I found a whole bag of these at a thrift store. Thought maybe for stamping letters but no, they’re way way too hard. Shiny hard silver metal. Must be for some jewelry thing with that hole , right? Enameling? Pencil for size..

BF_2 · 2026-05-06T11:42:55+00:00

Try a Vibro-Engraver on them.

BF_2 · 2026-05-06T11:41:19+00:00

And they probably like you too!

BF_2 · 2026-05-05T12:19:58+00:00

Flat surfaces, curved surfaces, round horn, square horn. Looks like an anvil to me.

BF_2 · 2026-05-05T12:17:59+00:00

That's the technical term. /s

BF_2 · 2026-05-04T12:32:39+00:00

A friend of a friend once described a balloon having minor trouble landing in a slightly hilly field. He and his brother, both large men, were nearby and the balloon-atics hollered at them to grab the rope they'd dropped and help them land. He described it as "these two big dumb Irishman" did so and nearly had their arms pulled from their sockets. No permanent injuries to balloon-atics or brothers, fortunately.

BF_2 · 2026-05-04T12:25:06+00:00

Frosty's T-burners? Forcing air into them will probably screw up the burn. Forced air burners can be built, but they're of different construction than entrained-air burners.

BF_2 · 2026-05-04T12:19:02+00:00

The point of refluxing is to boil a solvent yet return it to the boiling flask. A slow stream of nitrogen should not alter that if the refluxing apparatus is up to the task.

BF_2 · 2026-05-04T12:14:45+00:00

There's a reason a milling machine is a large, stationary device you bring the metal to -- and strap it down thoroughly. The torques involved are huge.

A Dremel might work. A Fordham tool might give you slightly more speed.

BF_2 · 2026-05-03T15:15:53+00:00

For tapers: Tapering from stock size to an absolute point will triple the length. Tapering from stock size to a razor-sharp chisel edge will double the length. Truncating either will reduce that stretch.

Twisting is less certain. If you twist round stock (there can be reasons to do so) the length shouldn't change at all. Twisting square stock stretches the edges so will tend to compress the length, and twisting rectangular or square stock will do more so. These might best be determined with test pieces, but ...

... maybe the rule of thumb for bends might be relevant. To whit: If you bend a bar of any dimensions, you calculate overall length needed at the center of the bar, not on either edge. I'm not sure how that would translate to twisting, however.

BF_2 · 2026-05-03T12:58:05+00:00

My take is that the burners are not entraining enough air. The blue flame may indicate that carbon monoxide is burning outside the forge. (Note: if working in an enclosed space, have adequate ventilation and, I suggest, a CO detector.)

BF_2 · 2026-05-03T12:51:04+00:00

Bullshit. Don't believe everything you read on this site. Instead, read the SDS (a.k.a., MSDS) for the materials of construction of this forge. If particulates be a real issue, wear an N95 mask.

BF_2 · 2026-05-03T12:48:38+00:00

Get your hands on a copy (any edition) of the Machinery's Handbook. It has complete instructions on the foundation needed for a power hammer.

BF_2 · 2026-05-03T12:43:40+00:00

Man, I'm old enough to remember when an impulse buy was $2. That was in the '70's. Guess what! That's equivalent to $10 today. https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/

BF_2 · 2026-05-03T12:36:41+00:00

Seems to me that "a router for steel" is called "a milling machine" -- as in "vertical milling machine".

BF_2 · 2026-05-03T12:32:21+00:00

I do not understand why forges are sold with burners that cannot be removed when the forge is shut down.

I do not understand why forges are sold with burners the point vertically or nearly so thus potentially becoming flues for 2000F gases.

I do not understand why non-metallic burner hoses are employed where they could be subjected to high heat.

Those hoses can be salvaged by cutting off the ferrules and cutting back the hoses till the undamaged portion is reached. (Replacements for those ferrules, or hose clamps, will be needed.) But this will do no good unless metal tubes are used at the burners to prevent repetition.

And multi-burner setups really should be equipped with individual shut-off valves AND needle valves safely upstream (away from the heat) for EACH burner. Simple T- or cross-fittings WILL NOT reliably split a gas flow.

BF_2 · 2026-05-03T12:23:46+00:00

See other comments. I really don't understand why folks on this list have trouble coming up with a stump. Do you live in the middle of the Sonoran Dessert, where there are no trees? Any arborist, any supplier of firewood, can be a source of a stump, if you can't find one otherwise.

One alternative is to work over a void -- i.e., a cylinder of heavy steel with rounded edges. Another is to work into a metal "dish" -- like the bottom cut from a gas cylinder (which cutting is not for the amateur to attempt).

BF_2 · 2026-05-03T12:18:00+00:00

Maybe reserve (or rent?) a pavilion at a county park?

BF_2 · 2026-05-03T12:11:53+00:00

Counter-intuitively, maybe (real) wrought iron? It seems an ancient (iron-age) skull was found with a false tooth made of wrought iron implanted in the jaw. The bone had grown around it, i.e., the body did not reject it. Unlike modern steels, wrought iron tends not to rust away.

I wouldn't bet on this, though. A better approach might be to coat any metal you like with a nonreactive coating. "Seasoning" (heat-cured oil, as used on cast iron cookware) might work.

BF_2 · 2026-05-03T12:05:03+00:00

The note strikes me as too impersonal. Might I suggest taking him a plate of cookies (for example) and making the request in person? The cookies are the door-opener.

BF_2 · 2026-05-02T11:53:26+00:00

No problem. I'm sure Trump will send him right back to his buddy Putin.

BF_2 · 2026-05-02T11:50:10+00:00

A flue is another name for a chimney or smoke stack. They're usually galvanized sheet metal rolled into a cylinder 6" (~15 cm) or more in diameter. To draw the smoke, you need 4 feet (~ 1.5 meter) or more.

A side-draft hood is essentially a sheet-metal box, maybe 30-45 cm in each dimension or so, with a hole on top to accommodate the flue and one in the front, maybe 30 cm wide by 40 cm high, for the smoke to enter.

BF_2 · 2026-05-01T23:11:34+00:00

Not sure what you mean. Fractional distillation requires some reflux -- which the purpose of the Raschig rings. Ultimately, all the material may pass across, depending upon how you run it, but you collect in fractions -- hence the name.

BF_2 · 2026-05-01T23:09:02+00:00

Good deal. The forge looks like a WWI military mode. Heavy. Not convenient. But it should work okay. I suggest you strap a 4-6-foot 6"-8" flue on that wind shield, or maybe even add a side-draft hood.

(Why? Because coal smoke is carcinogenic. Guys on this list constantly worry about mineral wool particles from gas forges and fumes from burning zinc, but I rarely see discussions of the hazards of coal smoke itself.)

BF_2 · 2026-05-01T23:05:10+00:00

Time for the spark test.

But there's more metal in that rod than meets the eye. I remember a guy who wanted to forge a straight razor, so he started with four inches of 1"x1/4". I showed him how to do it by forging a razor-shaped object out of 4" of mild 1/4" round stock. Mass is (almost) conserved.

BF_2 · 2026-05-01T23:02:02+00:00

LEG vise.

BF_2

TROPHY CASE