BeaverDamForge

How much space you need depends on a lot of things. My lean-to is about 12 x 14 and half of it is filled with junk. The forge is a couple feet from the anvil which is a couple feet from the vise.

Luckily I don't have to worry about noise, my nearest neighbors are 75-100 yds away and I usually forge in the daytime when they're not home. My Fisher anvil does not ring, I can hear the hammer ring a little.

Low frequencies travel around corners more and carry farther. Do be careful about flammable insulation, remember the nightclub fire (last year, I think) where the band set off fireworks - several were killed IIRC.

Good Luck!

Hey, people have built forges out of barbeques, what the heck! It doesn't have to be the only forge you ever build, many of us have more than one. The gas tank sounds a bit on the large side, but maybe that's because I'm used to older vehicles... if you use mud to line it you can make the firepot whatever size you need for a project.

Wally World had some oval washtubs embossed with "Cold Drinks" and "Beer" for $8, one of these days I'll make the one I got into a forge.
http://64.176.180.203/washtubforge.htm

Good Luck!

The only problem with this plan is that the fan will only turn as fast as you can crank. However, if you fashion a gear box on the side (small gear to large, small gear to large) and THEN attach the crank---or even a foot pedal---you should get enough air moving for it to be a viable option.

Yeah, leaf blowers turn a lot of RPM. You wouldn't need but a couple thousand to feed a fire though... 40:1 step up might do it.

I think a blower could be fashioned out of plywood, with about 21-22" diameter impeller it wouldn't need nearly as much RPM. Prolly still need a pulley system to get enough though. One of these days...

Good Luck!

The only issue I'm having is the ring it makes, a real loud high pitch ring that will destroy your hearing in no time. Be sure to wrap chains or something around it. Just my .2$. God bless!

Oh yeah, the ringing... won't miss that!

Can I not bolt it down, say to a 5-gal bucket of concrete, to take some of the give out of it?

Problem is, the 'give' is in the vertical flange of the rail. It's designed to give a little as the train wheels pass over it. I've heard of welding plate on both sides to stiffen it vertically. I had mine on a 18" x 5' piece of white oak set in the ground, pretty solid. But the surface still isn't as hard as a good anvil.

Using the end of the rail avoids the flex problem. I may set up a treadle hammer that way.

Good Luck!

I built a box bellows, works good but the air stops when you do.

Here's a plan for a simple lung bellows, could use some of the new plastic dog food bags;

http://www.cd3wd.com/CD3WD_40/JF/JF_OTHER/SMALL/04-084_blacksmiths_bellows.pdf

Good Luck!

I started with a piece of track that had a crude horn cut, a wicked curve to the top (one side 1/4" lower than the other), and too much of the flange removed to be stable. It had little rebound and dented easily. It was a good place to start, made me really appreciate the 100lb Fisher I was given... hammer blows are 50% more efficient now.

I had bolted it down onto a tie plate, and used the holes in that for 3/4" hardy tools.

Good Luck!

Hello Smithies,

...

I didn't see anybody point it out, but a 'smithy' is the shop where a 'smith' works...

"Under a spreading chestnut-tree
The village smithy stands;
The smith, a mighty man is he,
With large and sinewy hands;
And the muscles of his brawny arms
Are strong as iron bands."

The Village Smithy

Good Luck!

that is too nice a casting to turn into a forge... ide use a old bbq before usin that...if you get that up to forgeing temp it might crack ..just my 2 cents worth.. what other scrap can you find even a old bucket can work in a pinch ..

I'd agree with this... an old wheel rim or washtub lined with mud is cheap and easy enough. Set that (rare?) piece aside.

Good Luck!

See, it all depends on how you define fun and comfort... for me fun is being two hills away when you make it to the top of the first one, comfort is my legs not aching from having to haul excess weight around.

The bike I posted pics of isn't the epitome of either, just "my way" of building a bike path cruiser.

Sorry for disrupting your thread, last post.

Good Luck!

this is odd because i have left cheap drills out in the -5 weather before and they still work fine after....

I once dropped a 1/2" drill in a hot tank full of lye solution - you should have seen the foam from the aluminum case! We fished it out, dried it out and went back to using it - after closing the lid of the hot tank...

Good Luck!

Laminating was done a lot when high carbon steel was hard to get. I'd just use good steel and selectively harden or temper so the edge is harder than the shank.

Good Luck!

Motors needing help to start is one thing - probably a bad capacitor. But running slowly until getting up to temp could be stiff grease in bearings or tight (new) bushings in the motor. A lot of bushings are aluminum alloys (may be part of the motor frame) and contract more than steel shafts when cold. Running slowly will draw a lot of current, you'd probably do better to warm the machine first.

Good Luck!

A true steamer that would be off the hook!!!
As well as cool blacksmith challenge, either way that thing is neat!

Check local regulations before thinking about steam power. Here in VA even small boilers are required to be registered, inspected yearly (at your expense), and can only be worked on by a certified boiler mechanic. Then there's the issue of registration, tags, insurance, etc for a powered vehicle.

I guess the 'chopper' bikes and recumbents are cool until you come to a hill or a kid on a regular bike blows past you... there's nothing like being able to put your weight on the pedals of a light, responsive bike.

Good Luck!

(edit) Here's one I put together a few years back, it's from about (as near as I can figure) '58, a Rollfast, which I picked up for $35. I learned to ride on a hand-me-down girl's Rollfast in the '60s. I used a two-speed rear hub and high pressure tires on alloy rims with a 3 leading, 3 trailing spoke pattern. One day I may paint it, but kids still think it's cool, and it gets down the road pretty good.

I've seen lawn mower blades bent from hitting rocks (no, it wasn't me...), I doubt they're good steel. And as Arbalist says they sharpen easily, I don't recall ever seeing branching sparks when sharpening them but I wasn't really looking for it.

Good Luck!

You might consider using Tyvek instead of leather or canvas. Strong, flexible, and should be of no interest to rodents. Carpet glue will hold it.

Some of the new dog food bags are a reinforced plastic, might work with this design; http://www.cd3wd.com/CD3WD_40/JF/JF_OTHER/SMALL/04-084_blacksmiths_bellows.pdf

Good Luck!

The price for scrap has dropped because demand dropped.
China stopped buying.
They can't finance their new contruction.

OK, but why is steel price (to purchase) still high if the demand has dropped? Shouldn't there be a surplus on the market?

Good Luck!

In a related vein, why is the price of steel so high and the price paid for scrap so low right now?

Good Luck!

Google on Inertia Nut Cracker (rubber band model) and you'll see a good design that produces a completely fractured shell without damaging the meat. We had a pecan orchard when I was growing up so I spent every fall cracking pecans by the thousands - if I never see another one, it will be too soon...

We had one of those when I was a kid, but I can usually do as good with a handheld nutcracker. Break the shell around the middle and the ends come off without too much trouble.

Good Luck!

BP 486 is a viking padlock made from a piece of tubing.

I saw a demo with Elmer Roush, he showed us some locks he had made. A few are shown here;
Elmer Roush, Early Padlocks

Elmer said he started with flat stock instead of tubing, as it would have been done originally.

Good Luck!

With my smithing and wood turning I just get by. I do what I do because I love it.
Finnr

Sounds about like me, except I'm trying to work up to getting by...

I'm afraid of ruining my hobbies by trying to make a living at them - I used to like to work on cars.

But I'm more afraid of going back to 40 hrs of making someone else money, commuting, ACK!

Good Luck!

I draw them out, sometimes to 3', and make candle holders incorporating a piece of glass from Goodwill. Basically a stand for a glass candle holder. When you tell somebody "That used to be a spike." their reaction is usually worth the effort.

I made a backscratcher with a turned oak handle, I mainly flattened the head and made three lobes with thin edges. I drew the shank out and left it square, so I could put a twist in it.

Frederick's cross for my GF's brother's grave.

Jayco tongs, punches, anvil tools, etc.

I have used the spring clips ("rail anchors") for chisels and a hardy.

Good Luck!

Years ago I passed a Morse Code exam for a Technician Class FCC license, and I had to study hard for months for that. Personally I can not imagine memorizing something that difficult on the unlikely coincidence of coming across someone who also knows the code.

Not to mention you'd have to be literate to begin with, I don't think many slaves were. Maybe a simpler code could have been developed.

I have a hard enough time making anything without trying to incorporate a code in my rhythm, but maybe that's just me...

Good Luck!

Wood, corn, newspaper, acorns...

Good Luck!

I'm the 'other' guy. My gasifier burns wood, corn, acorns, newspaper, and a few things I haven't tried yet, I'm sure.

Good Luck!

Cheer's for the post's guy's, yeah John hit the nail on the head, well i was using some wierd piping that lowered the pressure when it got to the forge, but gave alot of air output.. Actually... It just may of been bad "plumbing" on my side. Well i have a few fans around amongst the other thing's I can try.

What do you think of a cpu fan from a computer in a coke bottle, hooked up to a motorcycle battery? Apart from probably a burnt out fan?

Cheer's again

Most computer fans are only a few watts, not enough for much of a fire. I was thinking of using one on my gasifier, since I close off most of the inlet of the microwave blower (shaded pole motor/squirrel cage fan) I use now. But I've gone to giving it full blast for a few minutes before starting to blow out the ashes, and I don't think a computer fan would do that. I've thought about having several blow into a box or manifold, not sure how that would work.

I was going to use a shop vac for one forge, but I had to close off most of the inlet of that too, and no way was I going to stand next to that noise for long!

Good Luck!