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I Forge Iron

how can i make a homemade forge on the cheap?


new guy

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it is a reasonably sharp knife and i thinks its an ok begining knife. thanks for the input to all.

hey to all! i finally got the parts i need for my hobo forge! i have a huge 18in sewer pipe with 1/2 side walls. conveniantly due to where i work i can set it up parrelel with the wind (where i live on the water the wind is always in the same direction) and i don't need a blower! i plan to burn down wood into charcoal and use that. if anyone has comments please make them.

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Do not use concrete as the heat can cause it to spauld throwing pieces of the concrete into your face. The sand can melt into a glass trapping some of the clinker and ash. It would better to use clay to line the hole in the ground, some use kitty litter when clay is not available. But what is wrong with just dirt?


Glenn,

What is dirt? When I think of clay I think extremely fine sand. When I think dirt I think loam. Wouldn't that just burn off to whatever was in it for sand and clay and rocks? Am I missing something here? Maybe it depends on where you are geographically. What do you mean by dirt?

Bill
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That's a very cool setup Frosty - I love the improvised. Oh, and new guy, I'm sure there's a little mom & pop shop somewhere in your area that sells salvaged building supplies, like doors, hinges, old bathtubs - These can be excellent places to find old tools as well, they may be rusty but don't have to stay that way for long. I was out running around and stopped by one such place and after looking around for about 30 minutes I came across a RR rail already cut and shaped for use as an anvil. $39 was the asking price. Much better than a 1/4" piece of steel.

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sorry barcrawler, but the closest thing i know to a mom & pop shop i my area is a thrift store and that is not going to sell what a smith needs! thanks you for posting.

oh when i mean dirt i mean clay and some organic what not sorry i was not clear also i think fine silt (ground shells and snad from a tidal flat)

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Good looking forge, and glad to hear it works

I built my forge from oak 2 x6 and the top plate from a busted wood stove I found in the dump, and some sheet metal from an AC unit Same dump

US$14 in 1 1/2" plumbing pipe an dfittings... and a bucket of refactory cement from a friend,

where there is a will there is a way,, and I am glad to see the advice freely given,

it amazes me sometime how people can decide on a project, build it and after they getout of the hospital do some research to see where they went wrong

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There's also Habitat for Humanity Re-Stores. I know there's two in Connecticut, one in Salem and one in Stratford. Good place to find tools, mine in Lancaster Pa even had a drill press last week. Also good for finding bits of brass to make small knife pieces out of, 1+hp motors, slack tubs, blowers, pipe and even the occasional good hammer. :)

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Seems that we are having this question come up quite a lot latley, here is a real good example, with a tutorial, you can obviosuly modify it to be larger or smaller.
Link: Charcoal Forge

Gas is always another option: several kinds can be found here: Zoeller Forge


THANK YOU for putting up the link for the washtub forge. I LOVE THIS FORGE. Everytime someone asks about how to build an inexpensive forge, I always scramble to find this link. The idea is simple, effective and AFFORDABLE for almost anyone. And yes, you can forge anything with charcoal (the original forge fuel) from tools to swords. A great way to get started. Also check out the thread on Ground Forges (just posted there a second ago). A hole in the ground is just as good.
Sam

It comes as a surprise to a lot of guys that you don't need 1/4" plate to build a forge. My 3' x 4' coal forge has a fire brick covered 14 ga. table with a couple pieces of 1" angle "joists" under it and it works a treat.

Frosty


I know what you mean Frosty. Hard to shed the "Go Heavy or Go Home" attitude when people come to think about blacksmithing. My charcoal forge is firebricks lining a wooden box. Works just fine.
Sam
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A bladesmith I was associated with a decade ago insisted on building everything from 1/4" or heavier, even his smoke hood. He insisted it was what people "wanted" to see. His smoke hood didn't look any better than it worked. It needed an exhaust blower to get anything to go up it. Unassisted, the smoke would raise to the bottom of the hood, stop and waft out around it, if the column was hot enough some would enter the hood but then drift DOWN to escape into the shop.

It was someone else's fault of course.

Frosty

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You're making a solid fuel forge right?

If you want to protect the table from excessive heat then yes, clay will insulate that much. However it isn't "insulation" except technically.

If you're thinking it will make the fire more efficient by keeping more heat in, then NO, it isn't that kind of insulator.

Think of it more as an isolator, it keeps the fire off things that shouldn't get fire on them. They'll still get hot but they won't burn or warp excessively if you have an inch or so of clay on them.

Mix your clay with sharp (mason's) sand 1pt sand to 3pts clay and 1pt grog if you have it. (grog is crushed ceramics, fire brick is perfect but even old flower pots or tiles work)

Add only enough water so it'll make a hard clod when you squeeze it hard in your hand. If it leaves mud or moisture on your hand it's too wet, if it's crumbly or dusty it's too dry but just. Add just a little water if too dry or clay if too wet, mix thoroughly and let sit for a few hours and retest.

Once you get your mix tempered (water % right and evenly distributed) hammer your clay into the forge pan with a wooden mallet or something similar till it bounces. Scrape it smooth and score with a butter knife. Scoring is cutting grooves in the clay to control shrink checking. (cracking) As clay dries it shrinks and cracks, It will crack in the grooves, just like expansion joints.

Let it dry for a couple days and build a small fire in it to get it hot then let it cool. Light a little larger fire and leave it burning longer, say half an hour and let it cool. make your next fire a good hot one and keep it going for an hour or so. This will complete the curing and it'll be good to go.

It'll need replacing eventually and probably the occasional repair so keep that bucket with all the extra mix you made for later.

Frosty

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As a good rule of thumb, insulation is light and fluffy. (Think fiberglass insulation like you see at the home improvement stores. Light and fluffy, right?) Conversely, and also as a good rule of thumb, things that are dense and not-fluffy usually aren't very good insulators. Clay and sand/adobe/whatever you want to call it is dense and not-fluffy. Draw your own conlcusions.

But for a solid fuel forge made of metal you really don't need insulation. If the forge is made of wood you need a little insulation, but it doesn't have to be very good insulation. It's not there to make the forge thermally efficient.

If you want to make your clay-sand mix more insulating, you can add some perlite or vermiculite. (Perlite and vermiculite are light and fluffy. They will make your clay-sand mix lighter and fluffier.) But for the sort of forge you're making there's really no point.

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