Thanks Wick on the file info- a source of steel. Maybe it was the imported stuff from China that someone told me to avoid.
On the forge- read Wayne Goddard's $50 knife shop. You can get a fire brick- this isn't your normal brick- it is the stuff they use for fireplaces- you have to call around to find some. You dig out a couple of holes- not hard, and use a propane torch and voila! You can heat metal way up to a high yellow heat that actually is TOO HOT. For a regular sized file you ought to be okay. You need to wire the brick to hold it together- mine cracked and another trouble I had was too much heat in one spot, but... for a cheap 80 cent piece of brick- a good learning tool and I'm sure if I had spent more time with it I could have gotten the forge working fine.
On the forge- read Wayne Goddard's $50 knife shop. You can get a fire brick- this isn't your normal brick- it is the stuff they use for fireplaces- you have to call around to find some. You dig out a couple of holes- not hard, and use a propane torch and voila! You can heat metal way up to a high yellow heat that actually is TOO HOT. For a regular sized file you ought to be okay. You need to wire the brick to hold it together- mine cracked and another trouble I had was too much heat in one spot, but... for a cheap 80 cent piece of brick- a good learning tool and I'm sure if I had spent more time with it I could have gotten the forge working fine.
