Hickory Wind Forge Posted December 18, 2024 Posted December 18, 2024 Hello all, first post on IFI. My name is Matt, I'm a farrier who also runs a welding/fabrication shop on the family farm (along with baling about 10,000 square bales a year.) Horses have been my lifelong love - hence the horseshoeing career - but blacksmithing has always been a close 2nd - by the time I was 10, my birthday gifts were things like Hershel House's Basic Blacksmithing series. However, between shoeing and welding, I have never been able to give actual forging the time I would like to. My goal for this winter is to change that, and bring my forging skills up closer to where I would like them to be. Last winter I started planning for this - I dedicated a corner of the shop specifically to forging, bought a nice 150lb Trenton, and built a propane forge and burner with info gleaned from IFI. So, you guys and gals have already helped me advance without knowing it. Thank you! I have always been a go-it-solo guy, but finally decided to join IFI because of the priceless amount of info and help available here. I hope to continue learning, and hopefully contribute something along the way. Matt Ross. Quote
JHCC Posted December 18, 2024 Posted December 18, 2024 Hello, Matt, and welcome to IFI! I know Cambridge well (my wife and I got married at the monastery east of town), and I'm in the Albany area semi-regularly on business. Maybe we can meet up next time. Cheers, JHCC Quote
Hickory Wind Forge Posted December 18, 2024 Author Posted December 18, 2024 Thanks JHCC, always happy to have a farrier or smith stop at my shop Matt. Quote
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted December 19, 2024 Posted December 19, 2024 Welcome from the Ozark mountains Matt. You were fortunate to be able take some classes by Hershel House. It's sad that Hershal passed away on January, 10 2024 may he rest in peace. He was a true National treasure in the blacksmithing, gunsmith's and knifesmith's communities. He was truly a master craftsman. If you have read some on the forum you have probably seen where we love pictures. So if you take any be sure to post them. I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sail’s.~ Semper Paratus Quote
Hickory Wind Forge Posted December 19, 2024 Author Posted December 19, 2024 Thanks IronDragon. Sadly, I never made it to Hershel's classes in person, but I do have a good library of his videos. Pictures? Gladly! Here's the forge I built last winter. I can honestly say it works far better than any commercial forge I've run. Loving this forum already! Matt. Quote
swedefiddle Posted December 19, 2024 Posted December 19, 2024 Good Morning Matt, Just in case you are ever making a shadow on the continent of Vancouver Island, Vancouver Island Blacksmiths Association has a Blacksmith Shop that is ALWAYS welcoming. Drop us a warning sign and we will have everything loaded (both barrels, LOL). 15 minutes from downtown Victoria. Salmon fishing from the Breakwater or dragging a hook behind a boat or canoe (LOL). Similar to trolling for trout, except with heavier gear. 1 hr 45 minute Ferry from Port Angeles, Wash. The Forge almost looks like a burner could come in from the bottom. It looks good from the outside!! Neil Quote
Frosty Posted December 19, 2024 Posted December 19, 2024 Welcome aboard Matt, glad to have you. Nice looking forge, definitely the product of a fab shop. How about some of the specifics and a couple pics of it running. Say one from the side against a dark background so we can get a look at the dragon's breath and a couple more in the doorways, one before it heats up so we can see the flame and another HOT? Farriers almost always make the transition to general blacksmithing pretty quickly. Frosty The Lucky. Quote
Hickory Wind Forge Posted December 19, 2024 Author Posted December 19, 2024 Thanks Neil, Vancouver BA sounds like a lot of fun. Thanks for the invite. Frosty - my forge has interior usable dimensions of 12" long, 8.5" wide at floor and 5.5" tall. Burner is 3/4" built from Mike Power's Burner book, except that I substituted a couple of his 1" designs for ease of assembly. The burner entry port was built large enough to allow a 1" burner with minimum alterations if needed. Pass-through openings are 3.5"x5". Insulation was 2 layers of 1" 2,600 degree kaowool, rigidized and covered with 2 layers of Greenpatch and HTC kiln-wash. Floor is 1" of wool, hard bricks on top, then coated and washed. From a cold start, it will bring 1" square rod to cherry red in 2.5 minutes. I love the low amount of scale that I get compared to my farrier forges. Here's the dragon's breath cold at 10psi. Here it is, both doors open before lighting. Then the burner flame, 10psi cold. And HOT 10 minutes later. Quote
Frosty Posted December 19, 2024 Posted December 19, 2024 Thanks for the details and pics. Looks like a good build. The only thing I don't care for is the flame traps the deep acute angles walls and floor make. You'll get much better and more even heat if they're filled and rounded. The brick in the floor is pretty unnecessary if you use a more modern refractory. The flame looks good from here. All in all a pretty nice build and HOT forge. Frosty The Lucky. Quote
Hickory Wind Forge Posted December 20, 2024 Author Posted December 20, 2024 Thanks Frosty. Good critique, when the refractory gives I plan to redo the floor, probably by pouring Kastolite 30. Until then I'm enjoying it anyway! Matt. Quote
Frosty Posted December 20, 2024 Posted December 20, 2024 I'm not familiar with HTC kiln wash. Is it a 3.000f high alumina, hard firing product? Greenpatch is an old product that's grandfathered into the old timer's (besties list). It's old tech, Kastolite 30 is reasonably current and at this time the current choice. The other thing about Greenpatch being it's not high alumina unless you buy one of the spendier ones specified as high alumina and I don't believe they make any bubble refractories. If you do any forge welding you'll be using flux and borax at forge welding temps is extremely caustic and WILL dissolve silicate refractories like hot water on a sugar cube. If you can kiln wash the interior well enough with a high alumina product like. . . DANG I can't recall the name of the kiln wash I've been recommending for years now. Stupid tree! Dang, it's been a couple hours and I still can't think of the name. Oh well, I expect someone here does and will chime in. Frosty The Lucky. Quote
BillyBones Posted December 20, 2024 Posted December 20, 2024 I am no expert on gassers, but shouldnt the ends of the kaowool be sealed up as well? And it looks like the flame is going between the layers in that one pic, that is not supposed to happen is it? Quote
Frosty Posted December 20, 2024 Posted December 20, 2024 Yes they should Billy. The bright line between kaowool plies is the inner layer being at orange heat and the outer layer below glowing. The space between always appears brighter, I'd make up a reason for that but I'm too tired to B.S. the forum. Frosty The Lucky. Quote
Hickory Wind Forge Posted December 20, 2024 Author Posted December 20, 2024 Frosty - whoops. Had to go check my notes. I said HTC when I meant ITC-100. However, turns out I used Plistex for the kiln wash. Matt. Quote
Frosty Posted December 20, 2024 Posted December 20, 2024 ITC-100 has improved greatly since the last time I bought a can. What I got was thoroughly disappointing. The newer product is back to being a high end kiln wash containing a decent % of zirconia silicate which is awesome stuff. Plistex - 900 is the current popular choice for kiln wash and is a high quality product that does what we need in a forge. Plus it's considerably less expensive than ITC products. They make a LOT. Do you play puns? I have since before I can remember and dearly LOVE a good straight line, even if I'm the punch line. I gotta tell you I'm a little surprised nobody has picked up, "Frosty Whoops," and run with it. Frosty The Lucky. Quote
Hickory Wind Forge Posted December 20, 2024 Author Posted December 20, 2024 I do play a pun when the stars line up and I think quick enough. Some of my favorite books are the Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian. Lots of puns and mangled maxims in those. Quote
Frosty Posted December 20, 2024 Posted December 20, 2024 I'm not familiar with the authors, I'm more a hard sci fi, or lay science type reader. We'll find other ways to have fun within the site rules. Frosty The Lucky. Quote
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