My First Forge

[DoubleG]

So Covid got me watching too many episodes of forged in fire and of course with idle time on my hands, I had to go and build a forge and grab a hammer! 
 

let me know how I did! Questions, comments and advice all appreciated and welcome! 

[ThomasPowers]

Location?

[Frazer]

It will heat. *Doug Marcaida voice*

It looks good from here, I'm sure you will make adjustments as you go. For example, cutting out the front of the BBQ so you can lay your stock in flat.

Safety note!!! That ceramic fiber insulation can be extremely damaging to your lungs. Laying it on top of your heat source and blowing air across it can put those fibers into the air making it much more likely for you to be breathing that stuff in. 

I used to do the same thing, but stopped after reading about the potential dangers.

See Below.

 

Also, take a moment to read the information in the READ THIS FIRST tab located at the top of every page (that is what TP is alluding to when he asks your location).

[DoubleG]

Thanks Frazer for all the advice! I’ll get rid of that blanket and get some fire brick up there. Also updated the profile for Thomas!

[ThomasPowers]

I used to live out your way; out by the Castleton Mall; got a lot of coral  and brachiopod fossils when they put the beltway in between the mall location and our house.

[Frazer]

Good thinking. I totally understand why you did it. That stuff does a great job keeping the heat in, aka what it a deigned to do haha, which in turn makes your material heat up faster. They do make insulating firebricks, but I don't know how well those work for this application. Better than hard firebricks, but not as convenient as the flexible, light blanket.

Oh well, lung cancer i pretty inconvenient too,  to put it lightly... so I'll take that trade any day.

*edit*

Of course eventually you wont need anything up there at all. With a good fire going you'll have heat to spare!

Edited December 9, 2020 by Frazer
minor additions

[wirerabbit]

Harbor Freight in the house! I got the itch too and bought every 2 lb and 3lb hammer HF offered. I ground them to my liking and away I've gone.

Whatever it takes to hammer on some hot metal. Looks like you are on your way.

Show us what you're making.

Edited December 9, 2020 by wirerabbit
spelling edit

[DoubleG]

Made my first knife contour the other day! Was a lot of fun! Although I see the need for a good pair of tongs now. Pliars ain’t gonna cut it! 

[Frazer]

Nice! What was your starting material?

RE: Gripping devices, vice grips work for some things while starting out, flat jaw tongs have their limitations, but here's a good blueprint for some quick and easy tongs.

Here is another easy and versatile pair you can try out.

 

[pnut]

Those ez tongs look a little weird but they really do work. I haven't tried making knife tongs out of them but I'm sure you could shape the bits to fit the tang pretty easily. 

Pnut

[DoubleG]

Thanks for the tip Pnut! Frazer I’ve no idea what material it is just some flat bar stock I grabbed at Lowe’s. Most of the material I find at Lowe’s or Harbor freight I’ve no idea what it is, haven’t learned to read the labeling or understand different steels yet. I’ll get there!! Haha! 

[Frazer]

Probably just A36 then, which is a named for its mechanical properties rather than it's chemical composition. Falls under the general umbrella of mild steels. 

I recommend stopping by your local steel supply next time you make a material run, Lowes prices for steel-stuffs are crazy high in comparison. As an example, a 4' length of 1/4" round at lowes costs (sightly) more than a 20' stick at the steel supply. At least the one by me. 

20' seems like a lot, but you'll go through it. Plus you can get pretty much any size you want. Depending on your local place, you can sometimes find high carbon steels more suitable for knives or tools. Of course sourcing some leaf/coil springs can be a cheaper alternative, the only hard part there is working with an unknown alloy. Since it sounds like you're interested in making knives, those springs will be a better practice material for you than mild, Plus you can do some experimentation with heat treatment and such.

Just about every dealership, auto body/collision shop etc will have a scrap bin full of potentially useful material. One of them near me lets me go though it anytime I ask and take whatever I find. Not all shops will let you do that, but some will.

[JHCC]

Make them some nice bottle openers from readily identifiable parts as a Thank-You, and they will love you forever.

[DoubleG]

Bottle openers! Now that’s a great item to start with! I’ll give it a whack today! Haha!

Frazer as always, you got good info mate! I didn’t even think about sourcing out junk material for practice. I’ll see what I can find around me. I also need to check out the local steel supply. I went to Lowe’s just cause it was convenient and I was itching to tink tink on something. I’m sure local steel supply is the way to go, they’ll educate me on materials and also cut to length just about anything for me I’d imagine.  

[Daswulf]

Or a box of doughnuts might get you an in. The bottle opener should seal the deal. 

If you go for coil spring avoid the ones on the strut. They are not worth the potential dangers of disassembly. Unless the guys are really nice and remove it for you. Easier to just go for the loose springs. 

Another place to ask at are metal fabricator shops. They often have drops and leftover stock that they might sell you for a fair price. 

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

Don't over look machine shops. Many times they scrap steel that gets rusty, easier for them to do that than clean it up. I explained that I was a hobby blacksmith and offered to pay them the scrap price of what was in the dumpster and the manager said just take what you want.

I got 6 1/4 in round, 6 3/8 in round 20 foot long pieces and about 50 pounds of short 1/2 in square stock all about 12 in long. They all still had the end marking paint on them.

[DoubleG]

Score IronDragon! That’s Awesome! 

[DoubleG]

Frazer you must be a fortune teller. As today on my list was exactly what you said I would do. Minus the new firebrick gonna source that tomorrow. Just for fun I played with the new welder and welded 3 pieces of billet together and tried to forge weld them together. Probably need to get some flux in the future. First gotta find where I can find it! 

[George N. M.]

GG: You can usually find 20 Mule Team borax at a hardware store or supermarket.  I found it at a local hardware store.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand." 

[Frazer]

Ha, I am certainly not a fortune teller... Wait.... hold on.. I'm getting something.. *my best fortune teller voice* You are having fun while squishing hot steeeel.. My tarot cards say that at some point you will be frustrated when your welds don't stick.... 

Borax is all I use for flux, cheap and easy to find.

Just for kicks, this is my favorite post about forge welding successfully  (you will probably have to scroll down a bit to read it).

 

[DoubleG]

George and Frazer thanks for the advice! Turns out I have a 5lb box of Borax sitting next to the forge, just didn’t know I could use that! Live and learn! Also I’m reading there’s quite the methodology for forge welding, lower heat flux, soak, secure welds with lighter hammer strikes, higher heat, forge weld with harder hammer strikes. I love it can’t wait to give we a go! Yes squishing hot metal is fun! 

[Frazer]

Some of that depends on what you're doing, with a scarf "drop the tongs" weld, I'll bring both pieces up to pretty close to a welding heat, flux, then bring up to a full welding heat and make the weld. However with Damascus, I'll flux lightly at a lower temperature to avoid the formation of scale while heating up, flux again when close to welding heat and then weld. Mostly because once the scale forms between the layers of flat stock it is harder to flush it out than it is between two scarfed surfaces. 

Everyone finds what works best for them over time. Every once in a while that thing changes in light of new information or on acquisition of a new toy, err, I mean tool.

Out of curiosity, what kind of anvil do you have? Improvised or otherwise.

[DoubleG]

Totally improvised, borrowing it from a buddy. It’s railroad track with a large piece of half or one inch bar stock welded on top. It’s working for now for “playing” but it’s #1 on my list to replace when I find a deal. I don’t have $800 for an anvil. I have $200....lol! 

[Steve Sells]

you really need to stop using the ceramic blanket NOW before you ruin your lungs, you said you understood yet it is still in your photos

[Frazer]

Nothing wrong with improvised! I've seen RR track anvils with all sorts of interesting modifications that can make it quite a handy little anvil/multitool. You do have it stood up on end, yes? 

As far as a "real" anvil, they can be quite pricey.. But squirrel away little bit here and there to save up, keep an eye out, get the word out, one will pop up, then jump on it. TPAAAT applies (do a site search for that one haha). No rush though, while they're pretty and sometimes stimulate salivary secretions, an anvil is just a big chunk of steel. 

I would actually consider the need of a post vise ahead of the need of a "real" anvil.