swedefiddle
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Status Replies posted by swedefiddle
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Hi.....just came across your post about your trailer on IFI. I have to set up a trailer as a blacksmith shop due to local building bylaws.....only allowed so much square footage of building on a given property, and so am thinking of building one on a flatdeck trailer. Is that what you have....I don't mean for using at displays where you work outside the trailer.....I'm intending to set up and work inside the trailer. Any help, comments or photos would be great.
Thanks,
Simon
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Good Morning,
Our 'Flyin' Forge' is 17 feet long with another 4 feet for the reach, the box is 6 feet wide, the sides are 7 feet tall. When both sides are up, it is almost 20 feet wide. The sides are the awning that protects the Blacksmiths, from the weather. There is a 2"x3" rectangular tubing as a stiffner for the sides, running horizontal to the ground. This also acts as a rain gutter and diverts the rainwater out an end. There are 2 safety props for each side, 2" difference in length to allow you to choose which way the water runs. The safety props are made from exhaust tubing. The coal forges pull out sideways, about a foot. When pulled out, the smoke pipe goes straight through the roof. The Blacksmith stands on the ground to work. We have a double, swinging overhead chain block to lift the Anvils and Post Vices out of the trailer without anyone getting hurt.
The sides are hinged at the top. The sides are opened with hydraulic cylinders. The hydraulic pump is a Chrysler starter motor, chain driven to a power steering pump. A reservoir extension on top of the power steering fluid reservoir, is made from a 6" dia. steel pipe, 24" long.
The hydraulic control valves are water/oil hand valves from a hardware store. $1.29 each x 4.
Don't think hard! Think safety! Think Simple K.I.S.S.
Yes, we have to do a little maintenance now and again. We have been using it for over 20 years.
Neil Gustafson, Victoria BC
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Just joined, gonna look around a bit
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Good Morning and welcome!!
There is so much information here, sometimes sorted, sometimes not. You need to learn what stories to believe, most are not exagerations. There are a few rules, but manners are paramount. Curl up in a comfy chair with your favorite coffee or tea, pack a lunch and enjoy the journey through the archives. Don't be shy about asking questions, but please put some thought into the questions. There are people here from many countries and walks of life, all with different perseptions, all with their own knowledge.
Enjoy the Journey,
Neil
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Looking forward to gleaning knowledge from the community here! Finishing up my forge, then setting up my workshop before I start my first project. Got some ideas that should be good for a newbie. Happy to be here!
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Hi all im new here. Need all the help i can get.
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Good Morning and welcome
We all need 'HELP' (LOL). There is a ton of information in history, here. Take life easy, sit down with your sandwich and soup or whatever. Read previous questions, answers and sometimes off the chart direction changes, Don't be dismayed, it is all for the better.
If you put your location in your Avatar, we will know who is close by that you might be able to get 'HELP'. There are members from all over the world. ABANA has their affiliates listed on their web-site, look it up to find a group close to you.
Start off with little steps, forget the SWORD.
Neil
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Howdy everyone!
I've spent many, many hours pouring over the posts on this forum and figured it was about time I bit the bullet and signed up.
I'm just starting out in the craft. I've had a book for years called "Back To Basics" which I've all but memorized. I must credit it with planting the seed of Blacksmithing in my mind long ago. I have since acquired several books on blacksmithing which I read often. I've been toying around with giving it a try for a long time and recently decided to take the plunge!
I've worked at a motorcycle shop my whole life and I have a small fortune in my tool box. That being said, I don't have many that fit this craft, which is the best part... I get to make my own tools, rather than paying for the tool guy's kids to go to college!
I'm starting off low key... I've got a bounty of 55 gallon drums, a set of rotors off my shop truck and an old shop vac to make my forge and I got an old piece of railroad tie for an anvil. If all things go as planned, I'll build up from there. I hope to eventually make a set up that requires ZERO electricity... Call it the prepper in me!
Thanks for all the great info you have all already posted and thanks in advance for the help. I try to research the xxxx out of everything I take on and will do my best to keep my posts thoughtful and questions to a minimum. My apologies in advance if a dumb ass comment or question slips in here!
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Good Morning,
Welcome to our land of understanding. You will use the Tools you own, but not for their intended purpose. You will see different ways!! Don't paint yourself into a corner thinking only Coal, Propane is readily available and sometime it is a better choice for the Heat Source. I have multiple configurations from a 9 brick Forge to a commercial style Forge or two.
It is easy to cut a large hole in the side of a 45 gallon drum, in the upper half. The lower half can be used for your quench tank or Propane tank Heat Sink. Take a piece of Large expanded Metal to make a top in a frame. Sit this on top of the drum, make a Brick floor. Lay Bricks on their side to form a trough, with more fire-bricks across the top to make a Forge. Use a Barrel Dolly under your drum. Poof.....You have a portable Forge. Use any kind of Propane Burner, even a Tiger Torch in one end. You have Heat. No pile of dirty Coal, No dirty Coal smoke to annoy your Neighbours.
Get a container of Play-Doh from Wal-Mart for $1.00. Whatever you can make with Play-Doh, you can make with Steel. It works exactly the same manouvers.
Enjoy the Journey, there is no Final Destination. Join a Local Blacksmith Association and you will be on your way to a new way of Thinking and Looking.
Neil
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