Atticka

You make a good point. I'm not targeting junk yards though. I'm contacting steel shops that do fabrication and steel suppliers that do custom orders. Ideally, these businesses might have a piece ready to send off to a scrap dealer that they may be willing to put aside for me.

Your thinking of "BP1048 Side Draft Chimney" that shows off the individual student workstations, each with their own chimney. Other thing you want to consider is discretion, four different chimneys may draw unwanted attention depending on the neighborhood or nature of your shop (residential or commercial, etc...)

You make a good point Cooper, you could always claim that your forge is a BBQ (even easier to prove if you use charcoal!), that blower attachment improves the flavor of your steaks!

well, keep in mind that it is not against the "law" to go without insurance, just risky. If you are calling insurance companies direct, try contacting an insurance broker instead. A broker is usually a little more flexible and willing to work with you on a special policy.

I would call as many insurance companies as you can to get quotes and second opinions. Can't hurt, maybe you'll get a better rate or better coverage.

Just emailed three steel shops/yards in Montreal to see of they have any scrap hanging around. Fingers crossed!

Nice forge Kovacija! Beaver, I was thinking of setting up a dimmer (fan speed control, not a light dimmer, big difference between the two) and an air baffle for twice the control. I'm thinking it might be healthier for the motor to have the baffle on the outlet instead of the inlet (better cooling for the motor). One thing to remember about fan speed control dimmers is that they control %50 to %100 of the motors output and you shouldn't use a light dimmer. A ceiling fan speed control switch would be perfect and is designed to control motors (I don't know the technical details, has to do with the different capacitance of a light vs. an electric motor). I'm going to try and get all the parts together this weekend to build the forge, I'll take pictures for everyone.

Also keep in mind that "dimmer" switches used for lighting are not suitable, be sure to get a fan speed control "dimmer" typically used for ceiling fans and such. Finally, you want to make sure the speed control switch used can handle the maximum amperage load of the motor.

Did anyone check out "BP1014 Bloomery Process" under the Uri Hoffi series? Neat stuff....

I was thinking the same thing Fish, I was looking at squirrel cage blowers on Grainger Industrial Supply I was considering these two items: Blower,60 CFM,3030 DAYTON 4C441 Fan Speed Control,3 A DAYTON 1DGV1 But I am unsure about how much CFM would be best for such a forge. I can imagine going for higher CFM and dialing it down with the speed control would be a good way to go (better to have more than not enough! I ). Lots of options on that site... I'm still poking around to see if there are better options or deals. http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/categories/hvacr/blowers/small-centrifugal-blowers

Too true! Not only are new anvils expensive, but can you imagine shipping one of those things across the border? yikes!

Thats what I was thinking JohnW, I'm guessing most scrap yards know the value of their steel. I found a number of steel manufacturing and scrap yards....I'm going to start sending out some emails tomorrow to see if anyone has a piece or a junk pile I can poke around.

Thanks for the advice everyone! Problem is I'm not familiar with many machine shops in the city and I'll be limited to weekend foraging. I didn't think new steel would be that expensive, I'm looking for something suitable in the $100 to $200 range, around 100lbs ($1-$2 per lbs range) for an anvil. The price on the 122lb piece (cold rolled 1018, I called and this is what they have in stock) is $280CDN, I could shorten the spec and have an 80lb piece for $185 and it would make a decent anvil. I can lay the piece on its side and make a nice 8x6 surface to work on, or I can stand it up and set it in sand as well. Also possible to machine various corners and edges for added versatility and drill a pritchell hole for punching. I think I'm selling myself here.... I'm still keeping an eye out for good old anvil of course....or any other hard metal surface that would do the trick.

I'm following the basic rules to get started: Something to heat up the iron -Washtub charcoal forge (to be built) Something to hold the hot Iron -TBD Something to hit the iron with -Cross Pein 2lb Something to hit the iron on -TBD (see below) I was toying with the idea of picking up a 6" square by 12" long piece of metal as a starter anvil (122lbs) and setting it in a stump or cement. I'm looking at the following from this company (located in Canada) http://www.metalsupermarkets.com Hot Rolled Carbon Steel square Grade: ASTM - A36 / CSA G40.21 44W (I don't know what this means?) Is this a suitable grade steel? What grade would be best? I'm not ruling out a traditional anvil if I can find a deal on one.

Got it...use natural charcoal. What do you use Aeneas? Thanks for the link Phil, I was in your neck of the woods in June of 2007, beautiful country