It followed me home

[ApprenticeMan]

SWEET MITHRAL! Nice wrench and good find on those tanks!

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by Glenn

Collective gasp, look at the size of that forge !!

Wait a minute!!
If that is just a tad larger than the drum head on the 55 gallon drum, and we used the 55 gallon drum to make the 55 Forge . . . . then that would make the 55 Forge the same BIG SIZE !! Pardon my excitement, I just realized that I already have a working forge that size, (sigh).

Well, now I have a spare forge body if I need one.

Not quite Glenn. Yur recent aquisition looks like the fire pot, not the whole forge. I'd say the entire forge would have to be based on the end of a 500 gl fuel tank rather than a 55gl. drum. (size wise. Don't actually use a fuel tank unless you REALLY know what you're doing!)

I'd say it looks like a fire pot for forging anvils. Large anvils and other large stuff.

Frosty

[KevinD]

Originally Posted by Glenn

It looked like a forge to me.

It has a 6 inch inlet, is over 24 inches in diameter and 3/8 or 1/2 inch thick steel.

Thats cool. I think it would make a good slack tub.

Plug up the hole with a big wooden plug or weld it up and fill it with water...

[psilogen]

first salvage trip along a local rail line. all the spikes are 6.5", a bit short for my ideal spikeknife, but I think I'll flatten the handle part out and wrap it in leather to make up for its diminutive length, rather than doing the twist handle and having a 1" blade.

Obviously I cannot forge the baseball or the half-rusted can opener into anything useful, but do you folks have any suggestions for the rest of this stuff? I've got a decent anvil, so I don't need the plate for its hardy holes or anything. As I said, a few of those spikes will become knives (probably xxxx steel, so they will be decorative), a few will become incense holders, and I'd like to save some to forge into ribs (gonna make a xxxxxx skeleton once I've got enough stuff and a torch), but everything else is up in the air.

Also, I am a beginner. This is the first stock I've owned that wasn't 1/4" nail-rod pinched from work (with permission). It is a momentous occasion. do you think any of that stuff could be made into useful tools? I should probably throw a spring-fuller together, but I don't know quite how springy any of these parts will be.

[Jmercier]

Ok, here are pictures of my aquisitions from the last two weekends. Also to show that you can get started in blacksmithing for quite a low cost overall.

I picked up this firepot / standalone forge made from a brake drum and welded up with a clinker breaker and ash dump, and the gorgeous handcrank blower at the new england blacksmith's spring meet. This blower is in imaculate shape. You know you have a really good blower when you crank it and let go and it keeps turning around for a while after you stop. I paid $200 for the forge and blower.

http://www.tharkis.com/images/coalforge.jpg

I then hit the hardware store near me which i found out actually will get bituminous smithing coal and bought 250lbs for ~50 bucks

http://www.tharkis.com/images/coal.jpg

Then this last weekend I picked up this huge shear and this small leg vise (with excelent threads) for 50$ together

http://www.tharkis.com/images/shear.jpg

http://www.tharkis.com/images/smallvise.jpg

I'm going to build a portable mount for the vise, because my large shop vise is attached to my bench, and weighs over 110 lbs without the bench, so it's not very portable.

Lastly I purchased this 125lb stake anvil (yes 125lbs, aka monstrous for a stake anvil, largest I've seen myself) for 105$

http://www.tharkis.com/images/stakeanvil.jpg

True, Iv'e spent a lot of money in the last 2 weeks on more smithing equipment for my shop, but when you look at it, for 405$ plus some gas, Iv'e in the last 2 weeks obtained a complete forging setup, including vise, anvil, and fuel for a LOT of forging. Yet relativly that's a very very small amount of money I've spent by being patient and doing a decent bit of driving to get to the right places >_<

[Mithral]

Originally Posted by ApprenticeMan

SWEET MITHRAL! Nice wrench and good find on those tanks!

*grin* I started askin' around at work, turned out they didn't know how to get rid of them.

I could have told them that the local scrap yard would have gladly paid money for them, being steel and all. But I've been wanting a new grill.

[ApprenticeMan]

NICE!!~!!~!~ See how many more you can get! if you rune out of space, cut the bottoms off and weld a chain to the top of the tank where the regulator used to be, they make great bells! Also, you can do that with old oxygen bottles too.

[SLOB]

I just bought the one on the left......Glen just posted the picture in the disscusion in the "show me your vise" thread...... since he already had the pic up (and the gallery isnt working for me) I just snagged his picture.

[yesteryearforge]

Nice vises ( they look to be in good shape )

[Candidquality]

25 pounds followed me home for $9