Solid Fuel Forges

I know I am going to get some flak from this post, but here goes anyway. So called Clinker Breaker at the bottom of firepots. Is it really a clinker breaker? Just look at the one in your own forge, does it stick up into the firepot far enough to actually break up a clinker? Probably not. If you stop and think about it and look at some of the information from old publicatios, you will find it referred to as a tuyere, blast gate or ash gate. Due to the shape of their construction they were made to be used to control the amount of air entering the bottom of the fire, and could be manipulated to have a small center fire, a large fire with more air, or a fire off to o…

I just bought a forge and anvil from a friend who thought he wanted to get into blacksmithing but soon found out it was not for him. He had bought this equipment from a now out of business blacksmith shop and didn't know much if anything about either piece. Any way when he came to visit and learned that I had taken up blacksmithing he offered to sell me this combination and for the price he asked I bought it off him. Now what I'm asking is does anyone know anything about this forge? My friend said it was ment to be used for making horse shoes which may be but it's really a nice size for what ever you want to do. The hand blower that is attached works real well and to sp…

Hey, I have an old cast-iron pot, about 1" thick, probably 2' deep and about 1 1/2' in diameter. I want to use this as a small forge ( I'm working towards making a sword and this simply won't do, but I'll deal with that when the time comes ). I need to cut a blower hole in the bottom though. Any suggestions? Also, for something that big (or small, depending on how you look at it), how big of a blower would I need? Will a hand-crank blower work? How big a pipe do I need to move enough air? Any suggestions on attaching said pipe? Any and all help is appreciated.

Hi all ! Some years ago there was a gentleman who came up to my shop here in Tri-Cities WA to learn alittle about blacksmithing. This man did not have a forge at this point, so I so kindly allowed him to borrow an extra of mine. He was a Lama rancher from mid Oregon. Does anyone know who I may be reffering to ? ? ? I would like to get ahold of him and see about getting my forge back. Any help would be great ! Please personal message me, or e-mail me if you know who this man is. Thanks ! ! ! Dave Roeder

My only regret is this forge is hungry on Charcol,but a least my fuel is free.I built from bits i had in the junk pile,The blower is a 3 speed car fan, which works rather well,bar the hungry part.:)

Hello all! I used an old truck rim i welded to fence posts all scrap and free! Then the square pipe for bottom from scrap yard and i used a piece of one inch plate for the klinker. I then got a working blower from a car in junk yard and stuffed it into an old squirell cage i found and attached with dryer hose from walmart. The only thing i paid for was the variable speed switch i got from a tractor supply it was 35 dollars. i lined the inside of the forge with this stuff called black swan furnace cement is good too 3000 degrees. The forge has been holding up well i have made several knives on it and sold them on ebay. But soon i will be building a more permant forge with …

I was wondering how thoses of you who use corn or coal put out your fire at the end of the day? I've been using corn only in my new forge and its nice once it starts going. still working on fire control and proper air flow for a good welding temp but that will come with time. I am wondering about putting it out at the end of the day though. Dont want to hurt my cast forge.:D

Hi folks, I have an old propane bbq that I was going to make into a forge. I work for a shortline railroad and have access to used firebricks that came out of a glass furnace. some still have a little glass on them. what would this do in a forge when used for the floor and perhaps for firepot extenion? Thanks in advance

I am doing a project at my school on Blacksmithing and I am in need of making a good starter forge to work on and I hear brake drum forges work pretty good. Does any one know good ways to do this????

Does anyone still make replacement firepots for Champion tuyers? If I remember correctly Centaur Forge used to sell replacement firepots for Champions, but I don't remember seeing them offered in their catalog for many years. :confused:

Show me your air gate what do you use? here is one from the Blacksmith depot Blacksmiths Depot *:* Forge Air Gate what other designs are out there ?

well I spent the money and bought a forge instead of making one(so far) I'm a little confused on the clinker breaker does it need the little plate that goes over the air feed hole and if so how then does the clinker breaker do any good? If not then will i lose a lot of coal or corn down that hole when i clean out clinker. Got this one for 350 and good deal or not I'm happy with it.:D

Well they won't let me go home to build one so I built it out here. It is made out 1/4" flat plate and 1/4" 2" X 2" angle iron, the pipe is 1 1/2" ID, it stands 3' 4" tall. The Top is 1' 3" X 1' 4", and the bottom of the pan is 1' X 1'. The pan is 4" deep. I know it needs a little touching up, but it will have to wait till I get home, so I can sand blast it. And I need to re-weld the seams with my mig welder. I will try it out tomorrow. All I have on the boat is the charcoal (kingsford). If there are any improvements I would love to hear them, this is my first one.

Found at an auction by my wife's uncle for $20.00. I guess it had that look that told most people "stay away, I am dirty and broken" I guess that's why it went so cheap. An hour or so of clean up and oiling and voila! Other than a bit of rust on the legs, it's is great shape! http://www.iforgeiron.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/17620 Here is the blower, it was encrusted in dirt/oil and cleaned up very quickly. It made a fairly angry noise at first, but after oiling/greasing the gears, it runs smooth and quiet now. http://www.iforgeiron.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/17621 So, the lesson here is, you never know when you might find a gem of a buy!

What size pipe should I use? The forge is a side blast, but not gonna do a water cooled tuyver on this forge till i build a more permanent forge, so It'll be consumed I know, but anyway. Going to use a hairdryer for air supply

Hi all this is my first time posting on here. I got this forge some time ago and need some suggestens on how to fix it up. I been thinking of just puting a fire pot in it. Here is two pics of it

Hey there, I just spent the last few months working on this big(for me at least) forge. I used a coach bus rim for the fire-pot, then welded 1/4" steel diamond plate to it to close up some holes, welded on some legs and supports, cut a 1 1/2" hole for the pipe, welded the pipe in place, added some wheels and I have an old electric blower rigged up to a power regulator. Now I am just about ready to start it up but I want to make sure the heat is not going to melt away the welds that I made, they are solid welds (been welding for 5 years). I joined on here just to see people's opinions I was thinking about adding a clay and sand mix to the fire-pot to give it some insu…

Ok. i finaly found some coal venders in the cincinnati that has reguler store hours. Divers home/guarden 513-422-5491 (middle town) $11.45 100 punds hammersvill coal and feed 937-379-1888 (hamersville $150 2000 punds $7.50 100 pounds i decided to give the hammersvill coal a try... and i thank i might be regreating it. it took 2 hours to drive there. unforitly the road for the most part was a 35mph road so what looked like a short drive... was pritty long. once finaly getting there the place was about as ran down is it gets. the guy basicly lives in the barn he sells stuff from. smells like chicken crap... kinda discusting... but i didnt drive 2 hours for noth…

My new fatherin law was taking to me about bilding a corn forge/coal forge from a brake drum and says he can get me a used one at work so i say ok i'll see what i can do with it after i get it. LOL ok so here is what i get!! i dont want to tell its a little big and to deep but oh my, what am i going to do with it it must weigh 50 pounds LOL

Are there any tips on lighting a Coal or Coke forge please So far I have simply used a small rag soaked in oil and then built up the coal around it. I have also tried soaking the Coal in BBQ fluid and lighting it - that worked quite well too. I was interest in when I should start introducing the air (electric fan with speed control). I started adding air as soon as the fire had taken hold and seemed to get a good fire going quite soon. Once I had a good fire, I added more air I would be interested in the proper way of doing this as I am probably making you cringe

I just picked up an old hand crank forge. It is round about the diameter of a 55gal drum made by a forge company in lancaster, pa. The old guy I purchased it from said I need to put a clay lining in it. I looked around for pictures of what I need to do and can;'t find anything. the lip on the side is about 6" tall and the blower blows from the bottom middle. Anybody know of any pictures floating around?

I'm wanting to fix my little forge that I started on, and needed a little help. First, the pan is cracked badly,it go's all the way from the center of the pan to the outside.Also about my air gate,how should it be made?I'm guessing that I have it wrong and the blower should be bolted to the pan and the grate sits on the pan.How would I fix the pan?"]http:// I know I have a few things wrong,because at the time I fixed it up,I had found it in a dump, it was broken apart and all I had to go by was a reprint of a picture in a 1909 sears catalog.Also what should I make my drive belt from?

OK, so I have been putting the parts together for a brake drum forge and I now have all the duct parts in 2" Black Iron. My problem is that all metal here in NE Ohio is pretty much being sold to the scrap dealers for cash and nobody wants to part with a brake drum. I asked at an auto shop today and they think it will likely be $15 if I go to the dealers. I haven't checked on that yet, but it has me frustrated. My plans have been to put the brake drum into a sheet metal table that I have legs for already and it gives me more space to work with fuel. Can any of you suggest alternatives for a firepot that can still bolt to the flange and set into the table? I don'…

I recently purchased an air gate for my forge and it kinda works. The only problem is that even when shut off, I have air blowing up into my fire pot, almost enough to weld with. Has anyone else had this trouble?

So i was at a local auction and baught a forge that they were selling as a grill. No joke. So was this worth the couple of bucks i paid for it? Whats a good price range for this? In new and just getting into this stuff.