Back in business

[Doug Lester]

I just got inside from spending about an hour and a half on the forge and anvil. I was having trouble relocating the parts that I needed to get my gas forge up and running so I built myself another charcoal forge last week. It's build in an alluminum 2 1/2 gallon bucket with a single 1" black pipe for the air supply. It's lined with about a 2" thick layer of refractory made from clay kitty litter, pearlite, with a hand fulll or two of grass clippings. The air supply is provided by a foot powered bellows pump, though I do have an air blower that I can put on it if I want. Using the foot pump is sort of like learning to dance on one leg but it did get the steel hot quickly to a bright orange. That might not be enough for 52100 but the 9260 worked just fine.

It seems like ages since I last pushed hot steel around. Started a camp knife of a Hudson Bay Trade Knife pattern. I've got the point roughed out to just about the way I want it. Very pleased with myself in finding that the way that I thought that I would need to form the point was right. I upset the point then drew it out on the spine side makiing a high ridge at the point. When I started forging the edge it all seemed to come together on it's own. I was hoping to have enough knives made so that I could enter the Mt. Vernon show but I don't think that that is going to happen. Hopefully I can put together enough saleble knives that I can enter a show in the spring now that I'm a man of leasure (unemployed and living off a pension ).

Doug Lester

[Ed Tipton]

Doug, that sounds like an interesting forge. Never heard of using grass clippings in a forge, but whatever works. Doug I sent you a private message, so if you're not in the habit of checking them you might take a look.

[Doug Lester]

The grass clippings gives some "fiber" to kind of bind the clay together.

Doug Lester