Category: Metal
The Fruits of My Knowledge
February 1st, 2010I have an apprentice in metalworking. A young man that likes the idea of being able to make things out of steel, aluminum and brass. For a long time we've talked about metalwork and he's helped me with blacksmithing projects. He always talked about getti… more »
The Great Experiment: Update 6
November 6th, 2009I've been putting off making this update. Thing have gone. . . mediocre. There were some rough months there and things aren't perfect yet but they've picked up as far as income is concerned.
The bad thing is that I haven't been able to get business go… more »
The Great Experiment: Update 5
June 25th, 2009My experiment is running, but not quite in the direction I was thinking or hoping. I've had equipment problems that have prevented me from doing the kind of work that I was looking at. On top of that, I had a casting near failure and a total failure but… more »
Blacksmithing
April 19th, 2009I've been picking back up on my blacksmithing. I made something resembling a spoon (it's a little too flat) and a big ugly knife. I couldn't get the spoon to form a cup on the cone of my anvil so it's now a shoe horn and a back scratcher.
I'm particul… more »
Fire!
March 23rd, 2009Last week I got to fire up the furnace that I made. I just melted some aluminum scrap into ingots but it was still fun. Most people start with melting aluminum, believe it or not, this was the first time I had ever tried it. It was very easy compared to… more »
Making a new Metal Melting Furnace and a small Forge.
March 3rd, 2009My old furnace is getting a bit worn from being exposed to the elements all the time (it's too big to move indoors easily). I will be fixing it up but I wanted to try a different form factor first. In addition, I wanted to make something with a smaller i… more »
A great example of what backyard casting can do
February 22nd, 2009[video:youtube:H4pQyf6NdjM]
This is a great video of what can be done with EPS and sand casting. Great stuff! I'm pretty sure that most people think that this kind of thing is not possible to do. Now I just need a CNC machine for foam. . . I'm glad I've… more »
Experimenting With Fuels
September 14th, 2008I was thinking of how cement foundries use tires to generate heat to make clinker. The same heat could be used to form metal if the fuel could be balanced with the air that is coming in. You may think "Tires? They're dirty and smokey to burn!" but plenty… more »
My Forge Burner
September 9th, 2008This is my forge burner. I recently bench tested it to figure out if it was running rich, lean or neutral. Unfortunately the sun made the flame not stand out.
I found that by blocking a little bit of the air coming into the burner I got a more neutral… more »
Confused about my forge
September 8th, 2008In answer to some questions from readers, yes that's me and yes it's blurry on purpose.
I've been reading the Forums at backyardmetalcasting.com and abymc.com and trying to figure out why I've been getting marginal performance from my forge. I though… more »
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