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The Newbies Arena Are you new to knife making? Here is all the help you will need.

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  #1  
Old 04-09-2013, 12:10 PM
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Naboyle Naboyle is offline
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Hot handles?!?

So I found a bounce house blower on a yard sale group on Facebook. Picked it up and hooked it up. It works awesome! Now I've seen where people have a fan or something blowing infront of their forge opening to keep it cool. Could I run a small line off my blower and have it blow across my opening? The handles I weld onto my cable or billet get very hot. They are a few feet long but I think the heat blowing out of my forge is what's making them almost to hot to hold onto. Would this help/work/ or am I doing something wrong? To much air? HELP!!!
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Old 04-09-2013, 02:01 PM
Doug Lester Doug Lester is offline
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Most people have a fan blowing in front of their forges for ventilation as that they can really put out carbon monoxide.

I run into the same problem holding a piece of stock that is getting a little on the short side. It's just going to happen as you work with the blade. You could pour water over the rod you're using as a handle or just turn it around with tongs and dip the handle into your slack tub.

I guess it's possible that you are running the forge too hot but I would have to see it in operation. A gate valve on the line can be used to cut back the air flow.
IMG_0148.JPG
The gate valve is the brass fixture with the red handle on it just below where the gas enteres the burner assembly.

Doug


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Last edited by Doug Lester; 04-09-2013 at 02:11 PM.
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Old 04-09-2013, 02:08 PM
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Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
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I have a second blower that blows across the front door of my forge to act as an air curtain. You can put your face at the door to look inside without having it burned completely off and it keeps the work area a little cooler. This could be done by running a separate line from your blower if your blower has enough capacity. It could be worth a try with that big blower of yours.

I used to have that same problem with hot handles. Finally, I got smart and switched to using tongs since they don't have to stay in the heat. You'll need several pairs so that they can be shaped to fit your knife or billet as it changes shape but they work much better than welded handles IMO. Besides, too often my welded handles got hot and sagged or came loose.....


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Old 04-09-2013, 04:23 PM
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Naboyle Naboyle is offline
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Doug, I have a inch and a half quarter turn ball valve I use to control my air flow. Would a gate valve be better? It's usually only about a third of the way open when I'm runnin it. If I bump it open a lil more and add a lil more fuel it gets white hot inside. You can't look in it without dark glasses on or you'll wake up tomorrow with a bad case of flash burn!
Ray that's kinda what I was picturing, an air curtain. At my old job they had air curtains on the doors to keep the bugs out in the summer. I have a couple pairs of crude "tongs" if that's what you wanna call them. For the life of me I can't make a decent pair. Maybe practice makes perfect?
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Old 04-09-2013, 08:34 PM
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ckluftinger ckluftinger is offline
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Naboyle, check out centaurforge.com for what's called "box tongs". They make them in various width and thickness configurations for a variety of dimensional bar stock. They work well for me. I have the same problem with the heat billowing out. It was partially because of my forge running at too high pressure (20lbs). That's what the guy at the gas shop told me to run it at. I now run at about 5lbs and get much less heat blowing out the front door. I use my shop vac (in reverse) to blow air into my forge. It gets just hot enough to do small forge welding jobs.


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Last edited by ckluftinger; 04-09-2013 at 08:38 PM.
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Old 04-09-2013, 09:20 PM
Doug Lester Doug Lester is offline
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Yes, a gate valve will give you much finer air adjustment. With a needle valve on the gas line you can really play with the fuel adjustment to get the heat that you want.

Doug


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Old 04-10-2013, 06:39 AM
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Naboyle Naboyle is offline
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Thanks guys. I think I'm gonna order some tongs this week. I saw on polar bear forge's website that he has pre cut tongs. You can make the jaws into any dimension that suits you. Plus they are a pretty good price.

Doug, I have a needle valve on my gas line. Guess I'll do some shopping around at work for a gate valve.
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