For me, projects proceed in fits and spurts – you clear one obstacle and that reveals the next obstacle. But when it’s a creative project the process is a bit different: you clear the obstacles and suddenly, you’ve got what you wanted and there’s clear roadway ahead. Now it’s all up to you.
I have two different modes in which I engage with projects; one is obstacle-oriented and the other is a sort of directed trial-and-error that’s kind of like sloppy science. There’s a distinct feeling of shifting gears when I switch modes. It’s because I am no longer constrained by my lack of ${whatever} I am now free to explore.
I felt terrible for the poor propane tech, because he had prepared a connector/regulator pipe based on the thickness of the wall (measured by another tech) and I drilled the wall at an angle. Thus the pipe was 2″ short and we had a choice of either: run and make another pipe or run and drill another hole. He drilled. He said a bunch of nice things about “the customer is always right” which, as a technical person, I understand as “you screwed up, stand back, I fix.”
We test fired it and – not surprisingly – it works just fine. There’s not much to a forge except for a mechanism for delivering propane, depressurizing it, and mixing it with air.
Welding temperature is around 2300f/1260c so it was getting close to the ballpark. That was running at 7PSI of pressure; I think I needed to crack the valve a bit more and just be patient.
995c
I immediately realized there are changes I need to make to my set-up – I have the forge positioned between the pressure regulator at the wall. So, to turn the gas off, you have to walk right past the mouth of the beast. That’s not too awful but I realized there’s a nightmarish scenario where one of the forge stand’s legs fail or one of the burners pops out and starts waving around like one of the flamethrowers from ALIEN – and I’d have to get past it to reach the cut-off. I’m going to be moving everything down a few feet to remedy that, and may build a steel baffle that protects the room from both sides of the forge. One nice thing about having a welder (if not welding skills) is that you can make something like that pretty easily. Bzzt!
As the engineer from the propane company was leaving, I discovered a neat thing about the design of the forge – we had shut the gas off and it was cooling down, so I thought I’d re-light it and turned the ball valve on the burner instead of slowly raising the pressure at the regulator… boom! The poor engineer came back in a hurry and I admired his professionalism because he must have already marked the locations of the fire extinguishers and was carrying one when he ran back into the room. That was when I came to appreciate the design of the forge: having the controls on the sides of the unit means you are not standing in the path of the fire-ring it blows across the room. Do not do that.
Also: thermal mass. It takes a long time for an object to cool from 2000 degrees to room temperature; do not annoy or touch it in that time! I have set up a little squirt bottle full of water that I can ping on things to make sure they are friendly before I try to pick them up – bubbles == “hell no”, steam == “no”.
Suddenly I am no longer “waiting for ${whatever}” and the path is clear ahead of me to make my own experiments. Where do I begin? I think I’ll try welding some cable, and I have a knife handle project I want to finish up, too. There is no need to rush, now. Which means I need to let it sink in that propane-powered anything is a bomb and this is as dangerous as a bag full of chainsaws; if I’m not feeling meticulous and careful, I should stay home instead.
Drilling another hole? After all that work? Well, I’d be thrilled to see someone else do it, I suppose. But I’d still be upset about not using the one I’d done.
Congrats on getting the dragon fired up. Looks nice and hot! Sounds like good safety measures to implement.
Yeah, now you are set to go! It will be fascinating to see what you make. I’ll just make some popcorn, if anyone wants any…
A small libation to Hephaestus, Vulcan, Agni or Volund probably wouldn’t go amiss at this stage either. It’s only prudent.
cartomancer@#2:
(Slaps forehead)
I will take some wine over tomorrow! I have some incense I made, too.
Thank you!
From your previous post:
Well, hey. There’s a good project. Turn ’em into swords. Or even plowshares.
siwuloki@#4:
Well, hey. There’s a good project. Turn ’em into swords. Or even plowshares.
I’ve been thinking about that. Guns are coated with all kinds of weird things (chrome-moly barrel linings, plasma jetted finishes, hot-dipped chrome, etc) I’m actually not sure what kind of weird materials would be outgassing from it – and then there’s the question of getting a mass of gun-chunks to welding temperature and what that temperature is – remember, guns are designed to withstand heat.
‘shurap’ on youtube makes a couple blades out of an old mosin-nagant, and some kind of high-tech cannon barrel. It can be done. But he is very skilled at the forge-welding and I am not.
Ooh, crap, yes, I’d forgotten about bluing compounds and other such coatings. Best to be careful. I look forward to seeing ${whatever}. Happy days!
It looks great. I’m looking forwards to seeing what pretty sharp things you’ll make.
He drilled. He said a bunch of nice things about “the customer is always right” which, as a technical person, I understand as “you screwed up, stand back, I fix.”
When I do graphic design, I get to fix other people’s mistakes on a regular basis. Normally, I don’t even inform my clients that there was a problem, I just fix it and don’t talk about it. People don’t like being told that they messed up something. Nor do they like hearing that the designer or photographer or artist they paid to messed up something. I inform my clients about problems only when fixing it takes so much of my time that I feel like charging extra. When I work as a graphic designer, I work independently, so I’m lucky that most of the time I don’t have to work with other designers’ files. For people who work in printing houses it’s much worse. They get to fix other’s mistakes all the time. And that job really sucks. If you fail to spot a mistake, it’s your fault. And mistakes are extremely costly when it comes to printing. If you print thousands of copies of a newspaper and there’s some mistake in them, that’s a lot of lost money.
Marcus:
Yes, please yes. Explosions are fun to watch, but not if you’re in one. ;)
“Ka-BOOM” is not something you want to hear in a forge. I am glad you are unscathed and I am looking forward to what you make.
Have you ever worked in a lab? One filled with inexperienced but all too clever and enthusiastic students, for example? All with unfettered access to the chemical closet? Ka-BOOM happens. Please remember to wear your goggles and gloves. It’s always better to still have working eyes and hands after you’ve been desperately mangled in the explosion(s).
Come to think of it, you kind of are working in a lab with an inexperienced but all too clever and enthusiastic student. But the student is you! I’d make sure your dentist has up to date dental records. And maybe leave a DNA sample with someone you can trust? That should help with identification.