JohnK

Trying out my new forge. Why build it if ya not gonna use it eh?

Oil burner for my forge. It's been a rough several months getting free time and I finally got around to improving my designs.

Made myself a new air supply. 3 hair dryer fans powered by 12v@1.5amp. Shown at 3/4ish power. 

Starting to think I prefer making forges more than forging hahaha, also I can't seem to find steel cheap enough

Just now, JohnK said:

Gasoline only. Oil will increase temperature. Color maxes out at yellow(appropriate 2 minutes from cold using 3/4inch rebar). Preheated for 2 hours while wet. Hand tested after 5 hours.

Color correct after 60 seconds of in forge

My brain still hurts on how you guys make Damascus. I can get steel up to nearly white but it still won't stick to anything else or itself clean or fluxed

 New, more compact design. I'm getting closer to perfection. 

It can also be changed to work vertically with double exhaust. This setup was proof of concept. Was run less than 30 minutes using strictly gasoline and kerosene. Not yet oil tested. 

Worry not. Wont do it again. I was just taking a quick looksee. Normally when its flared up like in the pic its at its coolest. It was only a "do i need to adjust something?" Peek 

Consider my self lucky. Looking inside burns my eyes. Its hot. Hot hot. A glance revealed white inside. 

Fire drying a smelter. Considering ditching oil for charcoal to forge but definitely keeping for smelting. Hippocratic? Yes. But smelting is by far more important to me as forging is a hobby. Smelting billets would help me accomplish other things.

tomorrow ill post pictures of the dimensions of everything and a clearer view of the atmosphere inside the forge.

My oil forge will actually burn any fuel once up to heat. vegetable oil, waste engine oil. probably gear oil if thinned. easily anything else. i start mine on gasoline or kerosene depending on my mood and switch to waste engine veg oil once hot. cleanliness is a bit of a personal matter. it seems to always want to burn neutral or slightly decarb with no smoke or smell. however i recommend a small amount of black smoke, very small, to provide a safe forging atmosphere. overall im happy with it and its fairly easy to deal with.

Discovered an interesting clay mix for forge body by half accident today. Seems adding around 1% powered softwood charcoal gives it an interesting insulation boost. Quite high might i add. Ive had it running for approximately 3 hours now and the outside is still wet and lukewarm at best. The inside is yellow. Im taking a shot in the dark and assume the charcoal burned out leaving a porous clay shell. Originally added charcoal powder as a way to assist in drying without cracking when fireing instead of waiting days for the clay to do so on its own. Overall thickness is 3 1/2in all the way around 

Well ive recently got around to actually building a decent forge blower so nkw that i have the heat ill have to work on the neat. These past 6 months or so ive been working on my machining skills so i can actually build everything i need from scratch. Mostly so everything can be easily fixed on the spot instead of having to wait on parts. Ive built my own stick welder, fan and controls, tongs, ect. Next will definitely be a belt grinder and a small power hammer to deal with the tap tap tap of edge beveling and tang shaping. I have everything i need but free time hahahaha!

@Joshua States so somewhat blade worthy?  Hahahaha! I do everything by hand and while i have power hammer plans in mind i just havent had the time to build one. I think! that this is around 7/8ths or 1'. Pretty darn thick. Even with my forge running lean and piles of scale it retained an impressive amount of carbon for my hardening test. I kinda lazed on it all since i wasnt sure of the composition or exactly what it was. I know its oil field rod but its exact purpose is umm ehh meh? But i shall take the advice and well i definitely do need a new hammer. Love my maul and obsessed with my tinners hammer but i need a good in-between so heres my chance?

@Garry Keown Definitely rest up friend. @Joshua States i noticed it would probably be good for something other than a blade. It is, parond my french..... a total B word to forge. I had it at a very iridescent yellow and it refused to move much using my 5lb maul. Good/bad i have alot of it though. 4+ at home and probably more than 100+ft at my dads. Which is free and accessible. Is it blade worthy or should i do something in particular with it other than punches or tooling?

Honest opinion? Im not sure of the steel composition.  File test refused to dig in with a water quench. No cracks. Shattered like glass when struck with a hammer. Worth forging with? 

Testing an unknown(oil well clean out rod?) steel for hardenability

19 hours ago, Joshua States said:

What kind of oil are you running?

 

Blend of 50/40/10 used engine oil, used cooking oil, and gasoline(to thin it out for consistent flowing. It will run purely on oil but it has a tendency to not flow well since im using oxy/acetylene torch valves. It is fully outdoors with a fan blowing downwind :) gotta mind those fumes. I get both oils by the bucket for free so it's worth the effort

Addendum. The addition of this little "vent" has changed everything. 100% easier to start and now i can choose the atmosphere within the forge much more easily. 

Finally perfected my oil forge design. Gets blazingly hot. A quart of oil runs it at forging temp(not sure the precise temp) for nearly an hour. Only issue im having is that it keeps wanting to burn neutral or slightly reducing. Hmmmm