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I Forge Iron

Scott Haney

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Everything posted by Scott Haney

  1. Thanks for the input, everyone. I appreciate the help. Happy New Years, y'all!
  2. Great point, JHCC. I'm planning to go at least look at this equipment to see what the working condition is and go from there. A crank blower would be great to have, but I sure don't want them to have to pay for the whole package just to get a blower, so we'll see how it all looks. I appreciate your input on the value and all.
  3. Thanks, Turbo. I appreciate the input -- hoping for the $300 or less range, so we'll see how the seller bargains.
  4. Hah. True. However, the family member isn't rolling in extra cash and doesn't know ANYTHING about forges. So, I was hoping to at least give them a general idea of what folks would consider fair for the setup, as I don't want them being taken advantage of. My forge and box bellows so far have all been free aside from my time/effort, so I really have no clue about forge/blower valuation.
  5. Hey, folks. As a newbie who has only built a charcoal forge and box bellows from scrap so far, I've never done much research or looking into values of coal forges and blowers. So, I'm hoping y'all can give me some input on a fair general value of this forge and blower. Heck, or a "I wouldn't buy it because of..." even works. A family member is wanting to buy this set for me, and I want to make sure they aren't getting a bad deal (they won't tell me a price yet, so I was trying to get an idea of general fair-market value to tell them). If I were hunting for tools, I'd always go for as cheap as possible (and I know it depends on location and other variables), but any input just based on these photos on what you consider would be a fair price is appreciated. According to my family member, the blower (Champion No. 40) runs fairly smoothly & the forge table is approximately 24x40 inches. Looks like the counterweight is missing on the blower, and I can't quite tell if the clinker breaker is attached to the rod or not, but otherwise I'll have to wait to see it all in person. Honestly, I'm mainly interested in the blower since I wasn't planning on switching to coal/coke soon, but they're saying it's a package deal only. Thanks for any input.
  6. After firing it up for a couple hours this afternoon, I'll likely be creating more of a trench for the fire pot while also raising my tuyere by a bit. The current size of the fire pot didn't allow for easy ash clean out. By the time I got the mound of charcoal high enough and hot enough to heat the middle section of my rod, the ash tended to have built up enough to impede the airflow. So, a trench and slightly raised tuyere (I realized it was more toward the bottom than it should have been) should help with those issues. As you said, Charles, dirt is cheap, so experimenting is nice. Also, the firebricks already came in handy today to concentrate the coals. Thanks again!
  7. For sure. I've got a few fire bricks to use like you had a picture of in one of the earlier posts.
  8. Agreed! It's very wrong. I'll be heating it up again this weekend.
  9. She isn't pretty, but at no cost aside from my time and a little material scrounging work, it'll get me going. I built a scrap wood base, lined it with a bit of Tyvek, a layer of old tile to protect the bottom, and then packed in red clay. With a piece of scrap black iron pipe for the tuyere and some aluminum siding cut-offs for a rain cover, it works rather well. I built a rough-around-the-edges box bellows (Japanese fuigo) for the blower. I'll be using charcoal (homemade pieces once I get my retort built), and I think this combo of blower and dirt/clay fire pot will work well. Approximately 2'x2'. The video is a short clip of the first time I lit some scrap paper in it to see how the blower and tuyere worked. I'll be sure to report back on how well is works as I use it more. Thanks again, Charles, for the inspirational nudge via this thread to get me to make one of these simple forges. I can already tell it's going to work much better than my brake drum forge. ScrapWood-DirtForge-Fire.mp4
  10. And with yet another good suggestion, it seems the common sense portion of my brain must've stopped working. Thanks for the "duh" inspiration.
  11. True! I think I didn't even think of that simple solution out of frustration. Hah. I used 2x12s for the sides, so I had plenty of room already... had I added up the space measurements correctly (math... ugh). And I have the top at a perfect standing height currently. So, before adding more material to the forge top, I'll give it a go like it ended up.
  12. Good thinking. I do have enough space for a good layer of clay between the tiles and fire pot, but I'll keep an eye on it and move the tuyere if needed.
  13. Thanks for the reply, Charles! I definitely appreciate the clarification. I planned and drew everything out twice using the general measurements you gave, got it all cut and put together... and realized I forgot to factor-in the thickness of my bottom boards (mine are mounted in the interior of the frame instead of the very bottom like yours shows). Amateur carpenter lesson learned. Haha So, instead of bricks on the bottom now, I'll have some thick tiles as a digging barrier. It'll work out great, thankfully, though. Now, I'll just get some clay or sand, put in my blower, and start forging. Also, mine will be outside, so I'll be building a hinged lid to keep the interior dry. I'll be sure to post a picture once I get it all finished. Thanks again for the great inspiration!
  14. Thanks for the info on this build, Charles! I'd seen some wood-frame forges, but have been trying to gather some metal to build a forge body. I was doing some last-minute searching for designs, saw this post, and decided to go your route -- so, your post saved me a good bit of time, money, and effort. Before I get to drilling a hole for the pipe and filling the forge with material, I had a couple questions to make sure I'm setting it up for the best heat. 1. You mentioned yours is 7.5" deep. Since you're using 1x8" boards, I'm guessing the 7.5" is from the wooden bottom to the top of the boards. So, since you mentioned having a 1.5-2" brick floor beneath the clay/sand, is your fire hole only about 5.5-6" inches deep, including the 1" space below the tuyere? 2. For correct fire ball placement at the of the clay, the charcoal above the clay top should be 2-3" high (or more) for best fire ball placement at the top level? 3. Also, for general purpose forging like you pictured in the post, how wide across is the hole at the bottom and top where it flares out? 4. You mentioned the clay will harden some in the fire hole -- do you just pull the harder pieces out and reshape the pot as needed? 5. Just to verify the layout. It's a 1.5-2" brick floor topped with clay/sand/etc. Then, there's a 1" space below the tuyere and charcoal piled up to a few inches above the surface? ** I'm attaching a sketch of how I'm thinking the layout should look, with each rectangle being 1" tall. ** Many, many thanks again for the inspiration for the build and for any info on the questions. - Scott
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