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[Ray Rogers]

Michael,

You should check out Robert's rocking chairs, I'm sure you'll love them. Being able to afford them is another matter as they are definitely in demand after some television and magazine exposure put them into true collector's territory.

Robert,

Yes, still in the same spot, nine years now. Still have the bears and there have been rumors of Griz coming over here from Idaho but haven't seen one yet. Wolves, though, seen one but mostly just hear them. When they're around the coyotes just shut up and try not to be noticed.

Still have the press, love it. Got my steel in yesterday so will be forging soon, Made a castable liner for my forge, anxious to see how that works. Now I have one layer of wool and 1" of castable instead of two wool layers. Should be interesting .....

[michael_schaap]

Well. It looks like the person who is buying some stuff of mine might actually come through tomorrow. Well.... I'll believe it when I see the $$$ to start getting stuff.

One question about the forge. Some people use the Insboard for the 'floor' and some just coat the Fiber insulation with Mortar. Which would be better to do here?

Michael

[Ray Rogers]

Neither Insboard nor coated wool will hold up as a forge floor for very long if any welding flux is used. If the forge will be used for welding then the floor must be made from fire brick or castable refractory cement. If the forge is for heat treating or blade forging only then Insboard or coated wool is OK but having a fire brick for a floor will still hold up much better.....

[Crex]

What Ray said. Floors take a beating. I was fortunate enough to score some ceramic insulator plates that are just right - thin but tough as nails, with cast in ridges so that heat can pass beneath the steel resting in the forge.
Which ever way you go, cover/coat the wool. Every time you fire it up the fibers fly out into the air. Bad for you and everyone else nearby!

[michael_schaap]

Well it's time. I sold a few dollars of stuff today so I'm starting the forge project. One question I have is the torch. This is what I currently have: http://www.tool-rank.com/hand-tools/...7-20090202376/

I used it for the one brick forge. Is this going to work or do I need to make up something like Ray's got with forced air?

Michael

[Ray Rogers]

That'll probably work....

[michael_schaap]

Originally Posted by Ray Rogers

That'll probably work....

Worked pretty good with the one brick but this is going to be a bit bigger. Your design is pretty simple if I gotta go there at any rate. Come to think of it, why do you need forced air in the mini forge you got? Is it just because it's larger?

Michael

[michael_schaap]

One thing I was going to do is get some high temp paint and give it a nice paint job before putting the foam and mortar down.

[huntforlife]

That torch will work. Thats the one I use.

[Ray Rogers]

I didn't need forced air in my little forge, in fact, I didn't even need the forge at all. Someone gave me that battery powered blower and I thought it would be interesting to build a small, portable, forced air forge just to see how well it might work and to illustrate to you guys how simple building a forge can be ...

[huntforlife]

Mine wont be blown once its rebuilt. The torch does just fine for what I do. I reduced my chamber to 3.5"X3" high. Fitted it with end caps for stove pipe and cut out the small window in the front. Once the humidity breaks, I will coat it in satanite.

[michael_schaap]

Anyone know of a picture somewhere here that shows you how thin you want a knife before you heat treat it?

I finished profiling and am going to start grinding down the knife but it occurred to me I don't know how thin to make it.....


Michael

[Ray Rogers]

Most guys leave the edge about the thickness of a dime. Any thinner than that and you risk getting a wavy edge due to warping .....