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We have run the forge another 3 or 4 times, and all continues well. No neighbors have complained yet, and most people walking by have shown a distressing lack of curiosity. Oh well. Their loss.
We now have an anvil stand! Made out of a 2x12 with plywood and some 2x4 for sides. Almost as solid as the more traditional stump, and a lot easier to move around. I plan to forge some simple racks so I can hang the hammers and tongs on the side.
We got a bunch of free stock in the form of a section of 50 year old deck railing. It's great stuff -- 6 feet of 1 inch bar, easily twice that of 1/2 inch bar. Unfortunately it's all coated in a layer of primer which is very likely lead and/or cadmium based. So we won't be able to use it until I've been able to get it safely sandblasted.
I tried moving the burner farther out today and it helped a lot. Before the burner nozzle had been getting hot enough to glow, and was degrading quickly. Today it wasn't glowing after a few hours of use, but I still couldn't get up to a welding heat. I haven't tried running it beyond 20psi, so there is still hope I won't have to build a fancier burner.
Oh, and check it out: my first blacksmithing injury! Yes, I managed to brand myself. I'm now officially part of the 'solid oval' herd.
We now have an anvil stand! Made out of a 2x12 with plywood and some 2x4 for sides. Almost as solid as the more traditional stump, and a lot easier to move around. I plan to forge some simple racks so I can hang the hammers and tongs on the side.
We got a bunch of free stock in the form of a section of 50 year old deck railing. It's great stuff -- 6 feet of 1 inch bar, easily twice that of 1/2 inch bar. Unfortunately it's all coated in a layer of primer which is very likely lead and/or cadmium based. So we won't be able to use it until I've been able to get it safely sandblasted.
I tried moving the burner farther out today and it helped a lot. Before the burner nozzle had been getting hot enough to glow, and was degrading quickly. Today it wasn't glowing after a few hours of use, but I still couldn't get up to a welding heat. I haven't tried running it beyond 20psi, so there is still hope I won't have to build a fancier burner.
Oh, and check it out: my first blacksmithing injury! Yes, I managed to brand myself. I'm now officially part of the 'solid oval' herd.
