OllyO

I shouldn't have thought it would spall off. The castable fire cement I use is produced by VITCAS in Bristol and they make all sorts of fire resistant stuff for foundries and the like. I've used it alot in woodburning stoves, Rayburns, fireplaces and ranges with great success. I know these appliances don't get aywhere near welding temp (1200?) but I'd imagine the back of the forge really doesn't get particually hot either, maybe max 150-200 degress? That's an uneducated guess so please correct me. I'd have to cast the stone in such a way as to allow some tolerance for the expansion of the tuyere etc but other than that I can't forsee any problems. I really like the look of Mike's forges at Greystone forge and want to make something similar to the design of the back plates he makes. There is a photo on the page below; http://www.greystoneforge.co.uk/products/forges In terms of the temp of the water, I've been told during long sessions you can get the water to boil but I have a large bosch so hopfully this will be avoided. With regard to the reasoning of using a backplate or my need for one, it is as before, purely a matter of aethetics. Daft really but I'm enjoying making this thing so may as well enjoy looking at it as well as enjoy using it!

Cheers Toadstone, I'll look into it. I had a thought regarding the fake tuyere plate, it doesn't really need the steel plate, I could make a casting and then black it, I'm sure that'd do the trick alright.

I really like to fit a tuyere plate at the back of my hearth purely for aestheic reasons. I know I can insulate this area in manyt different ways not needing a plate but I'd prefer the look of a plate. Daft I know. I was thinking of cutting the desired shape of the plae out of 3mm and then adding a 20mm trim of the sides at 90 degrees to the plate. I would then put this face down (trim facing up) and cast some 1200 degree fire cement in it. This could be slid of the tuyere and would fit against the back of the hearth insulating the area with a 20mm thick fire brick and 3mm steel plate. Would this be sufficent or would the steel warp? Opinions?

With regards to the flue, this forge will be installed outside in an open sided shed. Where the flue goes up there are a few trees, I can cut the branches back if people reckon this will interfere with draw. 10" or 12"? Forge nearly finished now. Made up some hinges and flaps for the cut outs. I will also make some slides to go in board of the hearth to reduce the size of the cut outs. I started grinding back some welds and got a coat of paint on some of it last night. What do people reckon to the finish of the inside of the bosch. I've spent too long under cars swearing and getting peppered in weld splatter for me to rest easy pouring water into a bare steal bosch! I guess it'd need to be a heat proof paint but I can't imagine that stuff is very corrosion resistant?

Speak to your insurance company first and build to their requirments. Here in the Uk all things like this are goverened by HETAS regulations and without certification from this body your insurance won't cover you in the case of a fire. That's certainly the case for chimneys in houses for woodburners and open fires not sure about sheds and forges. There is some new legislation on chimneys in thatched properties that may be comparable to a wooden shed in terms of its willingness to combust. I think a lot of HETAS' stipulations are a bit over the top, a real belt and braces job but insaying that you don't want to loose a shed full of tools and get told by your insurer that they aren't going to pay out!

Thanks for all the replies/ info, much appreciated. With regard to the flue I have not made the hole/ collar yet. What would people recommend? I thinnk the original forge from which I took the patterns had a 8" pipe. Lengths of this diameter would be easy enough to find but I've seen some forges with massive diameter flues. The Tuyere, from the bosch is 12" at present. I thought it'd be better to make it too long than too short. So 6" protrusion would be best? I'll be mainly working smaller stock to begin with. I guess the usual starter projects of companion sets, curtain rails and the like.

Yeah I thought that John as soon as I had cut them out but what's done is done I guess. I was thinking of welding a bit of plate to the back of the cut outs (inside the hearth) to increase its depth. The other idea would be to make a grate that would hold the coal/ coke in when the cut outs are in use. How big should the cut outs have been? Only an inch or two? Although only by a few degress the tue is pointing downslightly for exactly that reason but I have considered increasing the angle. A shelf seems like a good idead, I was concerned about the stress of the bolts and spacers with a bosch full of water. I'm hoping to get down to Finch Foundry on Sat but not 100% sure yet. Im pretty flooded in at the moment. What time do things kick off?

Not sure where to post this reply really as my other thread is a bit dead so apologies for splitting up my progress. (we put it back together so people can follow the thread rather than search all over for both parts). I have made the tuyere out of a 4" OD steel waterpipe with a smaller 7/8" ID steel pipe welded inside. My neighbour (an engineer) had a buscuit of off cut 20mm thick plate that I had him bore a hole in and welded this to the end forming the tuyere. Becasue it is not tapered as per the cast items I can adjust it. Below is a picture of the forge so far. The tuyere/ water bosch unit is bolted to the back of the forge at the moment but I'll make up some sets of spacers in due course to experiment with how far I want it to protrude into the hearth. Justj2; Yes, it'll be my first go with a forge of any kind and it is also my first attempt at making one albeit a pattern of an old Alcosa I found in a hedge. I have the original blower but haven't checked to see if it works yet. From memory it has F20 cast on the casing. I was lucky in that a friend donated the steel tube and the blower came for the free. The angle was found in a hedge as well. This means the total cost so far comes to around £50. Not bad going I reckon. After I make the hinges and flaps for the side of the hearth it'll be all but complete! Time to start looking for coke. I'm thinking of using 'Breeze', what's the word on this stuff?

Just finsihing my forge but not totally sure how far the tuyere needs to protrude into the hearth. The hearth is 30" long.

What do people reckon to the angle of the tue iron in relation to the hearth? The pipe I have is already cut at an angle that ould have it at 53 degree to the water bosch. The photo below shows this. Does it want to be closer to be just off parrallel at around 47-50 degree or is this suitable?

Got another hour or two today and began work on the hood:

After I cut down the tree that had grown through it and dragged it out of the hedge;

Rough mock up of progres so far; Tuyere parts;

Hello again all, Well I've finally got some time to start work on the forge but there is one thing that I am unsure about. I want to copy the design of the original Alcosa product as closely as possible so that I know it is an efficient forge and not a non functioning half breed born of my whim. I've measure the hearth depth of the original as 6" but I easily have room to make that 7 3/4". I'm making the hearth from 3mm hot rolled steel and intend to line the bottom with fire cement to help insulate the steel. This would likely bring the internal dimensions back to approx the original 6" depth. Can anyone see a problem with this before I proceed? I collected the steel I needed to make the Tuyere this afternoon as well so all I now need is some heavy gauge steel for the back plate (correct term?)

I'm altering this question slightly now. Could people give me the measurements between the top of their hearth and the bottom of their hood on their forges please? The top of my hearth is 30 1/2" so if I have a rough recommended measurement between that and the hood the rest shall fall into place.

I've just inherited the remains of an Alcosa forge. It is in two pieces at the moment and a lot of the metal will need replacing. I was hoping that someone on here might have a similar foge and could give me an idea of the original height from bottom of the rear legs to the top of the hood. It has a 30 1/2 x 24 1/2 inch bed. I have the original blower but not tue iron. The slack tub looks as though it was mounted to the bed at the left hand side if you were looking at it face on. Alcosa Pattern no. MF 34 F

Thanks both. Colleen; I've already been in contacted with the chap at Greystone forge and he has given me his number to ring him regarding tue irons but I'm abroad so will have to get back to him another time. I came across his forges on eBay, they look really nicely made. I didn't realise you could make tue irons without casting your own. John B; We've already been in contact! I emailed regarding a course but was too late as it had already filled up. I'll have to catch up with you guys next year by the looks of things. I'll hopfully be in a better position to make the most of it bby then anyway!

It's probably worth noting that I've fathomed the wrought iron fiber situation out. I been reading a lot of literature of late and have twice read Alex W Bealer's book the art of blacksmithing. It's worth a read and very instructional.

Evening all, I've just joined this site becasue later this summer I intend to dedicate a lot of time learning the craft of the blacksmith. I already have a lot of questions and I've not even started so I thought it best to find some people who don't mind having their ear bent. This seems to be the place! Anyway, I'm going to be building a small business over the next few years and would really like to incorporate as much forging as possible. I have a friend who has a forge and was a sucessful smith for a while until he gave it up because he found the forge too lonely. He is going to give me some tutition to help me get started. I have been until now envolved in the restoration and fitting of period and antique firegrates, cooking ranges and contemporary woodburners and repro fires. I restore other cast iron products like benches and balustrades but only as and when they come into the workshop. I also work on various old British vechiles and engines (money permitting!) My lunch hours and after work hours are generally spent either working on parts for my motorcycle or trying my hand at some forging. We had an old anvil in the workshop that we use for shaping cold steel but I've been firing up the oxy/acetelyne of late and having play with an old claw hammer. Firstly I started drawing 6mm steel rod out and experimenting with heats and shapes and moved on to square bar and barely twists etc. Then splitting bar etc and scrolls. I pulled some wrought iron strips that were used to hold a fire surround onto the wall in a Georgian property and experimented with it. I wanted to make a ring so I began trying to reduce the 1/2 strip down to the correct guage but the metal kept breaking down into fibers. I increased the temperature and the slowed the heating process and had good sucess. If anyonw is interested I can post a picture of the ring. I've also made some belt buckles, squewers and loads of contorted and manipulated oddities that reside on my shelf. I'll stop rambling in a minute. I began looking for an anvil a while back so I could have a play at home and that got my talking to my godfather. I've been helping him re-tyre his (nearly) restored 1901 Oxfordshire bowtop wagon and when I was last there he mantion he had an anvil that I could have becasue it was in fact "mine anyway". It was my great great grandfathers and he handed it to me there and then. Really exciting stuff. He also has his forge but it's shot to pieces and in two halves so I am going to restore that this summer and have it set up by the Autumn. To think I had been scanning eBay for a flamefast forge! I also found a 1926 J.A.P sidevalve engine on his 'scrap' pile! Right so, this is more an introduction than anything else but I do have a few questions. I fairly sure the forge has lost it's tue iron over the years. Does anyonw know where to get one and how much to pay? Pretty sure it enter fromt the rear and has a cooling jacket but I've not had a chance to really look it over. It's still half buried. I'd also like to volunteer my services to anyone in the Taunton area who wants a hand or has five minutes to let me see them at work. I've got more questions regarding start up tools ect but I reckon I'll be fine with my old ball pein hammer and mole grips for the moment. Apologies for the length of the post, thanks to those that made it this far! Here's the wagon for those that are interested, it's one of a pair;