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I spent the week end removing the styrofoam low ceiling in my shop. I am new to blacksmithing and fired up my new diamondback forge and i got to thinking that the styrofoam ceiling might be prone to fire! This has been my welding shop for about a year, just for hobby stuff, but now i have the blacksmithing bug so i;m turning it into a smithy! Just thought i would share. sorry for the pictures being blurry, i used my phone.http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=16456&stc=1&d=1250049318http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=16455&stc=1&d=1250049318

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Rob,
I have two evaporative swamp coolers at one end of the shop that blow alot of fresh cool air, and a large vent with a 1500 cfm fan in the roof over the forge. I try to keep it closed up when im working to not bother the neighbors. i do have a carbon monoxide detector installed.

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Nice one Oak Hill! Yeah, the miller products hold their value for sure. I love that machine, very smooth arc. I'm no pro but i've been a union ironworker for fifteen years and have always wanted to have a shop! A plasma cutter is definitely on my list, my oxy acety torch does fine for now. i get bottles filled free through work because i am a foreman! I have to say the best investment tool wise after the tig machine would have to be the 7x12 vertical, horizontal bandsaw. Its liquid cooled and i can cut through thick solids pretty fast. i use it to cut square tube and such for furniture making. i make really uncomfortable artistic furniture! At least i did until i decided i needed to include blacksmithing into my hobby!

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I have a cheap "Harbor Freight " type horizonal band saw. I think a large water cooled one would be a good investment as well. We have one at work that I can use on some things, but they are fussy about what comes and goes. I do have one of those old recperacating power hacksaws a guy gave me, but it needs a motor. It was built in the early 1900's and it's atank. The problem I always have with the little band saw is keeping it cutting straight. I think the 3/4" or 1" band on the larger saws helps alot, along with some real beef in the blade guide area. Being a fabricator first and a blacsmith second sure helps out in the tool making arena !

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my bandsaw is a harbor freight as well, but believe it or not it cuts beautifully. It is heavy duty, takes a 3/4 inch blade by 96 inches. it weighs three hundred pounds or so. I have some water soluble oil for my coolant, the milky white stuff. I made a chair out of rings which i cut from a 6 inch by 1 inch thick pipe i brought home from work. I spent a day and a half cutting wafers and welded them together to make a pretty cool chair. It cuts through anything like butter, You just need to watch your feed rate, and make sure the blade is tensioned properly. Blades are cheap. Unfortunately harbor freight doesn't carry this model anymore, i bought it used from craigslist. If i were to do it over again i would get the swivel head from grizzly, that saw looks really solid, and miter cuts are a breeze. Fortunately i have unlimited access to rebar, and sometimes structural steel, and i mean thousands of pounds. My biggest problem is coming up with projects for it all!

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