Solid Fuel Forges

Ok im just now starting to thank about Blacksmithing and I just need help getting started on my forge. What should i go for on build my forge from scratch i mean from the ground to the top. Im wanting one that is about 4ft long and 3 1/2ft tall I just dont know what to use to build it the inside and outside. Im want to melt down melt, pour and shape the melt to what I want. so anything on the forge would be great. When building this should I have a metal net or something to catch the ashes? What should I use to hold the wood, coal, or charcol? I guess what I am looking for is a medevil forge western style I think.

What's a good idea for a forge stand? The stand for my BBQ pit forge was way too wobbly, and it eventually broke. Not a good idea to have a 2000+ degree fire on a falling forge! Can I build a wooden one, or is that a no no? What about a metal nightstand/shelf type thing? I know nothing about welding, so building something that way is out of the question.

I need some opinions on building my first forge. I bought a cheap BBQ pit that comes up to about waist height. I plan on drilling a hole through the bottom, and feeding air that way. I’d rather use a crank blower, but a hair dryer may have to do for now. I’m having troubles figuring out what to use to protect the pit from the flames. I was thinking of putting some furnace cement on the bottom, and then putting fire bricks around that. Could I use Quikrete instead? For the bricks, do I have to use firebrick? I live in an old area, and there are numerous 150+ year old bricks laying around. Could I just put some furnace cement on those bricks instead? I also thought abou…

I got lucky and picked up a rivet forge with a Champion blower for $60 recently. The forge pan is a bit bent up and all the bolts need replaced but all in all it's sound. The blower turned stiff and squalled when moved. I poured tool oil in it until it was running out the seams and cranked it slowly for a couple of minutes. Now it is going smooth and quiet and blows like a champ. However, before I crank away on it, is there anything else I should do to the blower to ensure longevity? Also, it is dangerously side heavy towards the blower. I have already had it go over a couple of times and luckily nothing broke. For now it's stored on its side. I have thought of …

Hi, It's been a while since I started building my Japanese style forge, but it's finally finished! Below a description of how I did it. First I lifted the old bbq/forge from its place and moved it to it's new spot on the concrete plateau in the back of the yard. Then I cut a few firebricks to size with an angle grinder. these bricks were easy to shape with it. I got the bricks from a fellow forum member on a Dutch blade forum. The I started building, layer for layer, letting each one dry for a week. below a picture of the old bbq/forge that I used as a base. No sense letting all that good concrete go to waste: Here she is after the first layer: Then …

Hey everyone, got a question for mainly the Northern California people, but if you have any info, any and all would be appreciated. Last weekend, a coworker went to a gun show in the greater Sacramento area and met a guy who is a blacksmith in Sacramento who said my name sounded familiar (only guessing said individual is a member of this forum). In any case, my coworker asked if he used coal in his forge and was told that it's illegal to burn coal in Sacramento (whether it be City or County, I don't know). I've scoured the internet and have only been able to find documentation/legislation on coal powered industrial operations, such as power plants, cement factories, e…

Hello everyone! Don't know if y'all remember me, I've been really busy with university and put forging and posting here on hold for a long time. Anyways, I'm in for a 5 month long summer vacation (got lucky with the exam schedule and finished school early) and I have a couple of long sword blades that need some heat treatment. The problem is the longest one is 4-5 feet in length and my forge can only keep 1 foot hot for any ammount of time. Here's where I need you to throw some ideas my way. I was thinking of simply making a V shapped trench with 3 tweers/blowholes and filling it with charcoal and praying. How I wanna do this is by digging a 5 foot trench in dry gro…

I am thinking of building a forge to replace my existing one made from a camp BBQ. I have seen many Brake Drum Forges on the internet, aswell as many commercial and homemade forges that have a square or rectangular firepot as apposed to the circular one of a brake drum. I am wondering what everyone thinks is the best design and why? And if sloped sides are needed? I will probably make the "table" of the forge approx. 2'4" x 2'4" and the fire pot about 10" square if this method is chosen. Otherwise ill mount a brake drum 2 inches deep with a diameter of 10 inches. Any help is much appreciated. Cheers

Hello! I finally got my Buffalo Forge blower apart that was moving with great difficulty. Fortunately, all looks clean and fine with the all metal gears looking excellent as well. The issue appears to have been old crumbly gasket material that fell out of the join and caked up the gears. My questions are 1) are their any particular precautions I need to take when cleaning the whole thing out, and 2) what kind of lubrication should I use on re-assembly and where? Also, I just bought a new larger forge with a champion blower that has a blower motor with a rheostat. The firepot has what seems like concrete surrounding that is mostly intact but has a few cracks. Should I …

Hi everyone, I have been busy for a while designing a new forge to smith blades in and most importantly: harden them. The old one doesn't work well and stands in the way. This one has served me for many years, I poured it from fireproof concrete, it is reinforced and I made it when I was about 16 years old. It was about four years back and I made it with the little knowledge I had at the time, but was determined to build a Japanese style forge. It gave me a lot of understanding and experience, so it's time for improvement. Foto's of everything can be found here: Foto's of my whole project Now that there is room in my backyard, a very nice 2x2meter concrete plateau, …

Hello all, I'm new here... my first post. I have been working hot iron for a couple of years now but on others coal forges. I just bought a used Centaur forge with a nice cast iron pot, but the tywere damper or "clinker breaker" was missing. Working from pretty vague pictures and sketches I fabed one in the shape of a three winged "ball". My question is, will this work OK? what was the original like? a simple solid triangle shaped ball or a winged ball like I made? Or something completely different. I'll try and post a couple of pix too. Thanks for looking. Joe B

Okay everybody here is our situation. I have aquired a brake drum and some other goodies. My question is can I get going in the right direction with this xxxx? 1. mid sized brake drum 2. 55 gallon barrel (i might have 2 of them I don't know for sure) 3. A whole heck of alot of cinderblocks and bricks 4. some angle iron ( really heavy) 5. 3/4" steel plates (about 4x8') ~~Wampus

I have managed to get hold of an old farm Diesel tank that I plan to make into a hearth. It’s 4 foot square and is apart from some easily removable internal bracing, just a big steel box. The plan is to cut out the middle of three adjoining sides and have the top as the smoke hood and the bottom as the hearth with the remaining side to hold it all together. I also plan to fabricate a wet tuyere so it will be a traditional side blast style forge. Before I get all Medieval on it with an angle grinder, if anyone has any thoughts on a better more efficient way to cut it I’d rather know now before it’s too late. I could also do with some advice on how to make a simple wet tuye…

Would a brake drum off a big truck work for a fire pot?

ok so very green blacksmithing newb here. quick question about using galvy. i know the fumes are nasty and its not to be heated but are there any thoughts about using it for a half hood? would it get hot enough to cause a problem in the smithy? any thoughts would be appreciated.

Picked up this champion blower today for a cool $50 Gears are perfect and its smooth as can be. Im tickled Crank handle even has the original wood on it.

being new to the art i purchased coke and not coal when trying to start the forge I light the coke with a torch and have tried both little air and a lot of air but glowing coke goes out. what am I doing wrong? Thanks

I got to have some fun last weekend in the forge, but it doesn't seem to get quite hot enough. The fire pot is an old brake disk about two inches deep and I use lump charcoal, NOT briquettes. I stuck a piece of scrap steel about 3/8" in diameter into what appeared to be the hot part of the forge and pumped the bellows for a while, but I never did get it up to welding heat. I got it up to about orange (although it was a little hard to judge), but it seemed to stay there. Is this a matter of my fire not being deep enough (it wasn't much deeper than the fire pot), not enough airflow or not enough patience. My experience is mostly with coal forges, so I am basing what to…

Well spring will be upon us soon and I want to build a permanent forge in my garage/shop. I love coal and will build a side draft type forge but I want to use natural stone not brick (at least not all brick). Has anyone had dealings with this ? I have heard if I use the wrong stone they can get to hot and crack and break. I would love to hear from anyone who has done this as I want to end up with a lovely forge as well as a functional one as well. Thank you Firegnome Jim Heckman Hampden, Maine

I have started with this pot so far and I'm looking for suggestions towards it being workable or not. Here are the dimensions. 5in deep 12in wide both ways on the top 3 3/4in at the bottom I also need to know the best way to make the screen for the bottom, examples like if it should be a plate with a certain amount of holes or if i should just run 4-5 bars across it? Thanks

Hi all ~ I have been lurking for a while and this is my first post. I recently picked up a coal forge and have never seen a blower like this before. It has a Hamilton Beach motor that I think is DC. It has a coil to preheat the air and is variable speed with settings of hi, second, third and low along with the warm. It all looks factory and works. I'm hoping someone can identify it and let me know a little more about it. Up until now I have only used propane and this is my first solid fuel forge. Thanks, Steve

[it took some work to weld that stuff in the scrap pile into a working forge but it paid off. I fired it up for the first time yesterday on softwood charcoal with an old hair dryer for air and am pleased that it could reach welding heat. I was inspired to do this build by what I have seen and read on this site. Thanks to all of you that have contributed. Any comments, suggestions or criticisms are welcome. Steeler.

Hi, every1 this is my first post and i am new to blacksmithing. Now i got myself a anvil and some hammers + thongs, but i can't find a good fire. So i decided to build 1 myself. I havent been able to get my hands on a brake drum, but i have been able to get 50kg of fire mortar that can hold temp's till 1100° c . So my question is, does any1 here on the forum have a good id on how to use this fire mortar to make me a good forge? I want to start practice on some knifes and afterwards some art. Got alot of old files and springsteel to practice on. Ive made me a card with wheels, i was thinking about maybe putting on a iron box on top of that with a 20 cm high border an…

I just got back from picking up sheet metal for a new coal forge. Enough plate (somewhere around 3/32"-1/8") to make the hearth table and side draft hood. I also picked up a [iece of 1/2" wall thickness pipe 4" deep and 7 3/4" inside diameter. Would 4" deep by 7 3/4" inisde diameter be big enough for a good firepit? Lots of welding to be done in it. The whole pot would be made from 1/2" steel but Im curious about the diameter. What do you think?

Greetings all, Does anyone on the forum have plans for an 1812 era army forge wagon they would be willing to share? Either American or British. Thanks. Sam