Solid Fuel Forges

My friend and I set up a small backyard forge for the fun of it today. Here's what it looks like: And here's a quick review of it. Home-Made Forge

Will after all my many questions and with all the helpful information I was given my new forge and fire pot is finished. All I need now is a blower which I want order till next week. May scavenge the blower off my tire rim forge till then who knows but for now it's done. I did add 2 wheels to the back so that all you have to do is tilt and go as it does need to be portable. I also put a wooden handle on the front for when you roll it around and as I didn't have the metal for a handle and the wood was already in my shop. Any way I was thinking if the forge is still hot and I need to move it the wood might not be so bad but then again???? Will even though I'm at a finis…

Here is my propane cylinder forge all cranked up. I hope my picture comes through.

So I am at the Spring Forge Festival sponsored by HABA in Oldenberg, TX today. A guy has a small rivet forge with a nice CAST IRON Champion blower that works great. The forge bowl is rusty and has a small hole in it but I can fix that. The outside and the legs need sand blasting and a good paint job. No problem. For $85 bucks and no shipping it was worth it. I have two gas forges but this is my first coal forge. Since I can only use it at demos and club meetings, it won't be used much so I figured this little mud hen can rest and do light duty for the rest of its life.

OK, I checked the BluePrints, and all the other information I have at my disposal and in all of it I can not find any one giving a good height for a forge. Now as I'm trying to build my second forge after the tire rim one I want it as close to right as I can get. The new one has a 2'x2' (give or take)table and a "DROP IN" fire pot. Now my thinking is this ,that at belt height on the user would be a good height. But, for safety reasons or other reason I'm not aware of what would be a good height? Or is it just up to the builder and his or hers judgment or preference. Again no offense taken as all advice is good be it good or bad as all help teach one way or the other…

okay I have been looking around at building a sword forge and wanted to weld together one out of an i-beam. i was looking around the web for some ideas when i came across this Forge Building this evening i tried a modified version and just dug a hole in the ground stuck a pipe in there and taped my blower to the pipe and it worked like a charm my question is why don't more people do this? or at least i have never heard of anybody doing it?

I first found this site a few months ago and have been lurking in the shadows sucking up knowledge. I have finally began construction of the forge at the historic farm where I volunteer (Rural Hill - Center of Scottish Heritage). I only have a few weekends left before the Scottish Festival/Highland Games in mid April, so I have to get hopping. I am basing the forge design loosely on the forges at Williamsburg and Jamestown. It will be rock/masonry construction, bottom-blast and side draft chimney. I won't get the chimney constructed before the games, but at least it should be functional (good thing it is still open on 3 sides!). I built the bellows using BP0141 as a…

I am so psyched!!! I finally picked up a forge. Hand cranked Buffalo Forge. Picked it up for $100 at an estate sale. For $10 more, I picked up a huge assortment of Nicholson files, like 30 or more of them. I think I've struck it pretty rich with the assortment of blacksmithing items that I have procured in such a short amount of time. Well anyways, here are some pics of my new found toy:

Hi Guys I a small problem with a 210 blower that siezed up. I CHANGED THE GREASE in the lower gear, the old stuff was like dryed out candy. I then checked all the axle fittings on the gears and they were dry and slightly rusted. I freed them up with wd 40, the ball bearings that fit against another ball bearing inside. I imagine these are what keeps the gears in alignment. My question is how much oil should be in the bottom of the gearbox and what type ? There are no auto oilers in this model just pugs on the top and bottom. Thanks in advance to all your answers ------Duck

for my first Temp forge i used a bucket and smeared some fireplace mortar in it. i used a ceramic thermometer and with using just pieces of wood i was able to get it to 1637F degrees. i threw an old Fat screw driver in there and made a crude looking butter knife,(but it took a while, was it the wood?) i would post picks but i dont want to until i have something worth looking at lol. im thinking about ordering some Coal, Pocahantas #3 from WV it has a reasonable price can anyone recommend it? said to burn at a little over 15,000 BTU's. but before i get to ordering it i am going to try to make my own, from the BP using the drum. ATM im extremely excited, i cant wait to…

Hi all I am new here and to blacksmithing I am trying to set up my first forge I have seen the 55 gallon barrels cut to make the pan of the forge my question is I have a old aluminum grill could it be used as the pan with a cast iron fire box or does it all need to be steel.

Just a quick question. I am in the process of building the forge. The Dimesions of the drum are 11" wide and about 6" deep. Nice bowl shaped drum. Probably off an older 1 1/2 ton truck. Rear drum. My question is for air flow. Would a small electric leaf blower be sufficient Vs. a hair dryer. Either would be controled via a speed control. Thanks Lee

After being away from it for 26 yrs I took part in an NEB event in Maine a couple weeks ago and that set the hook. Made a firepot from a cast iron mold. It's about 8"in dia. and 3 1/2 deep. The forge is inch and a half angle with a 1/8 " diamond plate bottom.Today I finished my forge and got to try it out. If you can believe this I still had a half a barrel of coal that I've stored all those years along with my few tongs and things. I did a few scrolls and twists. Even did an attempt at a bird head. If you use your imagination you can see it. I still think I need to dress my forging hammer a little because I'm getting more marks than I think I should. I have a slight c…

i wanted to make a new coal forge since i am getting tired of my current one(brake drum forge, can't really heat a certain area of the metal with it, to small) i wanted to make one with a table type thing with a fire pot on one side with a blower(i want a crank blower but i may be on a budget) in want a hood to go over the fire pot so smoke doesn't blow everywhere(thats been a small problem lately, whenever i can use my forge the wind picks up a bit ) i also want it to be on a simple stand(4-legged, with 2 wheels on one side for moving/storing) is there anything that i can use as a plan or can someone make me one please? i am not good a plans, lol

G'day all, So, it occurs to me to ask this question as I've not found a good solution to both preserve coke/coal and "quickly" get my fire put out for the night so I'm sure there won't be a problem. I have to return my forge inside each night in case of rain and such.... Starting a forge fire is easy now, thanks everyone, but how do you put your fire out at the end of the day?

hi i'm about to fire up my forge for the first time and i'm wondering if there is a special method of lighting a coal fire compared to charcoal and wood?..i don't have much experience starting anything other than a campfire.

When i got my oxy-acet torch i decidedto fab up a forge, just till mine gets here from canada, we oxy welded it all together(no welder yet, still in canada to), some weds broke from the heat so we went out and rented a little mig for the day, worked great..... Firpot is a brake routor, table is 1/8" Plate, legs are bed frame angle iron, tuyre (however its spelt) or ash dump thing is some 2" exgaust pipe with a plange weded to the top and ash dump is a piece of plate, hole drilled into it and bolt sld through and welded to the tube,(hope that made sence) fierd it last night and it worked well

Who has'em and where can I find'em? :confused: Is there a specific section I should be looking in or someone in particular I should talk to? The more ideas, the better! I was thinking perhaps something out of stone or brick with an overhead style flue. Maybe something that I can access from any and all sides. Thanks.

I have a chance for a hand crank buffalo forge. At this point I have no idea on model or condition. Any idea what I should expect to pay? Thanks, John

This old hand cranker belonged to my Grandpa, he didn't use it much, I think he may have took it on trade, or it was one of his earlier ones. I made a belt by skiving a serpentine from my truck, and glued it with contact cement, just to see if it works. Cranks pretty hard, but it spins. Not sure what make this forge is, if it is a commercial made, or a home, built? It has a hood that I didn't include in the pictures. Parts of it are riveted, parts are assembled with square headed bolts. The belt hub on the fan shaft is made of wood.....

Any web sites that give info on Champion Forges? Mine is a No. 8. I haven't seen any pictures like it. I either see square pots or three legs, mine is round and has four legs.

I know there are other similar threads of this but im just checking with the pros if i missed something.. It will be a semi-portable side draft coal forge. The table surface is 2 feet by 4 feet. The frame is 1by3,1/4 inch u shape angle iron, the table surface is 1/4 inch cast iron, legs are around 1 inch solid steel. I want the heart of the fire to be even with the table surface so il make the fire pot small ,6-8 inch round by 3-4 inches deep, 1/4 inch thick. Fire pot will be welded to the table. All my parts are cut and ready to be welded, exept the fire pot. I like frostys idea of making a birds nest? with loose bricks so he can make the fire big or smaller…

Hello. I inherited a Buffalo Forge with hand crank blower and screw in pipe legs, and I have some questions about it. First of all, it says 651 on side of the forge tray area. Any idea of when this may have been made? Secondly, and more important, I am trying to figure out how to mount the blower to it. It was removed when I got it. There is a hole for a pipe on the bottom left side of the forge with two set bolts in it. There is a similar hole with bolts on the bottom of the blower. There is also a pipe that was bent to a 45 degree angle that I assume fastened the two together. I can match up the set screw holes in the pipe and fasten the blower to the forge,…

Okay I am going to tire to build a forge out of about 100 center blocks or bricks and 5-6 metal Barrels. Now I need some plans if you can help. :D

Well guys here is my problem I have champion forge blower that is getting loose in the bushings/bearings and starting to leak more oil.The oil leeak doesn't bother me that much since adding oil is easy,but it's starting to make more noise and I would like to get it rebuilt before something happens and does major damage.Do any of you know anyone who rebuilds them? I live in central Illinois but don't mind shipping it if I can get it done reasonable.Thanks for any help!