brickforgebeginner

Sorry thse pics were taken just before drilling. A smooth shank bolt is what I tried using the first time. I cut the threaded part off, then used the 2 lb ball peen hammer to mushroomed (with a lot of tapping) the protruding end. The makeshift pin snapped at the hex head side after opened and closing a few times.

Hey all, I’m not sure where to post this but I am excited and wanted to share some pics of my first tongs!! They aren’t perfect but they work!!! I do have 1 question. I broke the first pin I peened in place. It was a small piece of metal rod. Can anyone tell me what is the best thing to use for pins?

Well Ill tell y’all this much. I rebuilt my brick forge using a lot of good advice but still staying in my “budget”. I’m getting a good clean, and hot fire that finally moves metal. I got me a good oak stump for my terrible ASO and it makes a world of difference. With that being said I’ve now gone from a “kind of liking this” sort of attitude, to a “I’m gonna spend my entire next paycheck on blacksmithing tools and items” attitude. How the xxxx do you guys fight this? Now I think I need a belt grinder, a real anvil and fire bricks cause I keep melting my crappy house bricks, a torch set, new hammers (in a few sizes) a polishing kit, a bench vise, etc, etc. What can I do to either curb the spending or find these items for cheap, so I don’t sell my truck for an auto hammer? (Kidding)

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I have been reading the JBOD feeds and have seen some great ideas. I think I will make a trip to Lowe’s or Home Depot tomorrow and do some shopping. I’ll post pics of my newer, hopefully more efficient forge.

Here is a pic of the interior of my brick forge. The larger circled part is my coal bed area and the smaller circled part is the side blast hole that goes under my coal bed grill. Hopefully this gives y’all a better idea of what I am working with.

I am forging knives from schedule 60 rebar and some older scrap from tools and car springs usually the pieces are around 7” long at max. I use an electric leaf blower that honestly puts out a ton of air and yes the fire is HOT. The coal bed is inside a brick housing on a wire grate and the air comes in under the coal bed from the side. This one is made of an 80d nail

I run a side blown Brick forge using solid oak lump coal. For every 3 hours worth of work I use about 10 lbs. is that too much fuel? How much would you say is a proper amount of fuel, as I can rearrange or rebuild my forge to be more efficient?

Fire beast!!! This was before I narrowed the forge interior with blocks down to workable size of 4”x6”

Ausfire- hahaha yes sir! It’s the new adjustable height and position model. Making due I suppose.

Thank you all so much for the feedback! I admit I go through cowboy coal rather quickly. I built the interior of my forge to be changeable by removing certain bricks my fire can go from 4 inches wide by 5 inches long up to 16 inches long and 4 inches wide. The air flow goes in through the side under the grill part where my coal sits. I plan in the next month or so to build a propane forge with fire bricks but wanted something I can work with on a budget. So far the only thing I’ve paid for is a few bags of lump charcoal, and an ASO. The blower, the bricks, the table and the tools were all scrounged for or given to me by friends. Thank you again for the feedback. If you have any ideas on where to find cheaper fire bricks that would be great. $40 bucks for 6 thin blocks seems ridiculous.

Thanks Dax. I know rebar has its issues, but I have an unlimited supply and it’s been fun practicing with it. I am definitely looking into ordering some good knife round and square stock.

Hello all, I’ve been wanting to build my own forge for about 5 years now and finally moved to some property where it’s not forbidden. So I bought an ASO and grabbed some Bricks and started trying my hand at this fine art. So far I started small with a few knives. Here is a mini cleaver I made to practice drawing out and squaring it’s made from some 1/8 inch 60 grade rebar. And here is a blade I made not sure what you’d call it but it slices well. And last is a pic of my humble forge. Any feedback would be well appreciated. Thanks