Forge build...

mckutzy

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Been a long time to getting one built...
Havent been able to fully get one on the go as of late... but the last while Ive been really itching to do so.. So I did...

BY the Nine, Atom and
The all mighty Hephaestus....
:thumbsup:

IT WILL FORGE.....
You kinda have to think of it in the Doug Marcaida voice...

So I got a few things off of the Amazon, Finalized on a design from a few out there, and I cobbled together a "Frosty" T-style burner out of plumbing bits. 30# regulator, a 1-1/4" x 1-1/4" x 3/4" T fitting, Ball valve, Mig tips, A couple of other piping bits... IT goes pretty good..

A couple of boxes of fire brick splits and some bed rail, made up the forge body itself.
I just had to notch the top brick to allow the inlet of the burner...
Still trying to dial it in... Changed the mig tip to a .023 from a .035... But also have a ..030 to try later.
In the pics, its just burning off some of the paint on the bed rail, so it looks smokey... Its a fairly good burn, But im still tweaking it...

I started on a bottoming inlet chisel, for my Golok matchete sheath, and a set of tongs for general stuff, and another in the works for rail spikes...

For the chisel, the steel came from a roller bed from the old saw we had scrapped, at my old work. The rods were the shafts in the tube rollers. 1/2"
Im not too sure of what it is, but it is higher carbon steel, They show the right grind sparks and will harden... I had already made a chisel for slag/spatter chipping at my old shop. It seemed to hold up well...
I roughed out the blank and Im about to do the grinding before final hardening...
 

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Flyinhillbilly

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Way to go man, I’ve built a lot of things that I didn’t really have the right parts or resources to build, but I did it anyway and tweaked the design until it worked right.
It don’t matter where you start, just as long as you start.
 

mckutzy

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Thanks FHB....
Ya Been waiting a few decades for this one... Really perked up my mood this weekend.. The weather, season, new job, vehicle crash as of late.. all been a bunch of emotions up and down going on...
Feels good to accomplish something I wanted for a change...
 

mckutzy

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Hehehe...
Probably not on the killing side.. but it might more likely cut than anything else..
There's a few sharp bits I have to touch with grinder..
 

itsid

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So don't stand still .. so it doesn't mistake you for a tatami mat then ;)
(much less half a dead pig :eek:)

Anyhow.. I was toying with the idea of getting a melting oven alright
(don't have the space at all so yeah.. not going to happen)
but a forge?
I mean making a knife surely sounds like fun
(unless it's that squeaking girl from season two ...jeez she nearly popped my eardrums)
but is that something you make use off in your everyday life?

Or is it just another tool you want to mess with and getting a power hammer is actually on your list?

just wondering ;)

'sid
 

mckutzy

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A tatami mat.. Heheh I like that, thats a good one..

I dont have alot of space... Id like to go bigger... but then Id have to cart it into the house all the time...and give up space there... This is about a little smaller than an average microwave oven... I take off the top "T" section and hose. It stashes easily..

It interesting you mention a furnace 'Sid, If I turn it on is back side... itll be a furnace smelter with a right crucible or pot.... The closed door on the side can be buttressed with a couple of more bricks to add insulation.. Also if I need it I have some Kaowool ceramic blanket (but I might experiment in a new forge later) to contain the heat...

The only problem I might look more into is.. get a bigger 30# cylinder as the gas "head" on it is much greater than the 20# before it freezes.....Kinda what happened to me towards the end of this last session.

Id like to make more forged stuff, both for in the home and for others like on the bike and stuff like that.

Ahh yes... any blackmsmith worth his salt would say a BIG yes to wanting a power hammer....
A Anyang 55 LB HS/ 25 KG Power Hammer, albeit they make a smaller one(a 33lb).....and a really big one, 2000kg hammer weight... (Need something like a 4' deep base to sit on, or it will burry itself back to China..)
Now thats going all out. I wouldnt mind a tyre or tredal hammer, but really a place of my own to do so would be better

Friction forging? No, I havent of such thing...
Friction welding yes... an example I know of personally is,( I used to work in turbocharger building) the turbine head of a turbocharger, is friction welded to the shaft. Way too expensive to make one piece of Inconel, and chromoly would melt in the heat.
 

mckutzy

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So I got some more progress on the set of tongs...
I had kinda messed up on the flattened length of the shoulder area, so after when I was looking about on how I could correct it... I saw a pair of tong that kinda were modeled after Iron age or maybe african styled tongs....
Anyway, it was a doable design, and it help out with the messed up fullered area.
I made a jig with 2 rods welded to angle iron. it was supposed to help bend a good 90* but it wasnt hot enough im guessing so it produced a long bend instead...
I went with it and corrected the bend to suit. Set a mark for a hole on both.
After I drill and rivet, I can correct the alignment and fit, aswel as cut the jaws to the same length.

After the look and rough out was set, I styled an offset on the reins, a hand stop... Kinda like Ironworker pliers. Gives it a positive feel.
Next Ill drill and rivet.

It is kinda difficult to get good sharp bends on my anvil, as there isnt any good right angle surfaces on it.....Its really old and pretty beat up...Its a cast steel anvil, that is hardened, but the skin is only so deep and sharp blows to the corners a wreck it... Thus it has been done. Especially the heel... it has none(so no hardy and pritchel hole....Someone broke it off long ago....
But it rings true and I got it when I was a kid.... One of the happiest days of my life...

I also like working low on the floor, sitting. Having my little roller mechanics chair I use while working on the bikes, make this easier.... I haven't had a proper forge setup before, but I have liked this style of whats common in Asia and Africa... Its pretty comfortable and works well for our little carport.
My vice is a big 6 Record from England on a truck brake drum stand...
 

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Kartorbust

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Have you thought about getting a forklift 33# propane bottle? Probably can find them used and in good condition for cheap (brand new runs about $289 CAD).

Can't wait to see your future projects with this thing.
 

mckutzy

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I have thought about that, But im not too sure how that valve/siphon works with the liquid to gas cylinders....I know they are different...
I see however there are adapters for them(lift truck to regular cylinder) to DOT type fitting as what is on my regulator for my burner...
None the less Ill look into that... Thanks...
 

mckutzy

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Got gas.....

I went an got a refill.. $15 for a full fill up.. :wai::wai:

So ive been getting edgy In the last couple of days.. I i got out and did some forging....
I finished off the tongs I Made last. Trimmed and tweeked the jaws/reins. Riveted with a cut off bolt... workes like how I imagined..

I wanted a "simple" project to do, after watching a bunch of vids.. I decided to build a bottle Opener.....
I found some flat stock from some old tongs I tried making back in the day, the jaws failed and broke... but I kept onto them for this long...

I Cut off a palm sized bit of about 4.5". Drilled a 1/2" hole(Now I dont have any drifts or a hot punch yet, plus I just wanted to get on with the build, and wsnt really knowing how long this was going to take...) and set the forge to heat....
It didnt take that long.. I worked out the hole on the horn till it was a bit bigger, but it wast that big enough for the tip... So I found an old crappy chipping hammer.. used that as a drift to open it up a bunch... Worked pretty good...

I dont have a base for the anvil so I can use the whole surface for what I need... So I tipped it onto the back and used the base eyes on the bottom as a pritchel hole to back against with the drift...that worked pretty good... Also there is a step on the one sideface to the body from the horn....It made a good step to offset the ring of the capper from the main body where you hold....
I made a rudimentary punch to form the lifter ridge, out of some MS stock like what I used for the tongs...Not hardened... it didnt need to be...Ground a dome on the one end.

I Then decided to make a skull face, Ive seen a number of times seem easy enough... All kinda off the fly....
I needed a punch of sorts to tap the eyes, so used the lifter ridge punch, to form eye sockets... then finished off with a cold chisel for the jaw, teeth and nose bridge...
I kept the chisel cooled as to not anneal that...

I flattened out and tapped off the sharp edges and final formed the ring, as it got a bit mishapen from handling..Checked fit with a bottle and cap...

Brushed off, then cooled...
Did some more brushing after, to inspect how it went....

Over all...Im pretty darn impressed.... A definite good first try ill say...


Im thinking this will be a present to my good buddy down the way...
He'll really like this thing for sure...
 

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mckutzy

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I'd have to make a punch for that..
I'll be making tools for my self first..
But thanks.. it is cool..
My buddy sure liked it..
 

mckutzy

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Vitrified....

We have meltdown....sorta...Could have though..

Well after the last session, it was later in the evening and I didnt fully take a look to see, albeit when in use It didnt seem to be any different...well
These bricks kinda suck... They cracked and melted...
Ill take a better pic of the floor of the forge later to show, but the replacement brick on top, did the exact same thing. (I re uploaded the pic)

I read up on these things.. and albeit it say in other places it could handle it.. they arent meant for high heat applications... Just for wood stove relining.... so wood fires only.
Had I used a forced induction burner... it would have mostlikely burned to the ground.. A Kinda cool but frightening thought though....

So New bricks on the way....this time apparently they are real firebricks by the descriptions...
 

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Kartorbust

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So what's the cost difference between these ones and the better ones you are getting? I'm assuming close to twice the cost being pessimistic.
 

mckutzy

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I'm not exactly sure how to describe it, But the good bricks are fired at hight temperatures, and the appearance is a homogeneous mass like you would see with a typical red brick..
The bricks I have are more like a sintered "cement" block look...

As for what it costs.. about the same..
This ad is new.. so I didn't see it when I ordered the last bunch..

I'm also going to talk to a local guy who apparently has a bunch.. but we'll see how that goes
 

mckutzy

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Well I got some new bricks.. Its the real stuff this time...
Hard dense firebrick...
I should have recognized it before... Oh well..
Its a Christmas present...

Ill do a breakdown later of the swap out and check out if the other are bad......
Im pretty stoked this....

Here you can see a definite difference...
 

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mckutzy

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I reshod the hearth stones on the bottom of the forge...
No melty here now...
The new bricks I got were nice just like they should be...

Here's what it looked like before....
 

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