During this past week, I have fielded several phone calls & emails, most dealing with an individual telling me they wanted to purchase a forge, and asking my advice. In ALL cases the individuals first consideration was to find the cheapest forge they could, which is understandable, but it’s also DANGEROUS when that is the main consideration. Several of the emails sent me a link to a “new” outfit that is selling forges. Not having heard of them, I followed the link to their site. OMG!! Are you kidding me?!?! Besides the fact that these forges are VERY poorly designed, they had copper tubing and a needle valve affixed directly to the exterior of the forge body! If you have even a fraction of knowledge that propane ignites at around 900F, and that doesn’t scare the poop outta you, then you need to look something else besides forging to do….. you’ll likely live a lot longer!
In another email, an individual asked me what I used to etch damascus, and told me that he was using Muriatic acid MIXED with Clorox Bleach! I asked him why, and who’d told him to do that. His response was….. “I saw it on YouTube”. Again…. OMG!! This is a sure way to kill yourself! DON’T DO IT!!!!
FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE! IF YOU DON’T KNOW OF WHAT YOU’RE DEALING WITH, DON’T DO IT UNTIL YOU GET ADVICE FROM SOMEONE WITH EXPERIENCE…. OR AT LEAST SOMEONE WITH A FEW BRAIN CELLS!
Mark my words…… we are going to start hearing about home/shop/garage explosions, and/or people dying from doing stupid things like these! I’ve already been made aware of 2 incidents where somebody watched Forged in Fire, and decided “I can do that”…… and burned their houses to the ground!