Simple Rod Oven

[Guest]

Here's a chord chart. It eliminates the need for a compass or trammels to lay out polygons. It is very accurate...taken from Machinery's Handbook. The label says 'spaces' but it means sides or chords.

Enjoy, and be safe out there...thought I'd say that, since ROCK isn't around right now.

[Dman033189]

I was wondering how the rod oven is working for you? I am thinking about making one myself.

[Farmer]

Longer Lasting Bulb

I have an old bar fridge that i use to store my electrodes and mig wire. Had a problem with the bulbs burning in about a months time. I now have 2 - 40 watt rough service bulbs wired in parallel . The bulbs only light up half as bright but last forever. The box will heat up to 110 to 130 degrees in a 60 degree shop.

[MIDWEST]

Silly question, but what is the Hot Box used for?

[stever]

Isn't Kaowool and Inswool, ceramic wools, easily inhaled and dangerous? The small fibers are easy to become airborne and small enough to enter the lungs. Most ceramic wools are used with breathing protection and are sealed when used in a gas forge. ITC 100, Satanite, or something comparable is usually painted on the exposed surface of the wool to seal it. The sealer reflects heat back into the gas forge to increase and hold the heat, but it also seals the small particles and hopefully stops the inhalation. Simply touching or moving ceramic wool puts particles in the air. I've only hit the top layer of the safety concerns and I'm not qualified to say all of this is fact or not. I am repeating the warnings from people at Anvilfire and Keenjunk. Both of these blacksmith related forums talk frequently about this hazard. Until proven wrong I suggest caution.

I have a forge with the Kaowool. I took every precaution when building the forge by wearing long sleeved shirt, gloves, and breathing filter, the same as when installing the pink fiber glass insulation. Problem is this stuff is more hazardous than the pink stuff, as I understand it.