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I Forge Iron

What did you do in the shop today?


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  • JHCC

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Nice blades JP.

I heat treated my straight peen hammer. Tempered with a hot drift and I think it turned out perfect.

while waiting on cooling cycles, I made a few s hooks. My missus cant get enough s hook as she gives them away with her glass art.
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super happy with my hammer. I dont have a little scale but will take it to work to weigh. I guess about 2 pounds.

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thanks for looking

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10 hours ago, Chad J. said:

JLP how is it?  I'm beginning to think about buying a nice propane forge.  The neighbor had a 2 burner Devil's forge he loaned me for a couple weeks and it wasn't bad.  My little one turkey burner brick forge is quickly getting too small for my projects and I have to make a new tyre for my coal forge.

I’ve had the single burner devils forge for a little over a year now. The one with the burner at an angle instead of straight up and down. I’m told the angled one is better - not sure how true that is. But it’s been really great for me as a first forge. The small amount of refractory that came with it held up surprisingly well and only really started going bad to the point where I’ve just bought new lining materials once I started doing some forge welding. The only issue I’ve had is the opening not being large enough but from what I’ve seen most forges would’ve given me the same issue for the projects I’m talking about which is why I’m working on a bbq turned into a coal forge. I will always use the propane forge as well though. They have pretty cool ones now with sliding fire brick doors which I plan on just adding my own to my forge when I redo the lining. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed though. The hells forge and devil forge products are very very similar but I think hells forge is a USA company while devil forge is foreign so if I were buying again I would get the hells forge. 

Thanks Das I’ll check that stuff out. 

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That peen is radiused just the way I like them!   

Spent some time leveling out the ruts the SEC has left me, still bad near the road---as in a friend started driving into the driveway, stopped and backed out as he was afraid he would get stuck.  Stuff is as hard as a rock as the desert floor; but grind it up and it's Dust in the Wind.  Probably be months before we get enough rain to settle it down.

I also wire brushed both ends of 30 pieces of twisted up tighter barbwire for my icicles,  I really like my low speed wire brush when working short lengths of barbwire!  Got all of them cleaned up and wired together. Got the coal forge cleaned out and a wood firelay ready and then decided that it was too hot to forgeweld, it will be a LOT cooler next weekend. 

Instead I remounted my heavy hitting postvise.  I had found a larger tamper head that had been through a fire and was scrapped and replaced the large 2'x4' dirt blade---with the 1.5" sq mounting holes in it I had been using to hold the acorn.  (I got the blade to make a working table from as I have 3 anvils with 1.5" Hardy Holes and I thought a steel table with several the same size would be handy.  As I hope to have my welder up and running by Christmas vacation, now was a good time to swap out bases.)

The acorn was a bit too large for the tamper "eye"; so I dropped some large hex nuts down it to raise the bottom until it rests on them.  It's my heavy hitter as it's a 6.5" post vise, stamped 100 pounds and is mounted to one of the telephone poles holding my shop roof on.  I also have a small pad of 4"x4"s to get you standing up a bit higher to work on swinging the hammer.  The down side is that the sheet metal wall of the shop also is attached to the telephone pole and so when you get to swinging the 8# sledge it lets folks know you are working!  (Luckily there is a field next door, then the hay barn, irrigation pump (dedicated diesel!) and the corrals and another space before my neighbor's house on that side.

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3 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

I also have a small pad of 4"x4"s to get you standing up a bit higher to work on swinging the hammer. 

That's a nice idea. One of my students yesterday is almost a foot shorter than me, and he could have used that at the anvil!

4 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

Spent some time leveling out the ruts the SEC has left me

Flatter and a sledgehammer?

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Found a billet i had welded up some time ago, like better than a year, that i had forgotten about. No clue as to what i used in it so i forged down a piece of coil spring and added to it a piece of 15N20 i have. Never used 15N20 so i just did it to try. Wrapped them around the billet and welded it all up. Then twisted it, flattened that out, cut it in half, welded those up, forged it out, folded it, forged into basic knife shape, drilled some raindrops on it, forged it out, then heat treated and basic grind. Next is handle and finish grind, oh forgot etching. Stuck the tip in some vinegar just to get an idea of the patern but you can see it without the dip. 

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Started a fireplace set and made a ladle also. Lovin that new swage.

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Very nice ladle. 
 

Well I attempted to reline my forge with kastolite 30 today. It didn’t go well. I read the best way was to make forms but I honestly didn’t even know where to start with that. I also read if you made it a little bit wetter than it’s supposed to be you can kind of paint on a very thin first layer and then hand mold the rest. I guess it’s on and it’s going to cure and should technically work but I’ve lost like half of the space I had inside the forge. Lack of space was my biggest problem with this forge so I can’t have that. It’s partially because this fire brick is much thicker than the one that came with it. I think this kaowool is thicker also and the kastolite is definitely thicker than the refractory that came with it. Maybe the kastolite will contract as it cures and give me a little more space? Don’t think it works like that. I thought the price of the refractory was highly overpriced from the company that makes the forge but I guess not. It lasted over a year with a very very thin layer. So I think I’ll use this for a little bit but I’m definitely going to order some of the other refractory and maybe a thinner kaowool so I have at least the original amount of work space. Firebrick is just for the picture not leaving it in there while it cures. 
Disappointed but that’s what I get for not taking the time to do it the right way I guess. Although maybe I’d have this lack of space issue either way. I don’t know. 

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Ok what did I do wrong that it posted my text twice? I certainly didn’t type all of that twice lol

[Fixed it for you. It's a quirk of the software, and you can always fix it within the 30 minute editing window. If you miss the window, just report your own post to the mods and request someone tale care of it. We may not get to it right away, but we're happy to help. -- Mod 34]

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I read my posts right after submitting them so I can edit things like double paragraphs, etc. It happens.

Am I mistaken thinking that's a full size hard fire brick? Lose that firebrick! Talk about taking up space for no good reason. 

Kastolite 30 is high alumina and withstands welding fluxes significantly better and it is NOT a major heat sink. 

If you like a flat floor the easy way is to feather the edges of a piece of ceramic blanket so the sides meet the walls smoothly, rigidize and plaster it with hard refractory. 

Another excellent method is using a high alumina kiln shelf for the floor. Kiln shelf is extremely tough at welding temps and laughs at the most aggressive welding fluxes used in a forge.

Right now if you just remove the fire brick and work on a curved floor you'll have gained more than 101 cu/in back. That isn't counting the open volume bridged by the brick nor the gaps beside it.

Frosty The Lucky.

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pat I am very new but for my form I used 2 flexible cutting boards inserted wooden dowels to the thickness I wanted of kastolite. then inserted the 2 cutting boards rolled into a tube released them inside the tube the dowels kept them at equal distance them taped that with duct tape.   then mounted that tube onto a piece of wood and slid forge down the form. I am about to pull it from the form now but here are my pics. if plastic tube. then tapped in kol. probally could have made thinner but I am happy for 2nd try 

 

thanks Frosty he helped with plans mine was not as easy as his lol

 

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here is the rest of the form all 8 did was duxt tape the inside of form onto board. the tube and board were adhered with vinyl wall sticker sheets KOL peeled right away from form all I did was cut my duct tape a little so I could take a pair of plyers and curl the inside of the plastic cutting board away a tiny bit as soon as air got in I pulled it right out. just need to do the other side once done posting here. last pic is side I need finish was on board.

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Looks good, GG!

25 minutes ago, Gandalfgreen said:

can also use the inside of the tube when done as a fire brick form and then have a fire brick that fits in exactly to your curve of wall and lose no space 

Another way to do this is to measure your dry refractory mix and water into a ziplock plastic bag, mush it all together to combine ingredients, plop it down in the forge, flatten the top, and allow it to cure. Take off the bag and fire the brick. 

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oo I make lots of mistakes that's why I am so smart hahaha....... wont know unless you try every mistake is a lesson learned.

 

and now she is complete final side done she is about to go into her bag till thursday or friday. o and that's just the tube inserted to keep same shape on this end does not go to bottom that's the bottom with the vinyl on it.

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