Davidrw70

Finally finished my coal forge.....95% of the metal came from the scrap pile at my shop. The only parts that I paid for were the pipe fittings for the ash dump and the blower of course.......Everything else was salvage including the drum. My welding is hideous, but the coal won't mind too much!!!

Looks like a good working forge. Does it have an ash dump?

 

I give it a hearty thumbs up.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

Thank you Frosty!

Yes it does...

Stage two of my brake drum forge....Utilizing only scrap that I can get for free.....

Stage three will be the cart / legs that should be completed in a week or so.

Spent the last couple of days building the stand for my 209# Peter Wright....... I just need to add some tool holders..............Next comes the forge....

I like the pipe flange idea instead of something welded or tacked onto the side and end of a pipe.  I have to wheel my brake drum forge outside my wooden shop, and that looks more stable.

 

BTW, "soon to be Arkansas location"...you're gonna love Arkansas :)

Gonna be in the Baxter County area! Be about a year before I liver there full time......Working in TX to pay it off before I get there....

Well here is the first couple stages of my brake drum forge........

I have a brake drum from a 12,000 # axle of a trailer. I used some hi temp mortar to make  the fire pot a little smaller and angled. SO far I am only about $80 into it for the mortar and a few parts that I needed. The rest I had on hand......

I am slowly going to be setting up my forge in Arkansas over the next year while I still work in Texas.

Since I was using threaded pipe that I had on hand I just used a matching flange and bolted and piece of scrap 18 ga.(?) that I cut out and then welded an old socket driver and spare socket as a swivel ash dump. It's gonna be a while before I can get it all built but I am piecing it together a little bit at a time.

....ok...here you be.

Thank you.... Looks great!!

What parts; The stand? Bearings? Handle?

 

There are gaskets? I know of no gaskets.........sometimes folks place a cork between the fan housings.

 

"With out the stand" begs the question............where in heaven's name do all the staands get to?????????? Huh? Seriously folks!! Where? I find one that is reasonable WITH the stand, ,,,,,,,,I buy it.  

 

Are they like the lost sock after every wash cycle?

 

Stupid, I say.

The fan housing had a gasket of some sort in it when I took it apart! It was an old dry rotted that basically turned to dust when I pulled the housing apart. I was thinking of just using a small hemp cord to replace it after I get it all cleaned up.

I have seen a lot of 400's for sale most of which did not have a stand. I have never seen a stand for sale by itself. Most likely I am going to build a stand connected to my forge legs  when I get ready to build it.

I made a stand for mine and it was quite a job. You'd have to want to do it. I have some pictures if you'd like.....

Would love to see some pictures of that!

I  picked up a 400 without stand for $90 the other week.........Where would I start looking to find parts? I am going to clean it up, sand blast the rust. Everything is there except for the wood handle and gaskets.....The internals are strong, oil cap is there, all bearings are still pretty well packed. 

David; I still have 13 acres of "Family Land" in NW AR, near Fort Smith.  I'm going to visit kinfolk up there in October.  When do you plan to go?  My  great grandfather was a smith in thye Ozarks.

I just closed on our place yesterday. It is just outside of Norfork, AR about 20 min south of Mountain Home. Although, I will be moving the majority of my stuff up there at the end of the month I will continue to work in West Texas for the next year or so. I hope to be up there full time by Christmas of 2014, if all goes well. I have too good of a job in TX to give it up without paying off the land first! I currently live in Midland, TX.

Wow, Steve sold you a BEAUTY!

Yeah! He is great to deal with! Price was a little higher than I was looking to spend but i plan on using it for many many years to come!

This will most likely be the the building that will house my 'Hobby Forge'.....All the junk is from the previous owner and will be cleaned out by the end of the week.  I was planning on building a brake drum forge and centering it on the back wall and building a flue-box out the window for the back/side draft chimney to run up the outside of the building. I also plan on fully insulating it and covering the back wall with dry wall then corrugated steel that I will have a supply of from another old building on property.

This will be my first anvil. It is currently en route. Although I will not be able to fully utilize it for a year or so (bought property in Arkansas but will not move for another year) I finally pulled the trigger on my dream of setting up my first forge.....Its a 209# Peter Wright!!