A new axe forge build!

[Frosty]

Sawmill eh? I was part owner of a Mobile Dimension Saw but it's in a remote location and I haven't flown out in years, my partner's a close friend and he's more than welcome to my half. We felled and dragged logs in winter, a car hood makes a fine log sled but I made an arch so he could haul them with the 4 wheeler in summer and made a set of skis for it from tandem trailer fenders. The arches have welded trailer spindles and the wheels have trailer hubs of course but so do the skis. When he wants, the arch flips over and makes a cradle. Finding the balance point of the log is the only tricky part. We used it to haul a few logs on the tires the last time I was out and he says the skis work so well he almost never uses the tires. A chainsaw winch and timber ramps made loading the saw reasonably easy. That thing would make a 20' rough cut board in 13 seconds and slide it out to you on the back stroke. That was one fun saw to run. Sure it has 4x the kerf of a band saw but man it was so much easier to make lumber with.

Give it another 5-10 years and they'll be able to grow you a new disk, they've been working it for a good 5 years now. Disks are a lot more complex than originally thought but you may not have anything to talk about in your dotage.  I figure if I can hold on another 20 years they can grow me a 20 year old body and transplant my mind. The coolest thing about it is I WILL know then what I know now!

Frosty The Lucky.

[ThomasPowers]

If you live your life something is gonna catch up with you sometime; be happy if it's something you can live with for a while  rather than DEATH!

I will advise folks to try to not mess up their back when young as the back never forgives and never forgets!  I've very happy that my parents gave me a kids book on simple machines when I was young and I've been a fan of the wedge and rollers and levers ever since!

[Paul Kin]

Holy cow Frosty is there anything you havent done?!? You sound like some of the old timers around here. Ive worked with a lot of em cause I spent my first 10 working years trade hopping. I Learned more in my first few years then Ive learnt in all my school years put together! And met a lot of wise old men. Honestly where most of my learning came from. And still is infact! No offence! Not calling you guys old!

Head saws are great if you want some real production! My neighbour, who actually founded my area, has one. Hes gone now unfortunately but Im good friends with his son. But that thing would buz through a log faster then you can spit. Was also a death trap. If you didnt work faster then it, youd be working right beside the blade! Sounds like you guys had a really good setup though! I actually have a good system but theres always slabs and big timbers to move around. Its a WM LT70 full hydraulic w/ electric motor and board return. Green chain infeed and conveyer to feed the finished peices onto the green chain out feed. Wheel loader to feed and forklift to take away. Sounds perfect right?! No lifting! Well in a perfect world, yes... But I still have to lift well over my own weight several times a day. Just how it goes! I still love it and want to continue doing it. Just have to start working smarter, which I actually already do believe it or not!

Boy if they end up being able to replace disks, Im in! I have a very thorough understanding of how it all works. My physio is great about explaining whats going on with diagrams. She believes my core should eventually be able to compensate. Just have to get there... Oh if only that were possible Frosty! Even if I could go back 10 years...

Thomas, thats a very good way to look at it! Whats the point in life if your not going to live?!

Ahh that was a wise move on their part! Over the last few years I have really smartened up. But I used to be a brute force kinda guy. Probly the biggest reason I am where I am.

[Frosty]

Yeah, I've done a lot of things briefly, I must have almost 20 hours on the mill, I spent a lot more time helping Mike get things where a guy could make lumber solo. 

Wood Mizer is a nice saw, WAY more serious than our bush mill. A lot more heavy lifting than the old Mobile Dimension operation too. 

Mike's idea was to build a proper house as a potential lodge and maybe sell milled lumber to other land owners. It worked out well enough but it didn't end up turning into a commercial mill. I wasn't involved in much of anything other than helping set it up.  

Frosty The Lucky.

[Paul Kin]

Oh I see! Still, you know what its about and the work thats involved. I have a lot of timber framers for customers so for the most part, a 6x6 timber is the smallest thing I mill. Theres all the 1” and 2” side lumber of course but thats almost never a lone order. 8x12 doug fir is very common. As well as 8x8. The occasional 10x10, even a big order of 10x16 beams once! That was something...

Woodmizers are so wonderful to work with. If you take your time, you can cut perfectly square cornered beams every time. Like we are talking less then 1/2° out of square. That mill can produce some absolutely beautiful stuff!

Thats to bad it never went big for him.. it is a hard game. Im very lucky to be right on the highway between 2 towns and the boss has a logging show so the logs are easy to come by. 2 huge factors in our success. Hopefully Mike still at least has the mill! Its an unexplainable feeling to get to work, hop out of your truck, and get a big wif of fresh sawdust from the day before.... almost an antidepressant really.

[teenylittlemetalguy]

On 7/30/2020 at 9:31 PM, Paul Kin said:

Sorry ran out of time to go over door plans. 1. Simple sliding brick doors. Easy peasy right?

I think your forge looks awesome for axes!

My two cents on doors- I have been using kiln shelves for doors on my own personal forges for a few years now and am totally in love with them.  I have never had a failure on one yet. I have used them in sliding situations over a steel runner with no trouble and I have drilled holes in them for pivot points for doors that swing up and out of the way. Not one crack or complaint, even driving them to and from (while hot!) our local meetings an hour away. I have had to replace Kastolite liners, but never a door!  If you know a potter you can often get their old broken shelves for free. 

[Paul Kin]

Thanks and good to know metalguy! It just so happens I have some hooks on consignment with a local potter. I will ask her! Kiln shelves totally slipped my mind for some reason.

As for the burner, I think I may just go strait to the standard T burner for this forge... I just dont feel confident to build a proper NARB yet. And now that I know how to tune the T burners well, Im running just 1 of the 2 burners in my big 500+/-  cu/inch forge at a high forging temp and not even at 15 psi! 3” insulation in that forge also so that probably helps. So this new forge at about 250 cu/in should easily hit welding temps and be very efficient as well.

[Frosty]

2 hours ago, Paul Kin said:

and get a big wif of fresh sawdust from the day before.... almost an antidepressant really.

I LOVE the smell of fresh sawdust. Mike's place is 11 miles E. of Mt. Redoubt and last I heard there were maybe 8-9 other places built or being built near enough the lake to maybe want lumber. Next time I talk to him I'll ask what's up at the lake. Most of our timber is spruce though Bear Lake is one of the farthest north points where Doug Fir grows though it's not common. He may have made some cabinet lumber from birch or cotton wood. Man I'm out of touch. 

Ahhh, back to talking about your forge. Thanks Tristan, we were really drifting there.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Paul Kin]

Well I hope he found his niche market! Its a great, rewarding job. If he were a we bit closer Id send him customers! I often send customers to other local mills when I cant keep up. All our local wood is spruce/pine. My boss brings the fir in from way out of town. Vanderhoof to be more precise. So I also work with a lot of spruce! Fun fact, spruce is stronger than doug fir per weight and equal grade. Fir is much heavier though so you need much larger spruce.

Haha yes back to the forge! Nothing wrong with a little sidetrack now and again!

[Frosty]

Oh yeah, Mike's living the dream, Commercial bush pilot, then multi engine commercial, then multi engine jet commercial. He's been trophy hunting all over the world for the last 25 years at least. The trophy hunting is the one thing we really differ on. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

19 hours ago, Frosty said:

Don't minimize back pain,

The worst back pain I have experienced was due to a sneeze. That was about 30 years ago. I was standing at the kitchen sink and turned to my left, so the sneeze was away from my wife who was on my right at the kitchen counter. The pain was so intense she had to help me to a chair. To this day if I twist wrong the pain will return but not as severe.

[pnut]

13 hours ago, Irondragon ForgeClay Works said:

The worst back pain I have experienced was due to a sneeze

I have bi lateral sciatica in addition to some other back problems. I've had the same thing happen from a sneeze before. Also a cough and once just from crossing my leg to play an acoustic guitar. It's horrible knowing that at any time your could get a pain like an ice pick with a cut off extension cord attached to it being plunged into your back. I feel for you. 

Pnut

[ThomasPowers]

I once worked with a fellow who's Aunt was in Ripley's Believe It or Not  archives from having broken her neck sneezing---she was at the dinner table and so turned away to sneeze...

[Paul Kin]

 you guys!! Im not laughing at any of you. This thread just cracks me up! I think I will just let this continue and start a new thread when the build continues! I was really hoping to have it done already, but you know... life happens. So keep on sharing if you guys want! Ill start a new, more focused thread

Also, as crazy as that sounds Thomas, I actually believe it! I have had sneezes cripple me for a day due to my disk problem. They are a very powerful move. If only we could harness that power while team striking...

[ThomasPowers]

It would be very difficult to coordinate sequential sneezing such that you don't get interference between multiple hammers...Sneezing while driving has always worried me.

[Frosty]

Sciatica!  I won't carry ANYTHING in my back pockets anymore! Fortunately I was able to relieve the pressure kinking my sciatic nerve with stretching exercises. But holy moly was Ii crippled up!

You know Paul, if you can come up with a topic that doesn't sidetrack or die quickly, you'll go down in Iforge history.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Jealdi]

Also bringing this back on topic a bit. I like the look of this design. What did you fabricate the shell from?

[Frosty]

6 minutes ago, Jealdi said:

I like the look of this design.

THIS  design? Visualize Frosty looking around the living room and under things to no avail. TBI survivors confuse easily you know. 

Maybe a good place to quote part of the post with a pic of the forge you're liking?

Frosty The Lucky.

[Jealdi]

On 7/30/2020 at 3:29 PM, Paul Kin said:

 

This one... sorry, it's the only photo in the thread.  What I get for multitasking while at work!

 

[Frosty]

I like that one too. Heavier steel than you need but it'd be easy to weld and if it's what you have on hand it's perfect.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Jealdi]

Yeah. I'm thinking I'll probably still end up with the 16g sheet metal from the box store since I haven't had much luck with scrap/junk yard shopping. But I like the shape. Was contemplating something similar, but a bit shorter maybe. Still playing with designs and what I can manage to source still.

[ThomasPowers]

Now if you want a heavy wall shell with a not too large open center...this one is still available at my local scrapyard; only 20 cents a pound and with handy lifting lugs!

[Paul Kin]

Haha good point Thomas! Team striking is already effective enough that it really probably doesnt need any innovation to mess it all up!

Also a good point Frosty! The main reason it is taking me so long to read your NARB thread  

Jealdi, thanks! But its not necessarily “my” design. Theres a lot of talk about the mail box or D shape forges. Theres more good then bad in the half circle design in my opinion anyways. You get the widest floor possible without having to heat extra space. The material is, as Frosty stated, heavier than necessary. But I use what I can find free in the scrap bin at work. My boss also runs a logging outfit so heavy scrap steel is a plenty! So to answer your question directly, I fabricated the shell from a deactivated 100lb propane tank, 1/4” plate for the faces, 4” tubing for the stand. Im going to say this now, THERES NO SAFE WAY TO CUT A PROPANE TANK!! There. So I stupidly cut it up of course with methods I will not share  To avoid wasting to much durablanket I simply measured 3.5” past center on the cylinder and welded in the floor plate. Thatll give me 3” of blanket and 1/2” of Kastolite for the floor and put the floor right in the center of the circle, the widest part, for the widest floor possible. Make sense?

I see a really cool dragons breath breathing sculpture/forge thingy there Thomas! Just needs a dragon inspired paint job!

[Jealdi]

Thanks Paul!

I've been keeping my eyes on the marketplace to see if I find a decent sized propane tank for less than what the sheet metal will run me at the box store. Figure I might as well take my time on this and do it nicely.

[JHCC]

Here are the doors on my newest forge. The frames are made of 2" square tube, cut in half off-center to make angle iron with a bit of a lip for the inside:

Each door got 2" of rigidized kaowool (packed down to about 1-34") and about 3/4" of Kastolite 30: 

The hinges are RR spikes pointing up, with the front tips of their heads welded to the main forge and with much of the shafts ground round. The doors can be lifted with their handles (made of 1/4" round), rotated from closed to half-open to open and back, and dropped into place. If a workpiece is particularly long, the door can be lifted straight up to accommodate it: