Building a forge.....?

man stu i wondered how come you just didn`t get a rosebud tip for your oxy-act torch? whenever i need to bend steel that`s what i use....or do you intend to actually forge some tools? as in beating them out on an anvil? maybe some of the brighter than i am folks will clue me in as to why heating up metal with a torch is different than using a forge? tod
 
Hey Tod, how you doing this AM?

Me, I'm at this point..... :coffee: :rolleyes:

Well the reason I don't use the oxy-act torch is the small dinky little bottles, with hose, torch and cutting torch, START at $1500 ......... yeah, like EXPENSIVE!!! :eek:

With the Forge, I'll get a better heating for stuff like the lathe curved bowl rest, I should be able to bend really thick stuff with it hot, and yes, I plan on making some tools, some sharp stuff for fun :headbang:

Cheers!
 
Stu,

Saw the pics over on IFI, that is heating nicely now and that last pic showed the metal at good heat. Be careful on the small parts and stuff around the forge, like the air door which was doing meltdown, but other than that, it looks like it's working fine.
 
Forging Issues

A couple of things I have seen in this exchange related to metalworking: One is heat treating using a gas forge. You are probably better off using your wife's oven. Most tool steels need to be heated in the area of about 400 degrees F for a period of time and then cooled to another temp then quenced in some liquid. The trick here is that tool steels vary a lot by the carbon content which is what makes it different from mild steel. Some tool steels are water quenched. Some air hardening, and some require oil or special chemical solutions. Be sure to get the properties of the steel you are going to use. You can draw a temper in tool steel or spring steel but again it is a temperature based process. You heat to say a red heat, quench the thin area quickly, and then polish the edge surface. The heat from the larger section of the piece is "drawn" into the thin section. As this happens you watch the color change on the polished area until it is the desired color (different tools need different temper qualities) and then fully quench the tool.
As for forging, I use coal. Gas forges are expensive to run unless you can't use coal. A coal forge also has a lot more heat possible and much more latituce to apply heat where needed. For spot heat (like bending a tool handle on your drawknife) I might use oxy/acetelene. In your small gas forge, wait till last to make the bend after the knife section is completed and grind to finish.
 
Forging Issues

One other thing I noticed in reading your posts: Be careful of Kaewool. It can be nasty stuff for your bod. There are a couple of good books out there on building gas forges. I have a burner i made at a workshop where we made 15 I think in mass production. They take a lot of gas for any serious heating, and higher than normal gas pressures. Several guys have built gas forges by arranging common firebricks. Maybe temporary but again lots of heat is necessary for forging and gas cannot usually get a piece hot enough for forge welding. The good news is that gas does not get hot enought to create a lot of scaling. OK I'll give it a rest.
 
Forging Issues

Yes, and please try to encourage folks like that to participate, they have a tremendous amount of info to share with folks, and there is no reason for them to have any complex about using the net.
I see some cool papers he has on there, titled Ed Groves Blacksmith Techniques. Is that some type of periodical or publication? That looks cool, reminds me of Alex Weygers drawings.

Ed Grove is a retired forester who has been blacksmithing for nearly all of his working life. He is a bit over 80 this year and still works daily in his blacksmith shop. He also shoes horses, but fewer and more selective each year. Ed lives in Maine. He is a joy to spend time with. You never leave without more wisdom.
 
Uh...Travis,

Don't leave us hanging.... What happened to the old shop and equipment/forge?

Oh I never meant to keep you guys and gals hanging...I forget that others do not know the long standing traditions of the old fishermen. They hold onto to stuff forever...neither selling it or using it.

This old shop looks the same today as it did when I saw it two years ago, which was no different when they woodworker/ blacksmith/ boat builder built his boat in the 1950's. My ex-father-in-law will keep that shop in that very state for as long as he owns it. Its just the way he is, and the way a lot of old fishermen are.
 
Sneaking in the time to put some more up here.....

new_1_inch_burner.jpg
OK, my new 1" burner, I drilled a 5mm hole through a piece of ready rod, and tapped it to 6mm threads, to fit the MIG tip, I shaped the MIG tip to more of a point. When I fired it up, I was able to adjust the position of the tip. I ended up with it further back than I thought I would but at this point it seems the best spot for the the best burn.

206_start.jpg
Started it up

207_one_min.jpg
The one minute mark

208_two_min.jpg
The two minute mark

reg_0_02_MPa.jpg
to this point the pressure was at 0.02 MPa, which is just below 3 PSI (I think).

212_6_min.jpg
at the 5 minute mark I cranked the pressure up to 0.04 MPa, or about 5.6 PSI, things REALLY heated up then!!!!

air_door_glowing.jpg
I closed the little air door on the charcoal brazier, and the paint burnt off in a puff of smoke..........and the door was glowing red!!

air_door_peeling_paint.jpg
I opened the door and let the forge blast away!

hot_stuff.jpg
Looks a touch hotter than the last time I tried this! :thumb:

................cont.............
 
........this has worked well,the $10 investment in the charcoal brazier was worth it, but I don't think it will last too long..........

outside_cracks1.jpg
You can see the cracks that are developing...

outside_cracks2.jpg

outside_cracks3.jpg

inside_cracks.jpg
On the inside it is even worse.

I found some of the white insulated fire bricks, so I think I buy some and make a square forge with a metal skin, out of those, that sould work well and last a fairly long time.

Cheers!:D
 
Owen, thanks for the input.

In my basement, the Dugeon, so coal is out. No Oxy Act torch, see my reply to Tod.

A good gas forge will work as good or better than a coal one, or so I've been told and I've read, plus a well tuned gas forge will not burn up metal, and makes less scale on the metal.

Another advantage about a gas forge is that you can really control the heat (once it is turned and you use it a while) the time you spend on tending the fire in a coal forge can be used to work at smithing instead.

Just some other points of view.

Cheers! :)
 
stu, my friend who owns a machine shop bought a small gas fired forge? i guess it`s a forge....he puts a crucible with his aluminum scraps in it and pours his own castings..kinda cool to see but moving around a quart of molten metal even if it`s only aluminum scares me:eek: , levis and redwings are no match for hot metal......i`ve made him some patterns to use with his sand.....the shrink rulers patternmakers use are greek to me, thank god the few patterns i`ve made where just simple forms to save material prior to machining......a whole `nuther art in itself....tod
 
Tod, I'm mainly looking at a way to heat metal to work it, and I might get into a few sharp things at some point.

Casting is really a hot stuff thing, I did a lot of that in HS, was fun, but we had the right gear.

Cheers!
 
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