One Brick Forge

To all of those that helped me get started in creating knives, Well it seems i may have good news. One of my major hurdles has been space to work on my MANY hobbies. we have been a family of 5 living in a 1000sf home with no yard to speak of. Well we are looking at a house that is over twice the size on 2 acres. I will have room for a workshop and there are no restrictions no HOA, so it looks like if i get this that i will be one more step closer to living my dream.
thanks again for all the help and support.

 

Well the bank approved the offer. now for the rest of signing my life away.
Going to have to pack soon.
I will be here off and on but will be back.

Looks like we should be getting it. I will post pictures when i get a chance.

 

Nice! Gonna build a shop?

 

Mage2,
Congrats on the new home. have fun with the move LOL

 

Valk,
Heck yes im going to have a shop, and animals, and garden.
I will be able to do my projects without rebuilding my work area everytime i need to do something different.

So expect questions on raising animals, and veggies soon.

Sorry about hijacking the thread though

 

Valkman:
A question. I don't make knives, though I've often dreamed about trying (chicken, I guess). I do collect them, though, sticking to knives that I find useful (like yours would be, though I mostly prefer locking folders, since I carry one all the time, and use it daily), but I have never heard of a "slipjoint" knife (I presume that's what it is, since that's the topic). Can you enlighten me? Thanks

 

Just to bring up a old thread.
I got a bit of time to hammer on some steel last night.
The house is going well, the garden is now on an automated drop watering system. We have about a dozen chickens and 2 dogs , 2 cats and a handfull of fish.
We are thinking about adding goats.

I got the anvil attached to a oak tree stump, and put it on a bunch of 4x4s to make it a little taller. Thanks to the Vman and Bear , and a few other firends I have alot of steel to play with and now time is my only real problem.
The forge area is currently in my garage, thats a huge mess due to me and my lady finally getting hitched and the garage is where all the extra clutter and "stuff" ended up. But it really was nice to get some hammer time in.

Thanks again to all of you for your help and good wishes.

 

an easy way to make your forge any size you want
use perlite beads, coat them with just enuff portland to make them stick together and pour
pour the mix into your form you made and let it harden a couple days
i like my old T axle forge, i can work anything from a small knife to a carriage axle in it
and its portable

 

Interesting post. Good photographs and I am still laughing at your dry humor re the dogs.

 

Great brick forge idea!

 

Thanks for the comments... wow this is an oldie thread...
Here's what I use now... a little more high tech...

http://www.youtube.com/user/JDHforge/videos

 

Simply amazing! Thanks.

 

Thanks ghrit,

Its a computer unit rated at 15 kw with a pump unit below to run coolant through the coils.
Runs off a 220 50amp circuit and uses way less electricity than propane cost wise.
So it is cheaper and it is much faster and much safer in my humble opinion... no stored propane, flames or hot forges to cool down and worry about setting the whole shop on fire.... Just can't get near it if you have a pacemaker :0)
It's old technology really... used as far back at the 40's or 50's and today a common use you may have seen is in stove tops... people are amazed but its been around in industrial use for many many years and the technology is quite safe and idiot proof... so its good for an old bear like me :0)
Doesn't have the width of a full forge... so large grates or architectural items are out... but it does everything I ask of it :0)
I can post more pics if you would like to see the set up closer...

 

Yup... first time I powered her up and put a piece of steel in the coil... I was grinning from ear to ear and couldn't stop :0)
Way way way better than a propane forge for my use anyway... don't get me wrong... I still love the flame out of a well tuned burner and the sound of the forge... but this just makes more sense for me... plug it in and its ready to go... no waiting for the forge to heat up... and no waiting for the steel to heat up either :0)

 

I'll go dig up the manual and share the specs...
Tubing is common 1/4 soft copper you can find at the hardware store and the fittings are all flare fittings...
So yes I make all my own coils to meet my needs and experiment a bit as well...
I have a friend up in Washington state who sent me a graphite crucible that he machines himself... he also has the same unit and I helped him get up and started with his induction forge... anyway... you put the graphite crucible in the coil and voila.... he melts glass, sand and certain rocks.... haven't tried it myself... but this unit is very "cool" :0).... there is also a wand with a flexible shaft so that you can take the coil to the piece you want to heat...
Grant Sarver with Off Center Forge in Washington State was the dealer distributer for these... he was also a well know blacksmith and resource in the blacksmithing world... unfortunately Grant passed away recently... I miss him dearly... he was quite a character and spent alot of time helping me to get mine set up... wiring 220 is not something I normally like to do myself... but Grant assured me that the unit has so many redundancies built into it for safety reasons that even if I had wired it wrong... it would not have hurt the unit or me :0)
Thanks for the questions... ask away... I like sharing what I can...