well I have an old fuel oil tank thats been sitting around about 10 years. figured I would build a forge out of it. heres the first of the pics.




here is my little $18 blower I picked up.



the inside table will finish at 27" x 44". still have to cut a few things and get the tureyn built.

Dang. Now you're getting serious about building a forge. :) Looks good. And that "little blower" is gonna move plenty of air for you. Keep us posted on the progress. :)

Looking good, I'm looking forward to seeing progress and "in use" pics.

Frosty The Lucky.

should have more done by Sunday night. have a family gig today for my son's birthday. he has to do the welding since he is the one in welding class ;)

That looks great! Can't wait to see the progression.

That ollks Awesome Yetti , gona be a good forge when done .

Sam

Wonderful! I would never have thought to use an oil tank like that. The integral sun shade is fantastic. Will you block off a bit of the bottom for a built-in quench tank or fuel storage? I'm seeing a lot of rack space on that baby. You can have all of your hammers and tongs stretching the length and width....

I am so incredibly jealous!

as is I am figuring on a retort in the box end through the back side. I am not sure yet how the table will lay as the fuel storage should be huge? I may have a hinge so as to store under the table? as for the under basket that remains to be seen. it has to get its wheels and then its a portable forge.

You need to hurry up! I'm dying to see how it turns out. One part of me wants you to mount a stack and whistle to make it look like a steam locomotive. The other part wants some big teeth so we can call it the "Dragon's Maw!"

Sweet build, nonetheless.

Might put in a couple of supports at the front that are Decorative---show off your talents and are easily removed, (wing nuts?), as they are not really needed but might help sag in the cantilever over time.

well I hacked it up a bit more, the flaps on the inside of the upper are gone for now, so is the 4" lip on the lower. the fire box is getting laid out and being cut, the chimney is fitted but not welded yet.

As you can see it got a tad taller. my son is 6 feet and it grew over his head.



I took out the inner flaps that were folded in at the begining.


this is the majority of the fire tray. have to finish the fitting part and get the sides on it.





My little welder. I have had it about 14 years or so now. best $1000 a guy can spend.

Beautiful!

One wonders, thought, why you sank the fire pot down so low when it means you'll have to cut access ports on the sides to you can fit longer stock through the fire.

Love the chimney, but the design of the table has me worried. By angling it downward, you've sacrificed your ancillary work table and made it so that it's just that more troublesome to get longer stock into the neutral zone of the fire.

Personally, I would section off the fire-pot area and use the rest of the body as a coal storage bin. There's plenty of room around the perimeter for tong racks and tool holders so you don't really need a table that close to the fire. With a coal bin right beside the fire pot, you'll have more fuel than you can use in a week... and still have your tools handy.

Love the hood. Might be unnecessary with the chimney placed like it is, but it's still very cool to look at. Lets you know where the forge came from!

I have considered a bunch of stuff. I plan to run charcoal rather then coal. its not for lack of coal but I have wood piles around that are free. makes fuel easy to come by. secondly the long angled tray is more for fuel storage as is with the way I intended to feed the fire. as for the depth, I had planed to cut down into the sides for the work ports. I didn't see any other way. if I had rasied the table the heat out the sides would have been huge. this way it insulates the fire pot and heat goes out the chimney rather then cook me.
one of the things I was looking into with charcoal to is the narrow deep fire approach. I have some chunks of grader blade that I plan to use to narrow the fire pot profile like some suggested in MarcusB's thread on Charcoal. they will be like fences to prevent excess fuel getting away from the air stream in the center. its all a crap shoot so we'll see how it comes out

Ah! I've been reading up on charcoal and its proclivities. Now everything makes sense! Using the sides of the tank to direct the heat away from the smith is rather brilliant!

i like it!

Neat idea using an old oil tank. Would have never thought of that. Thanks for posting the pics.
Ken

_{Wow, that certainly looks sinister! I like the idea of the oil tank, and I'd like to do the same thing on a smaller scale with a 55 gallon drum. (I like the extra fuel and work area it would provide!)
Mind if I modify your idea for a brake drum forge?}

feel free. I would just asoon anyone use the design. I am tweeking it as I go. I have to cut the rest of the grader blade for the side extentions. the tray is a work in progress. not sure if I want to use it as is or do some tricks under it yet? playing with leaving a port for a side draft, dunno?
I found a better pice for the ash dump. have to make the changes and get it welded in. the retort shelf is also a another one I'm not sure of yet. if I do it one way it may block to much draft. the other idea I have is to do it under the tray from the far end to just bake the wood dry.

Well Yetti , I must say Now I am gonna have to steep up and Build one of them dagum things dang you you made me want to go bigger than I wanted too .

Sam

Well Yetti , I must say Now I am gonna have to steep up and Build one of them dagum things dang you you made me want to go bigger than I wanted too .

Sam

That is really slick. About the only mod to it that I would sudjest is to cut the top back a bit. WIth your fire at the back, you wont need the smoke collection up at the front, and it will provide better access.

I have been considering using an oil tank for a forge for some time . However my plan was to cut the ends off and make two. One for me and one for the friend who has the tank.

Another alternate approach that I can see, where space is an issue, is to turn the tank on end . If that approach were taken the hood cut could be made from either the narrow or long side. No matter how you cut it this is a wonderfully creative and useful idea.

That is really slick. About the only mod to it that I would sudjest is to cut the top back a bit. WIth your fire at the back, you wont need the smoke collection up at the front, and it will provide better access.

I considered that. maybe down the road. right now I am working getting the fire tray finished. have a few more chunks cut and ready to weld in :)

Loving it so far. That long hood is going to be really nice to sketch on and provide shade for your work. I would put hashmarks every half-inch along the edge of the hood so I could measure work on the fly!

Can't wait to see her up and running.