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I just got a harsh reminder that whenever you want to use your propane forge; make sure your connections are tight! It started up and immediately made a fireball at the intake for the forge. If this happens cut the fuel immediately. (My dumbass immediately tried blowing on it for half a second) if ANY damage to your hose/joint have occurred then replace them or fix them before using the forge again. Any damage sustained will be a risk for future pain/death. Bottom line. Be diligent and be safe before you turn on the heat.

I have looked back at a lot of folks posting about dust collection- Ive read the threads going back to pre-2015... Im looking to build a system for my small shop- and wanted to get some opinions/input before I jumped in from those who have gone before me (you guys)... As there is nothing really solid recently in the forums I figured I would ask for some input. I will be putting this system on a surface grinder as well as my 2x72 using blast gates or a "Y" switch at the input. My decidedly LOW TECH method of controlling ambient dust has been working very well so far but I have a LOT of residual dust landing on everything (neodymium magnets in sandwich baggies hung around the rafters- they get fuzzy QUICK. Easy to clean though- just turn the baggie inside out, remove the magnet, dump the bag then put magnet back in the bag and re-hang) Watched Neils series and loved it- and recently came across Dan Comeau's spark arrestor idea here: DC KNIVES SPARK ARRESTOR This solution mechanically mimics industrial solutions for the same issue, and would appear to be very do-able for my level of abilities. So I wanted to get feedback on using a Fan Blowing across me towards the dust inlet, a Water trap at the grinder inlet, then a Spark Arrestor in-line, and a modified Dust Deputy/ canister filter setup on the end... really trying to aim for cooling the sparks before the canister. I found a setup similar to what I would like to construct- it has a Dust Deputy mounted to a modified Chinese-Freight dust collector. The user modified the system and added a larger diameter impeller (In this blog he purchased a Rikon impeller). The larger impeller upped his CFM and static pressure. The video of the system is at the bottom of the page, and below that is a "blow by blow" tutorial- Here is the link to the blog-post: GRAYHOUSE STUDIO HF DUST COLLECTOR MOD So- My questions are: 1- Is this overkill? I do not think so as I already use partial face masks and 3M cartridge filters- but need to get the dust under control if I gear up or hope to keep anything clean! 2- One way to "boost" the system efficiency is to have a fan blowing on me towards the dust collection port as well- Does this sound crazy? (In lab situations and vapor spaces I have been exposed to the workers are in-line with the airflow to keep a positive pressure vent circuit in place.) Any thoughts are appreciated- Ive been gone far too long from this fellowship. Be safe and well!

Alright lads, I've been doing all the research my little brain can handle, and I figured asking here would be a good idea. So, I've been trying to understand what I can about safety regarding working with very toasty chunks of metal, and something that's popped up here and there is the issue of IR radiation and pale skinned people. It seems that it would be prudent to shield ones face from the heat/radiation of a warm forge, but I'm not sure what would offer sufficient protection short of a full welding mask. I'm not looking to cook my face and if any of you know any good solutions to protect my full face and eyes while still having awareness, I'd love to hear. My idea right now is perhaps a thick leather mask (like used in blizzards or skiing) combined with some decent IR goggles. Does this sound like it would work?

I was out in the backyard shop waiting for my forge to get warmed up, when I started noticing my burner makeing a worrying noise here and there. It sounded like the burner was still pumping out gas and sucking in air, but the roaring sound of the flame would cut out every so often. I've used this burner for a long time and used the same model previously, and both had this in common. Is this something I should be worried about? Both burners are considerably rusty since they're only protected by a tarp that's seen better days, and I'm wondering if that's the cause of the problem. I kept imagining my tank and forge exploding in my face, so I shut down the forge before it was even preheated and haven't gone back out since. I just want to know if I'm dealing with a time bomb.

I collected the ten habits that I find the worst in the shop: https://makesg.wordpress.com/2015/07/30/workshop-safety-10-dangerous-habits/ What is your opinion?

I was given a spring form pan that would be good to use as a firepot, but I'm not sure if it's stainless or galvanized. The hinge shows signs of rust, but the pan itself is rust free. I put a magnet to it to see if there was a zinc layer that wouldn't attract it, but it stuck without any issue. However, I know this rule doesn't apply if the zinc layer isn't thick enough or if certain other galvanizing methods are used. I looked up the company name that's stamped on it (Rowoco), but they don't have this pan listed anywhere. Does anyone know a way to test this instead of just heating it up and watching for smoke?

Hi, I'm new on the forum but not necessarily new to blade making. I'm currently in the process of getting a forge set up in my shop. I am looking for a pretty quick and dirty build just to get going. I have been bouncing back and forth between which fuels to use as that will seriously impact my design and how easily the forge is set up. My main question is "What is the common opinion of little to no ventilation on forges, inside a sizable shop with air circulation?" I was assuming that a blown propane forge would be alright. But from recent searches I've been hearing that propane really needs to be ventilated. My next thought was charcoal, which I am very familiar with in a small forge. Would that cause many problems? Would some type of venting be needed? I know it burns clean, but clean enough to be open? Just wondering everyone's opinion on the matter, especially from the ones with a safety minded approach. (my shop also happens to be my place of employment, don't want to get the boss in trouble) I have another question, which may best be saved for another topic, but what design would someone recommend for a forge design capable of welding, heat treating, and shaping swords up to 40"? I work at Castille Armory, which is a sword maker on the U.S. west coast. Mostly stock removal on our blades. having the ability to forge would be a good asset to have for us.

Hello guys , I'm Emanuel. I'm a Brazilian and I'm very interested in knife making. I'm entering the journey of bladesmithing with my brother, we will build a little shop together. I have 3 books coming my way from Amazon (The Jim P book about the bladesmithing basics, the 50$ knife shop and The Backyard Blacksmithing) a few days and have been doing the reading on this forum for a week or two (i've a lot of free time right now, as I'm a response from a job interview). So I've read most of the basics from the beginners forum, but I still have some specific questions that I will ask in this post. First question (more of a tip asking): I've a right shoulder bursitis (it's like a permanent tendinitis), do you guys have any tips for hammering style so I don't hurt it more? As a doctor order, I've to do excercises and I think hammering would qualify as a pretty awesome one. Second Question: What would be safer for a forge in a house with kids? (Not that I will let kids play around the forge or any of the gear, but accidents happen and I want to minimize it as much as I can). Third question: I found many info about Venturi Burners and Blown Burners, but some of it was conflicting (specially about the psi involved). How much PSI is needed to run a Venture Burner? Do Venture really have a better temperature control? Can they get to welding temperetures? (I won't try my hand at welding at firt, but want to know that because I don't have enough space to build a dedicated forge to each task). And finally: Is this one a safe Venturi design http://www.rayrogers.com/venturi.htm ? Fourth Question: This is a picture of our usual kitchen gas canister, it has around 28lb 10oz of butane/propane mixture. Would it be a nice cannister or is it too small? With this cannister, will I generate enough psi to run a forge (my main interest is doing a venturi one)? In the space I've available to build my little shop, I'm thinking about putting it outside of the shop, dig a hole through the wall and put a hose to attach it on the burner (for safety reasons, if it blows up, it will be outside with a 8" concrete and brick wall between me and the cannister). Would it make it safer? Finally, my proposition: Could we try to create a pinned topic for steels and their equivalence on other steel name tables that aren't ALDO? I mean, for the most common steels used for bladesmithing (1095, 15n20, etc). We could post the steel and it's composition, and each of us find it on its country table. And after that, we create a unified table with the steels and their names on as many tables as possible. (I can try to explain better if needed ) Thanks for your time. Sorry for the long post and any english mistakes! If I find myself with more doubts, I will try to keep them all here Best regards, Emanuel Araújo