Arbalist

I'd like to see some pics of your Forge as this is a concern of mine as well. Many Forges often seem to have deep sides as well making it virtually impossible to heat up anything but the end of a bar!? I think my next Forge may be something like this: My Portable Forge

That's a real fine looking Leg Vice, nice job.

Good tip if you have the option Sam, thanks I'll be trying to get some Ash for handles soon.

From: Alum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia As a Flame Retardant "Solutions containing Alum may be used to treat cloth, wood and paper materials to increase their resistance to fire. Alum is also a component of foamite, used in fire extinguishers to smother chemical and oil fires" Not sure how effective it is to more modern treatments? AND now thinking about it I don't know where to buy it locally either Have to do a bit more Googling :rolleyes:

Good idea, we call them dust sheets over here and you can get nice thick cotton ones at a good price. Treating it with Alum would be a good idea as well to make it a little fire resistant.

Hurry up with the pictures, the suspense is awful :D

Very interesting thread this one. Thanks to those who have posted some pics of some real nice looking Forges! Can I ask, what type of awning do some of you use to keep the sun off your forge - so you can see the colour of the metal? Vic.

The "what wood for Handles" question pops up from time to time, it was on another forum a while back. The two main criteria seem to be strength - ie is the wood strong enough for the job, and does it transmit or rather limit vibrations to the user. I'm no expert but expect that almost any wood that meets these criteria should be ok, no need to get hung up over Ash or Hickory! Don't get me wrong though Hickory is a very tough wood if you can get it. I currently have one Hammer handled with Oak and another in Beech - I'll let you know when they fail, but don't expect it to be anytime soon :p

Thanks for the update - good pics!

Nice job on the Cleaver, I'd be well pleased with it :)

Nice pictures, thanks for sharing!

I've not built a gas forge yet but I'd be wary of sliding doors on such a harsh environment. I'd even be worried about simple hinges getting warped and causing problems. Keep it simple if you can, less to go wrong! Vic.

That's looking good, can't wait to see the finished workshop - you are very lucky. I don't know about it being small, I seems to me to be an ideal size. I'm not sure about putting the windows opposite the forge though? Lots of natural light is good for most purposes but maybe the forge should not have too much of it!? keep the pictures coming, this is interesting stuff! Vic.

Thanks for taking the time guys, some really nice work there! Vic.

Anybody got any good pictures of Pineapple twists they've made? Vic.

As an alternative can you chop the rim of the drum off leaving it say 4" deep?

Ted, I thought it was reference to having a small fringe for wiping fire scale off the Anvil so thanks for the heads up on the story, I'll have a look. Vic. I like this one! http://www.anvilfire.com/21centbs/stories/King_of_Crafts.htm

Thanks for the replies guys. Not sure about the fringe though - I tend to use the back of my gloved (left) hand. Vic.

How many of you wear one when you're at the Forge? I'm thinking it's a good idea except the good ones are quite pricey. I suppose a Welders Apron would be better than nothing? Welder's Leather Apron Red Heat-Resistant 24 x 36" on eBay (end time 21-Oct-08 18:31:13 BST) Vic.

Maybe this? UP TO $1000/wk making charcoal for fireworks - eBay (item 130262756447 end time Nov-14-08 12:04:02 PST)

Very good design and nicely made! :)

Well I fired it up today and as the pictures show it certainly worked well enough. I (thought) I wanted a nice compact forge and the wash tub forge that was the inspiration for this seemed a good idea, although in fairness it is aimed at knife makers. The limitations of the design (for me at least) mean that I'm going to have to re-think what I need. The only other forge I've used was Coke fired and that certainly produced less fire scale than this one so that is a concern for me as well. Hopefully I'll be trying out a Chip Forge next week so I can see what that is like. Setup 10mm Bar fresh from the fire. Melted off end! Vic.

Thanks John, sorry to hijack this thread but can you expand a little on that, is the fire deeper for Charcoal? Vic.

Can I ask, would there be any difference in say the depth of the Firepot between using Coal/Coke and Charcoal?

I'm hoping to fire up my first Forge this weekend: http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/f7/first-forge-7654/ Hope it works ok :o