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Having some time at hand i decided to continue whit the " less air" pointers which worked out almost perfect. But i have some concerns on the ricasso area where the weld dint stick even after centralizing the heat/flux and trying for a second time. OK so this is my project, spingsteel, mild, edge of twisted tool damascus This worries me, should a couple of days in some vinegar be the best approach ?

I use propane the vast majority of the time because usually I'm only doing blades, but there have been some projects which I have wanted to do, making things for around the house like a new corner shelf for the upstairs bathroom and the like for which my propane forges are too restrictive in their size to do larger pieces of ironwork. I learned with coal and used to demonstrate with coal, but after I stopped demonstrating I sold my coal forge to another who was starting out. One of the problems with the old forge and most coal forges in general is they're big, heavy, and hard to move around. At the New England Blacksmith's spring meet this year, one of the projects was to build 6 new coal forges for the NEB trailer for setting up green-coal at the NEB meets. The new design NEB forge would be take-down, with interchangeable parts, and stack-able, and much lighter weight. The 6 forges would take the same space as the one prior forge, and all 6 combined would weigh about the same as the one they are replacing. NEB also has cast for the club their own fire-pot design which is much heavier duty than those commercially available elsewhere. I've owned an NEB firepot for some time but still had never got around to fabricating a forge, but with the new NEB design it fit my purposes perfectly. Since I use propane most of the time, I wanted any coal forge I had to be able to be put away without taking too much space. Bob Lavoie of Lavoie welding and fabrication had cut out all the parts for the NEB forges with his CNC plasma table and did the bends with his big press brake, and at the meet I asked him if, since he already had the design programed, I could buy a 'do it yourself' kit from him and build my own. The original NEB forge You can see the stacked forge tables in this image from the spring meet, and the un-finished hoods and legs, This was also a perfect chance for me to learn and practice welding. I helped out at the spring meet and got enough tips from real welders to go home and actually stick pieces together. While nothing to write home about, at least it looks sorta right. The sockets on the bottom are made to fit the legs without the need for bolts, by welding an angle iron to the inside of the gussets to make tall sockets., but I may in the future drill some holes and weld some nuts and add some T bolts to remove the little bit of wobbliness The firepot drops right in, although the clinker breaker handle gives it a bit of a hassle lifting straight up and down cleanly. The tuyre is fabricated, not cast. The hood goes on the short-side of the table, hanging out behind the back. A pair of tabs are welded to the sides to bolt through the top of the table to give stability. Most of the welding in this project is actually in the hood. After welding the top and back in, the support for a 10 inch stove pipe, made from a strip of steel bent in a circle, and the front draft scoop for the hood need to be welded on still, as well as the tabs for the hood and the bases of the feet. All complete! By the time I was done my welds were noticeably better than when I started, and I even got to the point where I could push the capacity of the welder itself. Unfortunately my welder is not very high powered, it's just a Lincoln 110v Mig designed for auto-work, and I did all this with a roll of flux-core rather than getting shielding gas. I did get to the point where i was tripping the 20a circuit breaker welding though and pushing the duty cycle of the machine. I kind of regret having not spent more on a 220v welder when I bought this one years ago, but it did the job fine, and this is the first time i've really had to use it beyond ugly 'gorilla welds' on the frame of a truck or car. As you can probably see, my shop is a jammed packed MESS with far too much equipment and far too little space, another reason why I need the coal forge to not take up much room when not in use. I have a Champion 400 pedestal blower for the coal forge, but i may also fix up an electric blower for compactness and portability, since the pedestal blower is kind of a pain to take places, the total loss oil system tends to leave a mess if you lay it down.

I'm having a problem getting my forge to welding heat. It's made from a 5 gallon paint can, has a 2 inch think layer of durablanket, several coats of satanite and 3 coats of Plistix 900f. I have 2 burners, but running both kills my propane tank in an hour or two, so I have to stick with one. I get to welding heat at about 15 psi. With the setup that I have, is there anything else that I can do to lower the psi needed to get to welding heat?

I've made a habit over the last two years to attempt a mild steel faggot weld every time I do some work. My literature gives an example of this as a way to building up material for a ball end of a doorlatch. (And yes, the example is with mild, not wrought) And if you could forge a ball from it, it should have to be a rather good weld. But I've never managed more than sticking it together so that when I put it in the vice and bend, it pops open showing the matte and clean surfaces I've tried a range of temperatures, all the way up to burning the corners. I've tried a range of mild steel origins of different dimensions. I've tried sand and glass flux, but even when mixed with borax I haven't been able to find a sand or glass that flows, it's rather like cold syrup. I've tried from scaly with lots of flux rinsing, and I've tried from laboriously clean ground surfaces coated with wax and borax before heating. I've tried Coal, Coke, Charcoal and Gas. No luck. My own hearth material -which is made from mild steel scrap- welds beautifully and strongly. But it sparks higher and higher every time I fold it, I'm beginning to suspect I've been carburizing it since I have a tendency to be more cautious of air blast than most (because I use mainly charcoal), and that this carburization is making it easier to weld. This winter I got hold of a Wrought wagon axle, and this wonderful experience is what has lead me to think that there is something awfully wrong with the mild steel I've been working with. Also, the wrought and my hearth recycled material welds beautifully to the steels I use, UHB-15, UHB-20 and 1095. If I weld a three-layered billet and go to work the edge, it feels like solid material. The mild does not. That is, it welds, but there's always some point I have to go over a few more times, and working edgewise is seldom safe until I've drawn out the billet quite a bit, at least not at anything less than high-orange to yellow heat. Also I tried welding 15n20 to mild, and that didn't take very well at all. Could all this trouble be down to Copper in the presumably recycled mild steel, or is there some measures I could take to improve?

I've been inspired by the current KITH and am wanting to join it. I just wanna make sure I can do something like a hawk before I join. Anyway, so here's my problem. I'm making a tomahawk in the same style as one posted a little while ago, (it was one of the firebeard guys I'm pretty sure) and I've done everything, including wrapping it around the rod, and placing the ends together. file://localhost/Users/neetjeapple/Pictures/Photo%20Booth%20Library/Pictures/Photo%20on%205-28-13%20at%208.34%20PM.jpg Then I tried welding. I got the steel (5160) yellow-hot, and tried pounding it together, AKA I tried to weld it together. They do not join. I realize it's probably a variety of problems, so I just want a little list on the things I could be doing wrong. P.S., I am using Borax for flux.