This high temperature paint (2000F) needs to be progressively heated to 250F, 400F, then 600F to achieve full cure.  What temperature might I expect on the metal shell with 2" of k-wool (3" on the ends)?

Maybe not so much on the outside of the shell, but the temperature will be higher at the openings, where the dragon's breath impinges on the surface.

Nice nose Billy! Good work everyone. 

I cant seem to find much time in my shop now that I am retired, hope to change that soon

I applied the first coat of Satanite.  Well, isn't that special?

The first picture and the song "light my fire" of the doors pops in my head.

Looking good Socks,

I made some tent stakes for a buddy, don't know what was in this rebar but it was pretty hard to move. 

Actually got a little shop time in yesterday. I am not supposed to be doing any lifting or gripping with my left hand yet but my physical therapist told me to try and get back to doing what i do daily as much as possible. She said let the pain be my guide. If it hurts, quit. So i can not grip a set of tongs yet but i can hold stuff, get metal into a vice where i can use scrolling tongs or a file with my right paw. I even managed to get a couple tenons set. 

 

Been there myself, pain is natures way of telling you STOP DOING THAT! The real trick is not overdoing when it stops being painful. We can all work through a little discomfort can't we? That's when we need to go easy on repairs, it's when reinjuries usually occur.

Frosty The Lucky.

Hope it continues to heal, and gets better every day, Billy.

I either pushed the nose too far or burned it trying to use too small of a forge, or a little of both, so I started over and am taking a slightly different direction.

Jennifer, I tried to get to your class on October 3rd, but unfortunately the farm got hit high path avian influenza and we were in crisis mode dealing with the fallout.   Next time you're in the area I'm going to make the class 

Got some forge time in.  Just playing around with various things.  Found that rebar doesn't like to be forge welded. (I didn't expect it to)  Then did some destructive inspection of a failed blade, and found that the hotdog didn't get welded to the bun in places, and in the process, the bun got way too thin anyway. So, I'll be re visiting that procedure some time in the not too distant future.  Then got a chunk of 5/8" square stock, and just heat and beat until it decided to show me what it wanted to become.  I started out with the cross peen, and flared the end after drawing it some, and flattening it a little.  Thought it might be a spade like you would find on a drawer pull. But it was a bit too rounded for that.  Then, a handle started taking shape.  By that time my shoulder was beginning to let me know that I needed to swap to a lighter hammer.  So, I went with my 2 pound ball peen to finish it up.  The little thing must have thought I was hungry, because it turned into a spoon of sorts.  It's only the second spoon i've made. The first was a botch job that serves well as a flux scoop.   

  I need a dishing form of some sort. That would help with making spoons.

I guess it needs some planishing to smooth it out

16 hours ago, bluerooster said:

I need a dishing form of some sort. That would help with making spoons.

Might look into Holland Anvil they have a nice little 50 lb swage block with several spoon shapes, along with other shapes on the edges and a bowl on the other side.

Edited October 27, 2025Oct 27 by Mod34
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Thanx for the info. I'll save my pennies. I could use one for sure.

You can planish that GENTLY over the pein of a ball pein hammer. Just do NOT bang the pein with the hammer. 

Though we've heard some loud protestation here about rebar, I've never found it to be very consistent and the only thing I've forged from it were spikes to spike saddle notched or Butt and pass log corners.

Butt and pass corners have to be the least stable for log cabin construction. A brace and bit a little smaller than the selected rebar pins and some old school 2 part Bondo really helps them. Once the log has been "fitted" drill through the pass log into the butted log, mix up a snake of Bondo Maybe 1/2 the dia. of the hole and 1/4 the depth. Insert the rebar pin and drive it a little way, twist it a couple three revolutions and drive it home. The rebar pin needs to be a LITTLE longer than the hole is deep and drawn or ground to a point, just do NOT drive it very far into the undrilled log, 1/2" or so is plenty. The bondo will be forced into the grain of the wood as the pin is driven in but when the pin reaches the bottom of the hole the pin will FORCE Bondo into the wood.

Other than reinforcing concrete the above is my best use for rebar, though it's texture does make decent rungs or handles. Thomas Powers (Absent companions) liked it for tent pegs and similar ground anchors.

And yes, I've tried it for different things more than once.

Frosty The Lucky.

I had a bit of an issue in the shop yesterday.  Put a new 36 grit belt on the grinder and the thing blew apart when I touch the piece I was working to it.  I did have safety glasses on,  didn't have a hat though so I got an annoying cut in the middle of my forehead and some scrapes as it passed over my head and flew who knows where.   Took me a couple minutes after the shock to assess the damage and realized I didn't need a trip to the doctors.  I need to restock my first aid roll of paper towels now though.  I used the last 2.

The project I'm working on is my pole ax.  The body of the ax and the hammer face was punched and drifted drifted from a big chunk of wrought and I was on my second  attempt at getting a bit forge welded on.

First attempt it shifted and didn't weld but was too thin to chisel it out and try again so I cut it off and did a reverse on the bit weld with what I thought I had at side as a piece of pattern weld.  Nope, it was wrought.  I thought it welded up way too easily. 

This attempt has stuck.  Forge welded some farriers rasps, chiseled then out and tack welded them in place.   Boom.  It looks and sounds solid though I kept working it at welding heat for several turns.  

As a quick tip,  if anyone is still reading this, I left the handle on the rasp and put the pieces on either side so I had a nice build in holder.   I'll try and get pictures of everything tonight. 

16 hours ago, bluerooster said:

I need a dishing form of some sort. That would help with making spoons.

15 hours ago, bluerooster said:

I'll save my pennies.

There are a couple of cheap alternatives to a swage block you can consider while saving pennies. The fastest and cheapest is simply a block of wood with an appropriately sized hole drilled or carved in it. The heat of the workpiece will burn off any sharp edges, and you can easily reshape it as needed. Be aware that the wood will throw off a LOT of smoke, so make sure your ventilation is good. (N.B.: this is also good for shaping leaves.)

A slightly more expensive and complicated option (but still cheaper than a swage block) is to bend some round bar into an oval or spoon shape. This can be held in a vise, mounted on some kind of hardy stem, or whatever works for you and your setup. 

 

 

A large ball bearing welded onto a hardy can work well too.  

Added a work tray to the top of the main pillar in my combo vise/armorer’s swage block stand, from some 16 ga. sheet and a length 1/4" x 1/2" flat bar. The latter had been shorn from the edge of a larger plate, so one edge was already nicely rounded.

Before:

After:

This rests on the top of the big pipe on one side and has a simple support on the other that wedges under the vise’s mounting bracket. It can be popped out as needed to access the mounting bracket bolts. 

Looks good John, I LOVE the tray I put on mine but I made it too large, it interferes with bending longer stock around the ends of the jaws.

Frosty The Lucky.

New chandelier. Another vintage kerosene lamp repurposed as a table lamp.

I had to look at the chandelier twice and the more I look the better I like it. I LOVE art that rewards the observer for looking closely. 

I like the lamp well enough but no where nearly as much as the chandelier.

Frosty The Lucky.

I worked on the ABANA NC Level 1 projects.  Tapers were good, but I still need to work on making staples and s-hooks.
 

I did my first dry fit off the complete pole ax last night as well as doing a pair of heat treats in the blade.   I say a pair because the bit didn't harden in oil, I had to use water to get it right then torch tempered to purple twice.  I have 2 weeks to get this ready for the UMBA conference and the friendly completion of zombie slayer weapons.   The staff is hickory,  spike is 1/4 inch sheet,  and the spike is mystery metal that sparks similar to a medium to high carbon. 

Forge welded langettes, a spiked ferrule on bottom, and a pole arm approaching the right length? Very pretty. I've often thought my favorite anti-zombie weapon would be a Lochaber axe for standoff distance and maybe a shorter bec de corbin for close in work.

The langettes and top spike are one piece.   Split and drawn out.  Punching and riveting or welding will be how I do it next time just to make it easier to handle.