ronwend523

I wanted to share an idea for a vertical bellows that could be operated with a pull cord making operation a bit more easy and take up less room. Excuse the crude drawing and as far as measurements that would be to taste, I guess. The plan is the same as the conventional Japanese style bellows but upright instead of laying down. Just a hairbrain idea. I welcome any and all thoughts. Sorry the drawings are on their side. They didn't load like I wanted.

They are an easy put together. The 55 gal drum was on Ebay for $39 with shipping. Food grade drum with locking lid. The 15 gal are hard to come by and actually a 10-12 gal would be better cause theres more room for fire material and 10-12 gal gives a good amount of char. The inside container has a take off lid with tabs and it 3 legs to keep it up high in the outside drum. A steel pipe comes out the top side of the inside drum and down the side to burn off gasses. There's the 4" stove pipe on top and a tin door at the bottom to feed fire wood and draft air. I have made 4 batches of ash char and it works like a charm.

I built a charcoal maker from a 55 gal drum and a 15 gal drum with a tabbed lid. The 55 gal had a lid as well and I installed a 4" stove pipe in it. The inside drum has a vent pipe going down its side for gasses to escape and burn. I fill the fire wood into the bottom and along the sides. I have made 3 batches so far and it is working very well.

Thank you for the tips guys. Daswulf I saw that too and took the plastic off. I will extend that with a 6" nipple then the plastic. I'm going to go with a hair dryer as my fan for now and see how that goes. I'm not going to be forging as much as you guys would. I'm thinking with I may need to raise the bottom of my burn area up to get a hot spot higher for mid piece heats. Making the refractory stuff was easy so that would work. I may need to extend an area all around the hot box for additional fuel to rake in. I enjoy any feed back guys.

I fired my newly built small forge for the first time, today. I have never done that before. I used some Kingsford because I have not made any charcoal yet. I'm just getting into this stuff. I put a piece of steel in the fire and she got close to white. I had an issue with the blower I had put on it as it didn't put out much air. I put my hair dryer in it and away it went. I have to revamp that part. The forge is an old camper sink(stainless) and I made some refractory and lined it behind some fire brick. I have to make a grate for the bottom draft hole yet.

Hey Tom, I don't have a bearing but it has some ring. Not like hitting a RR track piece. I cleaned the top some and looking at the sparks it may very well be cast Iron.

I just bought this 50# anvil from a guy that deals in scrap. There isn't any markings on it and it appears to be cast. I'm guessing it was a ferriers (spelling) anvil but it's been around a while and used. One foot is broken off on the other side but it's still very useable. I'm just curious if anyone recognizes what it is.

Newbie to blacksmithing. Have worked with metal but never on a forge. I am building a small forge to try my hand at this. Looking at a fuel source I wondered if wood pellets had been tried at all. I see raw wood being used and thought maybe it would be a more condensed fuel. Any thoughts?