jcornell

That should work. I'm using something like this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-Regulator-Kit-0-30-PSI-with-48-Stainless-Braided-Hose-for-Cookers-/162096751521?hash=item25bdb823a1:g:ghkAAOSwAvJW9q8N It's a 0-30 Bayou Classic - not the greatest, but it's reliable and cheap.

Current forge (#5) is Freon bottle with 2" kaowool with kiln wash, running with one Gensheimer burner. The original paint is burned off around the mouth and around the pass-through tube, but the main body still has the lovely blue-green shade common to Freon bottles. It's hot enough that I don't want to touch it after I've been forging for a while, but not so hot that I worry about it collapsing or warping the outer shell.

Recent work

Trimming the heels of a hot shoe (per Google search).

I know one smith using Natural Gas who has some sort of device that compresses it and raises the pressure. I never asked how much such a device costs.

Okay, thanks. Good to know.

Okay, I'll bite - if you're doing stock removal, how do you get scale pattern?

Dave is on Facebook as Dave Hammer. I see him from time to time at local events, as I live in suburban Maryland and he lives in Northern Virginia.

were I in your shoes, I'd get some cast-o-lite 3000 and some superwool and kaolin and zircopax and a bottle of fumed silica. I'd take the front and back of the forge off and rip out the castable and the kaowool (this step will require gloves and a respirator.) I'd then reline the steel shell with superwool HT (my favorite insulating fiber). I'd mix up fumed silica and water (about a cup per gallon) to use as rigidizer for the superwool. Once it was decently dry, I'd put the burner in and cook the fiber to drive all the steam out. Then I'd use the cast a cast-o-lite 3000 to make a hot-face shell inside on top of the now rigidized superwool. You're shooting for 3/8" to 1/2" thick face on top of your superwool. Once this is dry, I'd put the burner back in again and cook the refractory. Then I'd wash the inside of the now cooked refractory with a mixture of zircopax & kaolin (4:1). Let this dry, fire up again to cook the reflective coat. After that I'd reinstall the bricks in front and back and start forging. The fundamental problem of the design you've shown is is that the kaowool is protecting the cast refractory, which is backwards. It's like swapping out a 30 amp fuse for a 20 amp fuse - now the wiring of your house is protecting your 30 amp fuse from blowing.

A common problem with this design of forge is that if you don't stuff some sort of insulation into the burner holder, the holder acts like a chimney, exhausting hot gas right into the air intake of your burner. The hot gas has very little oxygen, so your burner sputters. I call it "huffing" because that's what it sounds like to me. Any design with the burner at Top Dead Center may have this problem if the exhaust gasses are going into the burner's air intake. I'm on forge #5. Forges 1 and 2 were of this design. Enjoy the journey.

Superwool HT is rated for 1300°C (2372°F) (Per the manufacturer's data sheet) while Kaowool S (the standard version) is rated for 1260 c (2300F). You have to get up to Kaowool SZr to get to 1425 C/2597F. Good luck finding someone who carries Kaowool SZr. Prior versions were not as robust, but I've been using it successfully for a while, although my latest build was plain old kaowool, because that's what I had on hand..

For the ceramic fiber, you'll look at temperature rating, density, and then you'll also need to pay attention to whether the fiber is water soluble (Superwool HT) or non-water soluble (kaowool etc.). If you can, go with the water soluble fiber - it's less irritating and over the long haul, it's a little bit safer.

It won't look any different, but it will be stiffer.

I'm using a $19 stainless steel rack I bought at a big box store - I've also seen BBQ grills repurposed as forge stands. It's all a matter of imagination, safety consciousness and flexibility. Whatever you do, make sure that it's stable.

Nice job, MonkeyForge - I didn't have a picture handy, but I know that the pipe nipple usually has a sharp edge (that's more narrow than the rest of the pipe) and the bushing usually has one as well. Files and rotary tools are our friends. A ream that's the size of the pipe nipple (minus the weld) would be good, but usually a ream that large is a bit expensive.

The bushing may or may not have a sharp corner inside - if it does, this kind of messes up the air flow, which is a bad thing. Some filework on the inside of the bushing will go a long way towards improving your flow, which means your burner will work better.

The expert here is Mike Porter (Mikey98118). At certain sizes he's fond of taper tips (think Tweeco) or blunt luerlock dispensing needles.

Carbosil is a trade name for fumed silica - I use about a cup per gallon of water - you can always use more. I added food color from Michaels (for frosting) so I could see how much penetration I was getting.

Your Mig tips are way too deep in your burner tubes to get an effective draw of air - your design looks like the Dave Hammer design (kind of) but his gas tip is visible from the air intakes. Your mig tips seem to be almost inside your forge. You also didn't specify the insulation used, or if you're using any reflective coating. Are you using a regulator? What gas pressure are you using? If you have a low pressure regulator suitable for a propane grill, you're not getting enough gas. It also appears that you're using white teflon tape - this is a bad mistake if you're using propane. Yellow tape is rated for propane, while is for plumbing with water. Your front door is really big too.

Contact the Blacksmith Guild of the Potomac.

Oh yes, I'm well aware of that. The only thing preventing my moving to the other Washington is that essential ingredient - a job. I've been working for the same employer since 1987 - either I like it, or I'm not very good at interviewing for new jobs, or some combination of the two.

I've used 4 parts zircopax to one part kaolin, and 3 parts zircopax to one part kaolin - they both work fine. If you want to really get tricky, use rigidizer (colloidal silica) instead of water. Easy to apply to rigidized kaowool, and once it fires up, it's reasonably durable. Remember, your liner is a consumable - you will end up re-lining your forge eventually. No, you're not wasting your time.

I consistently found when I was using one 20# tank that after about an hour of forging, my burner started getting less hot. The problem was mostly solved when I bought a manifold and ganged two 20# tanks together. Sometimes there would be visible frost on the tanks, some times not. 40# and 100# tanks are dandy, but hard to schlep in the back of my sedan.