0.045" for a 1" burner. And yes, as far as I'm aware all mig contact tips are 1/4"-28. Be aware I've only used Miller, Hobart and LIncoln mig tips so my last statement could be all wrong. Just ask at the welding supply or bring along a tapped something as a gauge. Split hard fire brick make good floors as do kiln shelves. I know of some guys using SS trays to catch flux and preserve their liners. What are you wanting to do? Are you wanting to rebuild the ones you have or build new ones. They're two different things and talking about both will just confuse you. Frosty The Lucky.

Sure, a chain fall, cable come along, winch, 4 mule hitch etc. will indeed do the job with better control but everybody has a pickup, 4x4 is optional. If I were doing this in my shop it'd be done in short order, that's gozinta work, no stays necessary. Seriously, when I was putting up the frame on my shop I discovered one of the posts had been twisted by a forklift poke and I didn't notice it before signing off on it. Bent and twisted it took a couple pins (2" sq) my porta power, a 6' long purpose made wrench and an hour to have it snapline straight. Stands in the NW corner of the shop. None of this technique was my idea, I only tweak it as necessary to do a piece of work. Dad told me about it being done in the logging camps in the 20's, then we were working around a logging operation mid 80's I think and those guys used the technique to bend a piece of pretty large diameter pipe to go around a bend and I had an AH HAH! moment. THAT'S what Dad was talking about! Gotta go, Baxter the Doxy has class. Later guys. Frosty The Lucky.

Yeah, my weekends took a more permanent status almost four years ago now. Actually the book I recommended to Samcro in his prayer request, "My Stroke of Insight" has made a huge difference in my recovery. I'm finding if I can keep my brain hemispheres balanced I can keep things much straighter and express myself more clearly. I'm hoping this becomes more my regular form rather than rare. Of course I'm still pretty windy but that's been ME as long as I can remember. Frosty The Lucky.

Yeah, cut the epoxy with xylene solvent. the xylene will act as the vehicle and carry the resin all the way through the wood, when the xylene evaporates the resin will break and set. DO mix the resin and hardener before diluting it and make it quite thin, flow and pour like gasoline thin. We used the same technique with polyester resin and acetone to butter wood before fiber glassing it. If you don't it'll delaminate in a few years at most. I experimented on epoxy resins while I worked at the rubber plant in S. Cal. For grins I resined some balsa wood and made a knife blade from it that actually held an edge on easy targets. But yeah, epoxy resin and xylene will do it. Frosty The Lucky.

While not top shelf anvils Vulcans are real anvils and that one is in pretty good shape. Make your buddy something NICE! After you read through all the congratulatory replies you deserve how about putting your general location in the header so we'll know which scrap yard to move next to? <wink> In all seriousness Mike, you must be a pretty good guy or folk wouldn't do stuff like this for you. Congratulation on keeping your karma good! Frosty The Lucky.

I get lots of "tire kickers" at every demo, very few ever show even for a first time. Every once in a while someone does come by and one in every few years will stick long enough to get a good handle on the craft. Ah, fact of life sometimes you just have to go through the lint in all your pockets to find that one sunflower seed. Frosty The Lucky.

Thank you for the link Kim. Your group did a fine job of reproducing the tools. There is quite the selection of hammers, it doesn't really surprise me seeing as an anvil would be nearly impossible to lug around with you so I imagine a lot of boulders carry the smith's mark. Frosty The Lucky.