Hello! I am selling this portable furnace built for bronze. brass, or aluminum casting. This will work for any metal with a melting point lower the 2500 degrees. The face of the interior is filled with 3000 degree refractory, then backed with 2600 degree. 3000 was use for the face to protect against the heat, but due to the fact that it is extremely heavy, the lighter 2600 degree refractory was used to fill out between the face and the furnace walls. The furnace comes equipped with a blower for delivering propane to the center. It also comes with a propane regulator... propane tank not included. I am also including a set of crucible lifting tongs and crucible shank as well as a crucible used with silicon bronze... it is a bilge shaped B20, as well. I can also throw in three skimmers used for bronze. You may be able to fit a larger crucible other then a B20, but the B20 is the only one to have been used so far. The shank is useable with up to a #30 crucible. The furnace is portable, built on cast aluminum wheels. There is a wide hole for charging the crucible with more metal, but a separate cover to keep the heat in when not charging. The total weight runs right around 300 lbs. This is a great economical choice for low-volume casting.

Hi folks,
I'm working on answers to some questions posed by a newspaper columnist and one of the questions is:

What is the most important thing about blacksmithing?

Here's what I've got so far. I'd appreciate any suggestions for change or improvement.

Found this site while doing a search to learn what the most appropriate grade of steel is to make a metal raising stake out of.

The search resulted in a blog entry here about making stakes out of old bolts. Consequently, I can assume I don't need high quality tool steel for the stakes I want to make.

I'm an air conditioning/refrigeration tech and have been for 37 years.  So I've been soldering copper tubing for as many years.  Recently my torch tips have been spewing out yellow flame with black soot instead of the nice blue flame needed to accomplish my work.

Iron sheet sculpture of horse head.