ray.whittington50 Posted September 16, 2014 Share Posted September 16, 2014 I'm new to all this and I've just managed to get almost everything I need to start working metal. I've read tons on these forums and other sites but I'm struggling with one kinda important aspect of my shop. I haven't measured it but I'd say it's probably 12X20, not real big. Just a little metal building I'm going to be using as my shop. I live in South Texas where it is very very hot and humid so I'm trying to figure out how to get good ventilation above my forge. Duct and all that seems cheap enough, but I can't find an actual hood, and as of yet I don't have the tools to even attempt to build one. I thought about getting a range hood and just use that but I haven't had any luck finding an old one that would work and new ones are quite pricey. So I came here hoping that someone can give me some advice on how to do this cheaply and effectively. I forgot to mention that the duct/hood will vent out the side of the shop, not the roof, if that matters. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted September 16, 2014 Share Posted September 16, 2014 Look at side draft hoods; depending on your skills, equipment and scrap access they don't have to cost much at all... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ray.whittington50 Posted September 16, 2014 Author Share Posted September 16, 2014 No skills, not yet. I'll research some and see if I can't figure something out. I appreciate the info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted September 16, 2014 Share Posted September 16, 2014 Too bad; being able to use an arc welder can save you big time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ray.whittington50 Posted September 16, 2014 Author Share Posted September 16, 2014 That's a skill I want to learn, but can't right now, and in my current position at work I won't be able to take any classes for it either, I do 12hr shift work. On another note something I didn't mention before, the duct/hood will vent out the side of the shop, not the roof, if that matters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted September 16, 2014 Share Posted September 16, 2014 When I got started in blacksmithing I was working in the oilpatch, 12 on 12 off 7 days a week and a 3 hour drive from my apartment---I used to live in my van on-site. Lots of good scrap in the old abandoned farms from the dustbowl.I'm trying to find an old spanish style anvil now that I work in Mexico (but live in the USA) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSW Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 as of yet I don't have the tools to even attempt to build one. I bet you probably do. Lets look at what you need. If it's a side sucker, you need a square or rectangular box with 2 holes, one for the intake, one for the flue pipe. Bent corners are usually the 1st "problem" guys have. So if you had a break, you could bend corners. Option one is to have someone do the bends for you. It will cost money most likely however. Option two would do the corners like they did in the "old" days. Angle iron and flat sheet. You can drill and rivet ( you ARE a blacksmith, and it would add a cool look to things...) or you can use bolts. To seal the edges there's always furnace cement or foil tape, but if it draws well a few minor leaks won't matter. Option 3 Make it from something you CAN bend. Alum flashing or thin steel can be bent with really basic tools. They sell a simple metal plate "bender" usually used top fold duct work. I use it all the time to fold over corners on galvy ducts I need to custom make. One side is set up to bend 3/8", the other 1". Insert sheet all the way to the bottom, bend. I have a 24" one, an 18" one and a 12" one all that I bought, and I have a few "odd" sizes that I bought larger ones and cut down to do specific jobs, like fold the flanges for vent openings in drywall. Again you can use tape or fasteners to make connections. When I have had no other options, I've even bent sheet steel or alum over two 2x4's clamped together tightly and beat the fold down with hammer and block of wood. Not usually the prettiest bend, but it will work. I've also done this over the edge of my steel table or the angle iron top rail of the small landscape trailer. Option #4, use prebent parts. I mentioned above duct work. They sell all sorts of duct work sizes prebent that are simply designed to be snapped together. Take tab A and insert in slot B. Home centers stock a few sizes, but a commercial HVAC supplier can get you all sorts of sizes. I've even cut down the flat sides and slid them into the premade slots to make custom sizes easily. I just thought of option #5... you have a forge and an anvil... heat the steel and bend it over the edge of the anvil for petes sake... "Problem" #2 most people have is cutting metal. If it's duct work, tin snips will do the job. Heck I've even made cuts by repeatedly scoring a line with a utility knife then bending it back and forth along the line to break it. Heavier steel is a bit tougher. They do sell circular saw blades designed to cut sheet steel up to 1/4". They cut better with slower RPM saws like dedicated metal cutting circular saws or wormdrives, but I've used a standard saw in a pinch. For curved openings, a jig saw will work. On sheet it helps to have a stiffer backing like a piece of masonite under the sheet. then there's always plasmas, torches and so on. You might be able to get someone to help you if it's just a few quick cuts. In fact the small time hardware store where I get a lot of my small metals has most of these tools on hand to cut material down for the customer. If you tell them what you want, and give them time, they will cut pieces to size for a small fee, depending on how involved it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkie Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 Ray, to add a comment to the excellent ones from DSW, if you have a 4 1/2" angle grinder you can cut the metal with a 1/16" cutoff wheel. Just slowly move it along your cut line, but be careful and don't get the wheel in a bind...not pretty. I need to build a hood for my brake drum forge; just need to take the time to scrounge up the sheet metal. Here is one that was posted on the forum a while back and probably will be how I build mine. You might be able to modify the measurements and also change it from an upright to a side draft with some imagination. I'll probably just fab mine with pop rivets and sheet metal screws. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacobd Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 You could probably use an old wheel barrow for the hood, I have laying around I might use when my bigger shop is finished Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSW Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 I'll probably just fab mine with pop rivets and sheet metal screws. Blasphemy! Blasphemy! How dare you use (Gasp) Pop rivets! I think this is grounds for revoking his anvil... Please pack it up and send it to me right away and I won't have to go and take this issue any farther... :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingXS Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 You can make a side draft hood from a 44Gal drum. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GottMitUns Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 Ray, there is a blacksmith group meeting around Victoria/Ander/Goliad Texas this weekend at Otto Bluntzers shop (Goliad Forge). He has a hood that vents his charcoal forge out a window of his shop. If a picture is worth a thousand words,,,,, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kubiack Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 If you can go through the roof instead of the wall you should look at how Brian Brazeal has his setup. It is simply a piece duct suspended above the forge. It should be simple and cheap to install in a metal building. This thread has a description and some pictures. '?do=embed' frameborder='0' data-embedContent>> I found a picture of it in the above mentioned thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 My hood is a piece of 10"x10' spiral seamed duct pipe that goes from just over my forge to out a hole in the wall about 15 degrees from vertical. (Hole was conveniently there as in it's previous incarnation my shop walls were a roof and that was where the wood stove chimney went through; I did plan where to use those pieces to have the hole available for this use though).Now there is about a 1' gap between the forge table and the end of the pipe and so I have a piece of light sheetmetal bent around the end of the pipe and wired together with a gap in front. I can pull this down to touch the forge bed when starting a green fire without a draft up the chimney and can pull it up on the chimney when the fire's doing well, the draft is established and I need greater access. (The chimney "sings" when I'm going for a weld!)Now I do sometimes have an issue when working some items---when forge welding the legs on a large trivet I had to stick one leg up the chimney to get the opposite leg in the hot spot---but I can always move the forge forward and just not use the chimney for a task. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkie Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 Blasphemy! Blasphemy! How dare you use (Gasp) Pop rivets! I think this is grounds for revoking his anvil... Please pack it up and send it to me right away and I won't have to go and take this issue any farther... :P Got me on that one!!! :P I would use regular smithing-type rivets, but I haven't figured out how to get the hood into the firepot to heat the rivets in place....besides, I'd burn a 3-4" hole where the rivet WAS supposed to go. :unsure: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSW Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 Heat rivet, insert, and head the rivet.... They would have needed a mighty big forge to stuff some of the hot riveted bridges into the fire, if they has been trying to do it your way. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Gaddis Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 I have posted here before on the actual usage of a side draft...going into a corrugated culvert. DO I still use it...Heck Yeah! And i would construct another if I had too. Brian has an operational system for straight up the top....and it works well. If my vents were going straight up..I would use it. Search my past postings for pictures. David G carry on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddie Mullins Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 My side draft is posted here somewhere. Made of sheet metal scrap I welded, It happen to conviently have short 90 degree bends along one edge. Had it not or I had no welder, I would have used thin angle iron and screws for the corner assmeblies just as DSW suggested. An angle grinder and drill seem the easiest and cheapest means to me. The angle grinder is a must have tool IMO anyway, and this would be a great reason to get one if you don't already have one. My chimney is simply a rolled piece of tin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJS Posted September 29, 2014 Share Posted September 29, 2014 Go with the side draft pattern, "hoods" look nice but often don't draw the smoke out of the shop well. A properly proportioned side draft will draw nicely. I have seen many shops with a nice steel hood over the forge that just gets used as a chalk board, because they also installed a nice side draft flue close to the fire. I have been entertaining the idea of putting a hole in the side of the pipe that I could stick a propane torch to jumpstart the draft, once the fire is going it pulls just fine, sometimes it needs a little help to get started. Newspaper lit and stuck up the flue also works to get the draw going, and is cheap... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borntoolate Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 Mine is working great! 24' by 12" spiral culvert with about a 10"x9" side draft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.