Blacksmith forge

[2002vlx]

I have always thought it would be fun to have a forge since I was in a welding class and watched a guy hammer out flowers and other adornments with nothing but a hammer and anvil. I don't have an o/a torch, and I don't have a scroller either, and I'd like to do some scroll work. It'd be fun and rewarding to try to do it with the old fashioned way using a forge, hammer, and anvil. I've seen some forges go for cheap, but none around here. Has anybody had any success with building their own? I don't know much about the construction of them, but seems like just a tub to hold the coal, and a blower with a pipe going in under the coal to make it burn hotter. Is this right? I got some 1/8" plate I could use for the tub, and I can get my hands on some usuable pipe. I don't know where the **** to get any coal, but I really think it'd be handy to have a forge. Maybe I'm way out in left field here, but would they be that difficult to build? Anybody got any plans for one?

[Hobweld]

Check out
www.anvilfire.com
great site for the begining blacksmith.

[Roger]

I would start with a brake drum to build a coal forge like your talking about.

[2002vlx]

I've been looking around and have seen that some use lump charcoal instead of coal. I don't think that coal is available around here, so that might work great. Anybody tried lump charcoal (not the briquette kind) in a forge? I don't have a large brake drum to use for this, nor could I weld the cast iron that it's made out of with my er70s6 wire in my mig (I don't think?). If I could weld it, I could maybe find one in the scrap yard I dig in all the time. But why would a brake drum be better than some 1/8" plate (I already have it) or scrounging pu some 1/4" plate in the scrap yard? Is it that it dissipates heat better than flat plate since they usually have fins on them?

[Trevor]

I too am ready to start blacksmithing i bought a forge from a old guy it had been sitting outside in the weather for twenty years not used the clinker thingy was all froze up and i wasnt sure about the about the blower it had been removed from the forge but it was in a leaky old barn well i got everything all unfroze and rewired and the blower, motor, and rheostat work great i was happy about that.
I bought a anvil from a auction it is a 160# mouse hole brand anvil all the anvils that day were selling for over 250 bucks and i snuck in and got this one for $185 they sold thirty anvils that day it was quite a neat auction this old man was a collector of all kinds of stuff
So now ive been getting hammers tongs and everything elese i need. about a year after i decided i wanted to pursue this i'm almost comepletely ready to start i joined my local blacksmithing organazation it has been pretty neat i've been to a couple of their events and received a couple of there news letters in one of there news letters there was a list of people that want to be or who are mentors there is a guy who lives here where i live on it i havent called him but i will be calling him soon. i did call a guy in the local shopper paper selling blacksmith made products i went and befriended myself with him and have went to his place and worked on his anvil a few times
all i got left to get is a stump i think i'm gonna find one of those chainsaw artist and have him carve me a huge anvil out of a stump to use for my anvil stand i think that would be neat or mabe try doing it myself i got a chainsaw at a garage sale this morning for $10
to sum it all up i cant wait till i can actualy call myself a blacksmith i love all this learning i've been doing in all phases of metal work and i've got to say thanks to this site and all its members for all the help advice and ideas

Trevor Miller

[Trevor]

i was thinking about just carving a picture on a stump but then i remembered seeing this on a stump at a hammer in and for some reason i took a pic

[stever]

Just a few ideas for the brakedrum forge.

http://www.keenjunk.com/sketchbk/be90129b.htm

http://www.keenjunk.com/sketchbk/jh30517.htm

http://www.keenjunk.com/sketchbk/mm30311.htm

http://www.keenjunk.com/sketchbk/ms10608a.htm

Check out keenjunk. There's a techniques page to show you how to forge.

[2002vlx]

What is a rheostat? There's a truck mechanic shop on the south side of town, maybe I could get an unusable semi truck brake drum from them. Could it be welded to the pipe that will run through the center though?

[Tom Zachman]

Thanks stever for the keenjunk links. I have been enjoying a few of their graphics and really appreciated this post: http://www.keenjunk.com/sketchbk/dw30612.htm
Tombstones with anvils and posted text:

These are father and son graves. Both made there living as blacksmiths. There located next to my wifes grandparents graves. The sons wife ( still living ) said her father-in-law did all sorts of blacksmithing. That her husband spent all his time sharpening plowshares.

[James D. Clark]

What is a rheostat? There's a truck mechanic shop on the south side of town, maybe I could get an unusable semi truck brake drum from them. Could it be welded to the pipe that will run through the center though?

A rheostat is a varible resister used to controll things like an electric burner on a stove or the motor on a fan to change the speed. Usually made of wire wound on a ceramic core with a movable slider or wiper controled by a knob. The volume control on a radio is similar but usually made of different materials.

[James D. Clark]

I've been looking around and have seen that some use lump charcoal instead of coal. I don't think that coal is available around here, so that might work great. Anybody tried lump charcoal (not the briquette kind) in a forge? I don't have a large brake drum to use for this, nor could I weld the cast iron that it's made out of with my er70s6 wire in my mig (I don't think?). If I could weld it, I could maybe find one in the scrap yard I dig in all the time. But why would a brake drum be better than some 1/8" plate (I already have it) or scrounging pu some 1/4" plate in the scrap yard? Is it that it dissipates heat better than flat plate since they usually have fins on them?

The brake drum will stand up to the high heat generated by the forge and maintain it's shape. Sheet metal will warp and burn out from the oxidation. You can bolt plates and pipe flanges to the drum to make the pot so you don't need to weld it. I think you can order the forge coal by the bag. You need a special type of coal to work best in a forge.

P.S. Did a fast search for coal;

http://store.yahoo.com/centaurforge/coal.html


Charcoal is used to melt iron to make castings.

[stever]

Afew more places to visit if you're interested in making a firepot.

http://www.beautifuliron.com/forge_brakedrum.htm

http://www.beautifuliron.com/forge_planning.htm

http://www.lametalsmiths.org/forges.html

http://www.qsl.net/vk4laj/forge/projects/project2.html

http://www.piehtoolco.com/en-us/dept_585.html

http://www.elektricanvil.net/techniq...orge/index.htm


http://www.vikingmetalworks.com/firepot.html

http://magichammer.freeservers.com/w..._by_lonnie.htm


Hope this is helpful.

[Trevor]

heres the rheostat it controls the power to the motor therefore the speed of the blower

[Trevor]

[QUOTE=James D. Clark]The brake drum will stand up to the high heat generated by the forge and maintain it's shape. Sheet metal will warp and burn out from the oxidation. You can bolt plates and pipe flanges to the drum to make the pot so you don't need to weld it. I think you can order the forge coal by the bag. You need a special type of coal to work best in a forge.

You can use lets say 1/8inch sheet metal but the thing is you need a fire pot you can buy them or weld one up with lets say 1/4 inch plate then cut a hole the size of your fire pot in the 1/8 inch sheet where theres a lip then you coat everything elese thats not the fire pot in fire clay or high heat cement i picked up a fifty pound bucket of this stuff for $25

as far as coal goes you join your local or state blacksmithing organization and they sell it at a great discount or will point you in a direction so you can get it.. its a great thing if that was the only thing there good for but really these people will go out of there way to help people and there are lots of classes offered and weekend were you go and work there tools and they help out

[2002vlx]

Would I still need to use the fire clay if I made the whole thing out of 1/4" thick steel? I got enough 1/4" to make one similar to the one in the picture you posted Trevor, except it'd be square of course. I even got some 5/16" and 1/2" flat bar I could build sort of a grate with if I needed to. I just need a small forge, kinda portable. I don't have much room in my garage and I'm going to have to pull it outside every time I want to use it anyways. There aren't many blacksmithing tools or supplies sold in my area, though I know of a guy who does some blacksmithing in the area, I should probably get in touch with him to find some coal.

P.S. How do you extinguish the coal that's burning once you're done with the forge for the day? You can extinguish it and relight it another time, right? Sorry for the seemingly dumb questions but this is a totally new venture for me.