Aral

thanks again for the suggestions, I went out and tried the beat on it with a big hammer method today, much easier than I anticipated, only took about 5 minutes to fill a 5 gallon bucket.

Nik, I'm in the exact same situation as you are, I can get a decent amount of industrial coke for free, but it's in large lumps. So, I just sit down next to my anvil and start cracking it. There are 3 types of coke I noticed, the one that's really light, and breaks to dust with anything but the softest touch of the hammer, a bit harder one that breaks with a medium blow, and every now and then a few lumps of coke that just wont break until I hit it really really hard. I don't know about your coke, but maybe this could be helpful
Oh, and also, try to break the coke quite some time before you start smithing, I find it really annoying to break it just before I start forging .

Thanks for comments guys
Frosty, thanks for all the specific details, it's really helpful.
My anvil isn't set on a correct height yet, I just moved it closer to the forge last night, because I haven't yet made a stand for it. I think I need to round my hammer a bit, pjh suggested that I could use an angle grinder with a disc, so I will try that, it should help with the hammer marks.

Hello everyone, I finally made my forge operational, and started smithing today.
Well, I did try smithing before, but back then I haven't had almost anything to begin with, my forge was a small brake drum one and really a pain to heat anything, I had no metal, I had an awful old hammer, and a RR anvil.

Now I have a lot better equipment, so this is my first real day of forging. I started a bit late, because I haven't had the opportunity to finish welding the fire pot, so I only did an hour or less of smithing, most part of it was starting the fire (pet-coke really isn't easy to start).
Then I had issues with my air blast, which was too powerful, and realized I have to get a potentiometer to regulate it, because the fire was not unlike a small firework festival . Anyway, this is the only thing I managed to forge with all that stuff going around, and people distracting me all of the time with silly questions and comments.

This is my first attempt at forging something, and it should be a hot cut hardy when finished. As you can see, it's an amateur work, it's not symmetrical, it has deep hammer marks in it at the sides, but I hope to refine that tomorrow, and hopefully make a decent pair of tongs.
.

P.S. Due to my poor hammer technique, I have 2 blisters already, but I already started holding my hammer better so they will go away soon... I hope...
[Edit]: The pictures are too big, so it's best if you middle-click on them to open them in a new tab, sorry 'bout that, I'll try to reduce the size next time.
[Edit #2]: Middle clicking doesn't work :(

Hey, I don't have any input on the thing you wanted to know, but maybe this would help, this is my anvil, and I can tell you, it's magnificent

That type of fan is very unlikely to work. Reducing the air flow into a pipe -- even a 4" diameter pipe -- and forcing it up through your fuel is going to create back pressure. Common floor fans and the like, such as that one, simply are not designed to overcome even a small amount of back pressure. I think you'll be disappointed with the results. Some of the other suggestions you've received are far more likely to do the job.

Thanks for the information, I guess I'll have to check out other options :)

Thanks for the input guys, I do know it would take quite a bit of work to use that kind of fan, but it's not really a problem, I have enough time during the summer.
edge9001, thanks for the idea, I will check it out and see if I can get one of those with a sufficient air flow.
This reminds me, does anyone know what kind of air flow volume should I aim for (I don't even know which unit of measurement is used to measure that ) using a 4 inch diameter tube.
I'm using pet coke for fuel by the way.

Greetings everyone, I am currently using a vacuum cleaner motor I fit in a plastic tube for a blower. It has plenty of air flow, but the problem is it's really loud. I was considering switching to a hair dryer, but I am concerned that it would be too loud for me too.
Then I got this idea, so I wanted to check here for an advice.
I thought of using an electric household fan, something similar to this, because it's pretty quiet, and it seems that the airflow would be sufficient when reduced to a 5 inch tube.
Has anyone else tried this before, and what do you think, could it work?

Maybe this would help:
I am amazed at how the anvil turned out, it's really massive, and looks like it could last me a long time :)

Hey guys, no worries about the thread going in another direction, it's fine by me, and I like reading all the stuff you posted :)I'll try to model a different design with removable grill and a different way of attaching the fire pot, other than welding it.

Well, I would use the forge lightly, no large and heavy work, and not so often, a week or 2 of a few hours work every few months for now.
And I would be using pet coke, it is the fuel I can get most easily, and it costs me nothing.

I know that cast iron is the best, but unfortunately, I can't find any scrap, and the casting is quite expensive. So, how long do you think a 1cm plate would last if lined properly with clay or bricks?

Ok, here is the link to the model:
http://www.mediafire.com/?owwiz3zjz3n

Hey guys, I have made a 3d model for a fire pot I plan to build, but I was wondering, would the thickness of 1cm (0.393700787)be enough?
At first I thought it would be enough, but now when I think about it, it does seem a bit on the thin side.
I will be burning mostly coke, pet-coke specifically so any info would be appreciated.
I wanted to upload a model, but the forum wouldn't let me attach a .skp file .)

Thanks for the advice guys, but I already know what the design of my firepot would be, now I'm in the process of locating the material. I was thinking about a welded steel plate firepot, and a cast gray iron one, I'll get in contact with a casting company and ask for the price, it might be pretty large for something that is unique/small series. If that doesn't work, ill try to get some steel plate, 1+ cm's thick, and weld it. I'll try to make a model of what I have in mind now.

Hey guys, thanks for the advice, but I wanted to make a good fire pot this time, because I was frustrated with the old one. I did some forging, but the fire wasnt deep enough, and it just frustrated me even more, so I decided I will make a decent fire pot this time. And by the way, I live in Croatia, which has around 4.5 million people, and blacksmiths are nearly impossible to find, maybe a few old grumpy blacksmiths, who can forge a fire poker and a cow bell , and they sure aren't helpful and friendly to help a new blacksmith
And, no, im not exaggerating :P

Hey guys, merry Christmas, and a happy New Year. I know it's a bit late, but I haven't had access to a pc while i was at home, because my notebook got burned by a power surge from a lightning strike, and the other one started practically melting all of a sudden with no apparent reason And, then the forum maintenance kicked in (btw, the new look is excellent it must have taken a lot of work to do it, thanks mods/admins) so I couldnt log from the iPhone either. Sigh.

Now the real rant starts.

While I was at home, I did virtually no blacksmithing, my father had been busy at work, working all day, and he hasn't had the time to make the forge for a week or so,
then we didn't have the appropriate tools, we ditched my old brake drum, which was really small, and tried to get a new one. The one we thought was pretty good in size, turned out to be aluminum, then the next one was pretty great, but had a 2 cm (0.8) inch stainless steel plate welded on the bottom, and we didn't have the drill bit hard enough to drill it.

Needless to say, all the stores were closed due to the holidays, so we went to get a new one. That new one turned out to be really huge so we abandoned that one too.
Now, discouraged, we went back to the original small brake drum, and decided to make that atleast for the time being. Yea, you can guess it, again the tools. We just couldn't find the band saw metal working blade, and again the stores were closed. Ok, so we waited a few days, bought the blade for the saw, sawed around 10% of what we wanted to, and the blade got literarily destroyed.

That was the final blow, I got so frustrated, and gave up!!!
And the worst thing is, my dad has an oxyfuel welding/cutting torch, and the gas tanks, but they are empty, and he hasn't had the time to fill them up, if only he did, we would have done everything in a day, and I would be forging for 2 weeks straight.
Ok, sorry guys for the wall of text, but I am really frustrated, and wanted to share this story with people who would understand.

I hate fire pots.
Really.
Hate them.

Well, I have no idea yet, it was made 2 days ago, and I'm not coming home 'till around Christmas, but I trust it will perform pretty well .)

Thanks for the support guys, merry Christmas to you all too .)

Yea, if it is that heavy, its really good. Though, I personally think it must be lighter, atleast it looks lighter to me.
The bottom are two 5x30x50 cm steel plates, im not sure about the top part.
Well, maybe it is that heavy, i dont know, whatever the weight is, it seems like a good working tool for me, and i hope i will make something useful on it :)

Hey guys, just wanted to share a photo of the anvil my dad made me
I specifically told my mom, that i will not be coming home for christmas holidays unless he finally makes me the anvil (yea i know its mean, but hey, im desperate )
And after an hour or two, its finished
He just sent me this one photo, and it looks pretty decent to me, and he says it weighs around 200 kg



btw, this is my sister holding the hammer :)

Hm, some of this might be a problem, since i live in Croatia. Our entire country has... 4.5 million people .)

So, its not very easy to find those objects like recycling depots, or bridge building companies, but i will try Thanks guys

Thanks for the info guys, but what im really looking for, is what is plate that thick used for? I dont know where to start looking :)

Thanks for the reply and the advice, but i have a piece of RR set up that way, but since its hard for me to get a real anvil here, i was thinking about using this instead of one.
Here is the 3d model of what i was thinking, made in google sketchup, a free program thats quite simple to use.

As you can see, it has 4 hardy holes, well, i thought why not, i could use a few bottom tools at once if i wanted to, so i dont have to switch a lot. I'd like some info on what you guys think about it.

Still, i dont know how or where to get the plate.

[EDIT]: The dimensions are all wrong of course, as i was just doing a model to show my old man how i would like it to look like.

My dad has told me that he might be able to acquire an old forklift fork, so i thought i could make an anvil out of it, but it would need a piece of plate set up vertically under it (i have seen it on the site somewhere i think) to be worth anything.
The problem is, i dont know where to get the plate, or what is it used for.

Welcome to the forums :)