Littleport22

Thanks for the warning to all those thinking about destroying good beer kegs. The one I got is from a scrapyard and I payed $/lb for it.

I was looking at making one from a 7.5 gal keg. If it's alum, that could be a problem with a melting point of 1200F, and a forge can get much hotter. If it's stainless, that's not a problem with a melting point of around 2700F. Gotta love alloys. I don't know. Perhaps a bit more research. I'm pretty experimental, so I may give it a shot anyways. Worst case scenario, toss the keg and use it's burner and lining for a steel forge. Could be a fun project to tinker with. Thanks for all the insight guys, I love this site!

When you take a roll of kaowool home and you get to your forge, how do you get the kaowool to stick to the side walls? And isn't there a protective paste you "paint" over the kaowool for extra fireproofing? Thanks for the help!

Anybody try this? Looks like a keg, while large, would still make a good forge with a couple layers of kaowool for protection. What do you think?

Funny coming from me who just joined a short while ago, but welcome anyways. I'm in Southern AZ as well, Scottsdale. Do you happen to know where a newbie like me can find a good used anvil? Are there any swap meets down here? Thanks and, again, welcome!

I'm in Scottsdale at the moment. I was thinking of building a gas forge, but I saw in the bladesmithing section a link to a pretty cool design for a coal forge that I may give a try. It was an aluminum washbasin that has an iron pipe for the ventilation, connected to a hand-crank blower. The tub was packed with adobe as a heat guard all the way up to (but not covering, obviously) the vent tube. Notches cut in both ends for long pieces of steel. Anyways, if anyone is in the greater Phoenix area, I'd love to get together. A friend of mine is also as interested as I am. Triw, if you know anybody wanting to move a good used anvil, or forge, let me know. Perhaps this is better in another thread, but I'll ask here as well. What's better for somebody like me starting out and only planning to do small object blacksmithing, gas or coal forge? Is there a big difference in cost, or heat produced? I know gas is more convenient and less work, but if coal is just as good, and perhaps cheaper, I could easily go that way. Thanks again for the welcome!

Hey everyone! I'm new to blacksmithing. Only done it once at a workshop here in AZ, but got hooked. It's been something I've looked into doing for a long time now, but never got off my butt to do it. Now I'm trying. They only inhibiting factor at the moment is cashflow. I'm trying to find good deals on stuff, and that's tough, but I'll keep looking. Anyways, I'm glad I found this forum. It looks like a lot of sharp guys out there with some good advice. Maybe someday I'll be experienced enough to pay some people back with my own advice. Thanks!

I saw your other thread right after I posted my response, lol. Thanks.

Is the face pretty level? Does it need smoothing at all? How much do you want? I live in Scottsdale, so you're not too far. Thanks.