Alan DuBoff

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It's been cold out west, but you guys talking about keeping your slack tubs from freezin' is making me shiver...Today was actually quite nice during the day out here, if it makes you feel any better guys! I was happy to get my overalls off and get my shorts and sandals back on after leaving the smithy today!

Steve, Please post pics when you build it, I'm interested to see what you come up with.

That looks like it would work just fine to me. In this case the firepot is taking most all of the heat, the firebrick is mostly insulating it. If you have a firepot, you're all set!

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That was an excellent find for you, no doubt. Sounds in good shape. I'll post some pics after I get this new one. The other one is out in the yard, it's pretty heavy. A 4" will do most of what I want, I 'spose.

I know this may be a dumb question, but couldn't you just stop chewin' on your work? Seriously, I see a lot of good response, nothing much I can add...but sometimes a flatter works wonders to get a smooth surface.

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6013, I haven't built one out of it yet, still working on my portable/shop/rivet/whatever forge people want to call it. This is about the size I would like to build a portable solid fuel forge out of though, and a brake drum sounds like it will fit inside nicely. I don't plan to transport my old cast iron forge, I plan to use it mostly at home. This is fairly close in size to a freon tank. I do ponder, would gas not be better for portability...but there's something about using solid fuel I prefer, just like my BBQ. I also have a weber 22 1/2" standard kettle bbq, I've seen folks turn those into forges also. for for portability, the smokey joe has it hands down.

Glenn, Mine's a tad different as it's older, but very similar. Mine has a wood handle. I can't remember if mine has the vent in the bottom or not, but that's where I would put the air inlet. (linky pic to spec PDF)

Glenn, You're probably right that it's not a rivet forge, but it's not as hefty as Reil's shop forge. Per the Buffalo catlog you linked to, Scott Thomas drew out on paper something like a No 8 in the series below on page 303. Or No 13 on page 305, but it looks most All of these are very similar when I look at them, but I suspect I'm missing something. Are you saying because of the hood/dash that mine is not a rivet style forge? All of those rivet, portable, blast forge (page 270) all look pretty similar to me, a shallow cast iron forge with a tuyere in the bottom. Of all of them, mine seems to most resemble what they classify as "portable forges". What's the difference between those and rivet forges aside from hood/dash? They're all very shallow and were intended for portable forging, but I just don't consider it to be very portable on today's standards. What I would like to see is something about the size of a Weber Smokey Joe (14"), and to make a small 55 forge, by putting a brake drum in it. If you could find a 14" brake drum, you're in biz, just secure it in the smokey joe. I guess your 55 Forge doesn't weigh that much, but it's the size. There are several ways you could modify a weber smokey joe to be a fine portable forge, maybe even utilize the cover as a hood by cutting an arched door to act as a hood. You could also just create a firepot out of brick in it I 'spose...but when I think of portable, I think of smaller and lighter than what my forge is. If it can't fit in my porsche, it's not portable. The portable forge I have is just too heavy to haul around, IMO. With a hood, or even a lean to on the back fence, it will be fine for my backyard.

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So, it seems there's a lot of folks using gas forges for portability. It certainly seems to offload a lot of excess baggage, and doesn't require electricity. There's certainly something about a solid fuel forge, it just feels right to me, but gas is not a bad option for mobility and it's clean.

Ezra, I can't give you a good price range for a Champion 400, but can only offer what I see them go for. We pay much higher for them on the west coast. I see them go for about $50-$150 on ebay, but shipping is about $40 for a blower, so there's incentive to buy local. I paid $125 for mine, as it was local. I think I paid on the high end, considering mine has some type of make shift stand. I'm still sorting that out, may look at that this weekend. As to why one would use hand powered when there is electricity? For me I wouldn't plan to have electricity if I wanted a truely portable forge. Many events happen in areas where there isn't electricity. There is certainly nothing wrong with electrical blowers, and I only have experience with hand blowers so far, but I like them. The Champion seems messy to transport, also, in the little experience I have with it. For portability, the angle iron frame with firebrick looks like a pretty good way to go (as pic'd in the Seamus link to flicker). Bellows are a good consideration for muscle powered air. Looks easier to transport, weight wise.

I won't try to discourage you from getting a rivet forge, I got a similar one myself recentely and also picked up a Champion 400 blower to use with it. I will caution you that these 2 items are not light, and I'm not sure I would want to lug it around too much myself, I plan to keep it in my backyard mostly, and possibly take it to some property I own. The forge by itself weighs about 100 lbs., and the blower weighs about another 50-75 lbs I guess. Remember, what was portable 100 years ago is not considered portable today, in the same sense. Glenn's 55 ain't a bad option, it's way lighter than an old rivet forge, at least the one I have. If I was haulin' it around for demos, I would think the 55 would be much easier on you. Another option would be to build one out of motar cement packed on a steel frame, if done right they're not very heavy. I can see why folks use gas forges for demos, in many ways it's easier, and you don't really need a blower for many of them. They sure aren't like using solid fuel though. You could do a lot with a box of firebrick also. I like what Seamus (coalandice) did with that forge in the pics on flicker. Good luck with your decision, lots of ways to skin that cat...

Jimmy, I think I have the want to, but need some more skill to. Things are moving foward, I'm plugging away at it, and learning as I go...:cool: Many of the folks have never forged before, so it's a great project in that sense, as it gets people to forging and making something useful. Scott Thomas did a great job at explaining things to folks.

What a great meeting for the Students Of Old Technology, and we were joined by several of the Bay Area Galoots, it was a most enjoyable evening for everyone who attended. EDIT: I 'spose I should add that this steel started life as a coil spring, and we used a couple loops straightened, taking turns with the sledge to flatten it. Then Scott held the stock with the flattener and it was made fairly uniform. We then took turns forming a tang, cutting off 2" of additional stock on the hardy cut-off. That's as far as we got tonight, we didn't get to start forming the blade. Here's some pics of the start of the knife project. (linky pic) Sorry about picture quality, I wasn't having too much luck with taking clear pics tonight. Probably had something to do with the forge flames and low light. EDIT: nope, figured it out, I had the wrong setting on my camera... Here's what I ended up with:

Apprentice, That leg vise is cleaner than the one I got! And you paid a lot less! Nice score! Where do you find all those files? Under a house?

Great pics Stu. I'm always intrigued with the way the Japanese do things, they certainly have their own way, and the way they have smith'd for years really depicts the heart of their tradition. The other guy holding his work in his feet in the other thread you posted, it's facinating that anyone would work metal like that. That type of stuff makes me scratch my head and say, "What is that guy thinking?". It certainly seems to work for them. :confused:

Michael, Thanks for the linky on PawPaw. Nice looking gas forge you're building in the welding class, that will be nice! That's a cute micro-forge, reminds me of the one I forged my first hook in!:cool:

Frosty, Is there an account of what happened to Paw Paw posted somewhere? I've heard several different stories, and not sure what really happened, but yours sounds the most logical. I hadn't heard about him not seeking medical attention and/or if it was purely from the zinc smoke, which your version definitely states.

nice offer Mike, I like to help folks out when I can also. Hopefully, this will help elf out. elf, did you know that piece of rail is in Japan? Do you know the cost of shipping to America? You're in anvil country back east, it rains those things back there...