JHCC Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 Welded up the shell for a new gas forge. (At least, as much as I could before I ran out of flux-core wire.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluerooster Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 Serviced my tractor, and bushhog, in preparation for the up comming season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
671jungle Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 On 3/18/2020 at 11:27 PM, Frosty said: If I just confused you let me know Thanks Frosty! That is a wealth of info! You definitely answered some questions I’ve been asking myself but didn’t have enough knowledge on how to ask. The impact abrasion resistance stuff really interests me. The anvil does not dent unless an errant blow lands. I would like to face anyway just to see the difference. Can’t wait to use some newly acquired terminology on the weld shop guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HojPoj Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 Not much smithing aside from cold-bending the ring and flattening the mower blade, but I fabricobbled up a small kindling splitter so my Kindergartner can help her daddy 'chop wood'. Just need to screw the feet down to some chunks of 2x4 to raise it up, but it's suprisingly stable as-is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 You may want to put a pool noodle around the top edge of that splitter to protect her hands and the hammer handle from any missed blows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 I made a set of grandkids a froe so they could start learning to build campfires without using a hatchet. With one hand on the froe handle and one hand on the froe club there are no hands in the danger sharp zone (and froes work pretty well even being "as dull as a froe"!) My weekend was mainly spent trying to remove the top die from my 25# LG. Previous owner(s) had it jammed in there and the keys mangled. I finally built a wood fire on my coal forge and heated the ram up/chilled the die and managed to push the main key out using my screwpress and a bunch of different small chunks of metal of the correct width. Damaged a bunch of them too getting the key to shift. Lots of fun dealing with a 25# ram way above boiling/below glowing. So; removing the bottom die was 5-10 minutes. Removing the top die was a couple of days work trying different things. At least the ram dovetail and die both look in good shape. I wish the toggle arms and bearing looked that well! I also did a bit of clean up as it looks like my "hoard" will be sticking around a bit longer than I expected due to absence of groups to sell stuff too and the lower amounts of excess cash from work stoppages. I did get to fire up the forge to work on some RR bolts that fit the valve stem threads on welding tanks to make bell supports. Tried two methods: punch and drift and slit and drift. The slit & drift was done from both sides and ended up rather interesting in a "restricted sales only" way. (No I will not be putting the mods to the trouble of deleting a picture and putting me on the double secret probation list!) I'm getting more exercise lately on weekends which is making balancing my insulin a bit more work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HojPoj Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 Glenn, yeah I was going to fatten up the top of the ring, probably use some hose. However, busting a knuckle is incentive to pay closer attention! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 When your skin hits the pool noodle it is a wake up call, and you are given another chance to be more careful. Loosing some hide is one thing, but a broken finger is a whole different matter. You do NOT want to hear her tell her Momma how she got hurt on something YOU made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris C Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 On 3/22/2020 at 11:43 AM, Frosty said: How about a still from the side so we can see what the dragon's breath looks like. Here's a video of the Dragon's Breath, Frosty. Keep in mind, that's ALL of it because the back end of the forge is closed off at present. https://chris623.zenfolio.com/img/s/v-11/o1066304653/c1/p3867532908-210.mp4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 Remember, Steel on Stone hard face rod WILL serve though I like Steel on Stone build up rod better. You can get away with more passes than recommended with build up rod but NOT hard face rod , the recommendations on the package or literature is IT. If you have copper bar or plate you can use it for chill stops. Clamp it to your stake protruding say 1/2" above the edge. So long as you don't get silly about holding the arc against it it will chill the filler (hard face or build up alloy) in place. You won't have to worry about it running over the edges and making for hard clean up. It needs to be 1/2" thick and extend down a ways both to clamp and to distribute the heat. You CAN buy them but bar, plate or flattened round works fine. Chill plates are sprinkles on the sunday if you can find something. MAN did I put in TOO MANY hours hard facing when I was a driller! Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cannon Cocker Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 I fired up the forge for the first time since moving a couple of days ago. I made a mount for the satellite radio receiver in my log truck. It turned out fairly well, but it showed me that I'm really RUSTY! This morning I made some hooks to hang my "get pulled out"chain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 That's burning pretty clean Chris. The dragon's breath is FAST which is heat exiting the forge but it's not large flames which is fuel burning outside the forge. Nicely done. Don't worry about the orange tinge, it's the calcites in the refractory oxidizing, not a fuel air imbalance. The way the breath is exiting along the floor makes me want to put a sill in the way, something to help deflect the flame back up and in. It doesn't always help but sometimes. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cannon Cocker Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 I just made a piece of garbage that is supposed to be a cork screw.....I like the design, but I ran out of propane before I could finish touching up the screw. What makes it garbage is that I turned it the wrong direction. I don't want to have to think about it every time I open a bottle of wine! Once I get more propane I'll try to straighten it out and twist it the proper direction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 I did that with the first corkscrew I made, so I gave it to my left-handed brother and pretended I’d done it on purpose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyGoatLady Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 Congratulations on your forge Chris. I'm glad you got it going. CC, good to see your work again. Good stuff. Everyone's work is looking good. I'm happy to see it all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris C Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 Thanks, Frosty. I went out and put a 2" high block of K26 on the floor at the opening. It made a drastic difference keeping the heat in. I pulled my 5/8" bar out of the forge and half of it fell on the floor! I melted the area I'd forged down to 5/16". Guess I'd better learn pretty quick how to read the material, huh?!?!?! Now if I could just figure out how to control the heat. This thing is HOT!!! If I turn down the fuel, I'm afraid it'll back up into the burner. Luckily I've got just enough to replace that piece. I got the other one forged down nicely. This forge is so hot the rebar gets all wobbly at the weld and falls off. Either I'm not welding it deep enough or the weld can't handle the heat. Don't know which. Thanks, CGL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 "Special gift for a lefthander, gag gift for a right hander" Never garbage! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cannon Cocker Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 Yeah, I know it's not garbage is a lesson learned! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Griffin Posted March 25, 2020 Share Posted March 25, 2020 I took a week's vacation and started making some fuel for the forge. Almost a half barrel now. Couple more burnings and I should have enough to last a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyBones Posted March 25, 2020 Share Posted March 25, 2020 Heat treated my hot cut and done some grinding. May have to weld a little more for the shank. Had another piece of the sway bar so i am making a hawk out of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlpservicesinc Posted March 26, 2020 Share Posted March 26, 2020 So last week I was asked if I had a video out on forging a Hatchet.. And No I do not. I have been wanting a new hatchet as my old one is starting to be in need of a redress so since I was asked, I filmed the process. The problem is the process is about 6 hrs overall for the finished product since I do it all by hand and very particular about my hatchets and axes. I always figure about 6hrs for hatchets and axes when working by myself. Here is the hatchet, It is a wrapped wrought iron construction with 5160 for the cutting edge.. The wrought iron was super grainy so had to do a few workarounds since it could not be drawn out without splitting no matter the temperature. I got it though it was a tough cookie. it weighs 1 3/4lbs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelonian Posted March 26, 2020 Share Posted March 26, 2020 That is a really nice looking hatchet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awrksmokey Posted March 26, 2020 Share Posted March 26, 2020 made my first few horse head bottle openers. I like how the biggest one turned out, not so sure about the other two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkie Posted March 26, 2020 Share Posted March 26, 2020 Jennifer, glad you posted the hatchet pics on IFI. Beautiful job, as always. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 26, 2020 Share Posted March 26, 2020 On 3/23/2020 at 2:59 PM, Chris C said: If I turn down the fuel, I'm afraid it'll back up into the burner. So it back fires? It's not going to explode like a bomb, it'll just sound like a pack of dragon piranhas chewing their way out. Turn the gas off and let the blower cool things down and don't wait til it's HOT before turning it down next time. If it's melting the rebar , then rebar won't do it. Forging a set of tongs sounds like your next move. I have several different pieces of broken IFB I use as sills in my old forge. I make paths to lay stock in the fire between sill blocks so it doesn't turn the first 18" in front of the openings red. Sometimes I wished I'd made the porches expandable sideways so I could lay stock in at an angle without tripping over a helper. C. Cocker: Follow John's advice, there's nothing wrong with a left handed corkscrew, nothing at all. Heck, few people know how many years it takes to perfect a work of art like that. It's no accident bull shooting and black smithing are abbreviated the same way. If I'm not mistaken 40% of people in this country are left handed, you're making for a specialty market. Not a thing wrong with that. Just don't tell them it was a mistake and you're golden. Sure it needs to be tweaked to work and finished but I'd certainly not straighten it out and try again. It's more likely to break than anything useful if you try "fixing" it. I think everybody who's practiced the craft has turned many somethings backwards, finials on hooks are almost a rite of passage. Next time make a few simple cork screws till you don't have to think about which way to turn the screws. Then getting fancy isn't at risk from an easy mistake. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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