SK-Buckwheat

Yeah that would work if a guy did get it to low. I just want to get it right the first time if I can. As far as height goes, well, I have heard your knuckles with a loose fist, wrist height and palm height too. Now if you are forging a lot of heavy stock it seems that the knuckle height works well because you need the full swing to get enough power to forge it easier, but light work I would prefer it a little higher. I will start the new block off about 2" higher when I get around to doing it. Also the back 2 legs on my forge are adjustable for height so you can get it level in both directions, and 3 legs will not wobble on uneven floor either.

Thanks, the flue is 12" and that hood works quite well too, not much ever escapes it's draft. My anvil is 347 lbs. I will be putting it onto a new block here at some point yet. The one that it is on is a bit small in diameter for it. I have been playing with the height of it some to find what works best for me. It is good now for heavy forging but a bit on the low side for lighter & finer work though. I think it is going to end up being about 2" higher than it is now. I don't want to bugger up a good block and end up to low. It seems no matter how many times you cut something it ends up too short.:confused:

Don't know if this link will work, but here go. DSCF0117 - Blacksmith Photo Gallery

element, I am going to post some pics of my forge here soon.

Hmmm, I am not sure if that would cause the problem for sure, those actually should not let any more air into the fire. They should dead end at the center where your fire is. If anything I think that those should have a cooling effect on the, what now is the flat face of it around where the fire actually is. I am fairly sure though that the thickness in the area where your fire would be is not really that thick, like 1/4" perhaps. I was going to use one too when I was first planning of making my forge, but then decided against it and made a more conventional looking pot. I am not sure what tools you have available there, like cutting torch, welder, perhaps a plasma cutter. But if you do have some of those things or can get access to them I would build one. I think you might be glad you did. I guess it depends on how much you are going to use your forge too. I don't really think it would make very much difference if you swapped it out for a drum instead, because the both have basically the same characteristics which is mainly the vertical sides. To gain any amount in thickness you would be getting into a pretty large drum, and then you would have the problem of having the neutral flame to low for longer stock possibly that has to stick straight across the fire pot. Furthermore the straight sides will make it a pain in the *** to clean your fire. Also if you are on a tight budget for this, what you have there the price was right. I hope I didn't confuse the issue on you.

I am a bit confused, did you use a brake rotor instead of a drum? The one I built is larger than most factory cast pots. The first one I made was 4 1/2 inches deep and the one I have in the forge now is only 2 1/2 inches deep. Neither of them I had trouble with getting red hot and I have had some very large fires in them. Both of them are large, 13" square but with sloped sides down to the air inlet. I have never had to wet my coal either. With your pot having straight sides may be where the problem is coming from.

You might want to build an actual side draft hood. The one I made works pretty good. As far as the fire pot being red...not good really. Mine has never been red hot, and it is made from 3/8 plate steel. Is it just the sides of the drum that were red, or was the bottom also red?

Keep us posted on how it works for you. I am interested to see how it goes for you. I will have to get some pictures of my forge on here sometime soon. I built everything for it except the blower really. Even the chimney for it. Cheers.:D

Do not worry about making a pair of tongs. I believe that a pair of them were the first thing that I made once I had my forge going. They get better, you get faster, and they seem easier to make each time you make another pair for something.

I have got some that I would gladly get you fixed up, but unfortunately, way to far away from you. You might want to see if you can look up a site for a US Coal association if you have something like that down there. That is what I had to do to find a supplier. Took some time, but it was worth it. Had to go 700 miles to get it from the mine, but brought home 7 tons. It is fine, but it works well.

It takes a little work, but makes good tongs, excellent punches, etc. I have used lots of it. All of what I have used is 1/2" to 1". You will find that most of it is magnetized, but that goes away in the forge.

Good find, especially for the price. That was lucky. Just clean her up and use her that way for a while. I noticed your welder in the pick there too, I personally would not recommend using it. If one was to repair some of the dings at some point my suggestion would to be using a hard surfacing rod for that. It would be closer to the hardness of it's top plate.:D

I currently have 7 tons stored in a coal shed to keep it out of the weather. Walls, roof, etc. Don't have to find it under snow or anything that way.

Looks like a nice setup alright. In regards to your cracked handle, if you know anyone with a wood lathe, they could easily turn you a new handle. It would just take a few minutes is all. If I still had access to one I would make you one and send it to you.

My Grandfather had a forge with that same blower on it. The original design of it was that the blower clamped into the piping from the tuyere to the blower. There was a small bracket that supported it right at the neck of the blower. I still have that blower too. Kinda like a keepsake.

If you are looking at using it for your cutting torch, yes you can. You should change your hoses though. I just can't remember now which type is which. I can find out for you if you need. You will need the adapter to put on your regulator so it will attach to a propane tank too.