Vertical Forge & Billet Question

[schwatk]

I am just starting to try my hand at forge welding Damascus/Pattern Welded billets. I have one of Darren Ellis's 8" vertical forges on the way. One question I have from my reading of books and forums concerns the billet while it is in the forge. Many people apparently weld a rebar handle to it. And this suspends the billet in the vertical forge. While others like Dr. Jim Hrisoulas wire the billet together and just set it in their horizontal forge without a handle. If I wanted to wire my billet together instead of welding on a handle how could I suspend the billet in my vertical forge?

I'm sure this will be the first of many questions I will be posting in the future.

Thanks for any and all help!

Joe

[Ray Rogers]

You'd need some kind of support in the forge...some steel bars or something for the billet to sit on. Ellis' forge may have something in it for that purpose, most guys put something in for the work to sit on. Whatever is used, it will probably have to be replaced periodically since steel bars would burn away or sag after a while. Or, you could make your billet long enough that it could sit on the s##es of the foge ins##e the doors.

This type of situation is why I never bothered to build a vertical .......

[Woodchuck Forge]

I posted a response on your other post irt this subject.