Help with a brick or two forge

[squigly1965]

Well the Bricks came in today. And here is what I built.

I left about 1" of brick for insulation. the internal dimensions are roughly a 7" cylinder with a 2.5" diameter.

Giving me if my math is right about 138 cu. in. With the front and back also domed it's a bit less anyway.

here are some picks. I was using MAPP gas.

Here she is. Thats an old screwdriver I found. Someone had already ground the tip up. So no loss.


Got a little Dragon Breath going


Not a very good pic and the metal wasn't actually that bright . But it was a nice bright red


Looking good so far as I can tell. The only issue I had was the the Valves freezing. after a bit it started surging then petering out then surging and so on. Anybody got any ideas how to fix that problem.

well i'm pretty stoked about this turning out so well. Thanks for everyones help especially you Ray.

[Ray Rogers]

I didn't look at your pictures due to my extremely slow internet connection but according to your stated dimensions your volume is about 34 cubic inches. The freezing valve and surging pressure is due to the rapid expansion of the propane as it leaves the small bottle. This is the basic reason why we must use the larger tanks for forges - to keep them from freezing up. You can work around this for now by putting the bottle in a tub of warm water when you use it. Now that you know it basically works you can think about getting an adapter to fit a larger tank.

To get a little more heat from your forge try blocking off the back door with another brick. The more heat you can keep inside the hotter it will be ....

[squigly1965]

thought my math seem a little off but I was excited.

yea I used pi times the Diameter squared not the Radius

mine doesn't have a back door. Should it?

the metal got pretty brite red but I forgot about the magnet I'll check that out today.

[Ray Rogers]

Since I haven't seen the pictures I assumed that the 2.5" hole goes all the way through the brick which would mean it has a hole on both ends. If the steel is short enough to fit inside with the back of the brick closed off then you'll get a little more heat. If the hole doesn't go all the way through then just ignore this comment ....

[Tracy]

You can get a hose that adapts a 20lb. propane tank to the small fitting on the small bottles. Try looking in camp stove accessories-- I got mine for the Coleman stove I use for boiling peanuts.

[squigly1965]

Yea I'm looking to get a hose and 20 lb bottle but gonna have to wait a little bit. about a week or two

Still waiting for my steel to show up. I checked the tracking number today and it says the package is in Hawaii. Well I live in California. The package was shipped from Pennsylvania. That's kinda an odd route if you ask me.

Once i get that I'll be forging away. Need to get some more steel though for sure. I imagine I'll be making plenty of the mistakes. Anyone got suggestions on a good steel to work in this thing. I think Ray suggested some 1080. I'll try to get some of that.
This may be a bit ambitious but i would like to try to get Proficient enough to make a decent quality knife by April.

[Tracy]

If you have not beaten hot metal before, while you are waiting You can practice and get your arm in shape with some rebar, auto springs, or even some mild steel from the HW store. Also you may want to hammer out some samples (of carbon steel) to blade thickness and practice heat treating. I got anxious early on and ruined a nice one with a lot of time in it due to my lack of experience with quenching.

Good Luck.

I wish I was in Hawaii.......

[squigly1965]

well i started working a 7" piece of O1 today. it's coming out decently. but i noticed my heat is staying in the back of the forge. only like the last 3-4" are getting hot. Thinking of popping a hole in the back to get the metal in deeper

another issue is it's not getting real hot. it cherry's up. But thats about it not orange. is this normal? does O1 have a higher working temp? I'm gonna look it up after i post this. so i may find an answer
I was using propane. MAPP may help some. I'll try that tomorrow. Have to hit the HW store.



I definitely need to round my hammer's peen out. too sharp very little metal movement. I used my ball peen a little and achieved way more movement. and it's a lighter hammer....LOL



any thoughts or tips are appreciated

and thanks for everyones help here

[Ray Rogers]

You can try popping a hole in the back of the forge but, chances are, you'll just be letting the heat out rather than heating more steel. After all, a 1-brick is a tiny forge and generally useful only on very small blades. MAPP gas should help but if you're still using that 1/2" O1 you're really working with a thicker piece of metal than most of us would want to try in a 1-brick. A piece of 1080 or 1065 flat bar should be much easier to work than round O1.

There is a list of 'similar threads', something new Alex has added apparently, at the end of this thread. You might look through those and see what you can learn there ...

[squigly1965]

alrighty
thanks RAy

BTW who is alex

i did a search for users named Alex and it didn't show. Is there a particular subject i should search for.