ForgingH

Thanks for the input. Here's what I used: I flattened some pipe and drilled a hole near the ends on the lower one. A spike was driven through them. The top is just hooked over and that's it. The spring is a piece off metal that was already bent so I just stuck it in.

The moral of the story: there's no need to spend hours looking for a way to do something when you can go out and take an hour to do it.  *The spring took half a minute;)*

Alright, thank you. Going to try that now......

I'm using a hand crank blower from a very old sears catalog.

I have a 5" post vise that I need to mount. The post is a 6×6 sunk 3+ feet into the ground. Also does it need a plate under it or something like that? How would YOU mount it???? ( without a welder)

Thanks in advance, Hux. 

Charles the tuyere is 3/4" diameter, it's 3 1/2"below the hearth and I'm using bituminous stoked coal.

Ok here's the coal forge I made using the guidelinesThe blast is near the bottom. Here it is after an unsuccessful forging attempt this morning. There was a fireball in the trough and the coal was piled up a few inches. The metal was a 3 ft pipe that I laid parallel to the table surface. It just wouldn't heat the pipe much. How do I make a useful fire in it w/ coal. Does the fireball have to be huge or what's the minimum size? Should I make a cave or trough? 

Alright, not exactly what I hoped for, but thank you for the info. I finally bought a 10lb sledgehammer head. We'll see how that goes.

Hey guys I have the use of an anvil( my dad's) and the face is practically nonexistent. It seems to have been ripped off or never even put on. Can I hire someone to weld a steel plate on? Is that a good idea? Any ideas about the manufacturer?

I plan to use it for weekend use as often as possible, I'm still a newbie, and I'm guessing it weighs 70# or so. Ask for more details and I'll add them.

All replies will be greatly appreciated. Great thanks, H.

I've been mining gold info out of this thread so thank you to all who contributed. Here's what Charles said that I cut, reorganized, and pasted:

Dig a straight sided trench, 4" wide and 8-12" long.

The tuyere comes in the side of the trench.

You want at least 3-4" above the top of the tuyere to the top of the table.

Now at this point either use bricks or make mounds of dirt on the long sides of the trench up to about 4" to keep the fuel over the stock from running off. Banking coal works, but with charcol you just end up with all the fuel on fire, and still only get 6" of hot spot .

So with charcoal and a 3/4-1” tuyere I find a 4x8” trench about 3” deep to the top of the tuyere good. That makes the trench from 4-5” deep. (5” gives space for coal slag to collect).  With charcoal you need somthing to bank the fuel pile above the hearth (and over the fuel against) so you need a 4” bank on on or both sides of the trench.

Down side of the double walls is that scrolls don’t fit well. Single wall works well and one can always grab a brick.//////// 

I know it's not perfect but it's what I have for now......may add in the future. I look forward to finishing my forge and will show y'all when it's done!

Thanks guys, I worked out a deal with a guy for just the box and thread instead of the whole vise. My wallet remains safe!

Sorry I wasn't too clear. I meant a forge that could be be adapted to fuels. My bad. I did some research on jabod forges and started to build one. I don't really need three forges since I'm just going to use up some wood I have and then move to coal. Thanks for the answers, I really appreciate them.

 My goal is to find or make a forge design that can use coal, charcoal, and wood interchangeably. So far a washtub forge seems to be the best idea. I don't have a welder or angle grinder to make a metal one from. Has anyone tried wood in a washtub forge? What would you do to change a past design you've used? Are clinkers a problem with it? Thanks in advance.

On 4/22/2012 at 11:55 PM, SmoothBore said:

I suspect many of those who seem to be "trolling" for bargains, ... or handouts, ... are relatively young, and are just beginning to learn the ways of the "real" World

That's me. Learnin' life. Thank goodness I've found good info resources.

Do y'all prefer a permanent mounted vise (buried post), or one attached to something like a workbench?

Thanks guys. This info is fascinating. Was corn ever used 60+ years ago?

On 1/14/2019 at 9:00 AM, JHCC said:

Yes, there's an important distinction between "facing the screen when you could be facing the anvil" and "facing the screen when you can't  be facing the anvil".

Definitely

Mistake #31 not following all of the above. I just wish I read the stuff on this site a few months ago....

Thanks to all of you. I get really encouraged reading about success with wood. I will try it soon!

On 5/11/2018 at 1:58 PM, ThomasPowers said:

Also: Do you have an old sewing machine foot switch so the blower turns OFF as soon as you remove the workpiece from the fire?

Now that's a good idea. Thanks

Does anyone know the BTUs for corn?? With the amount of corn being grown today, would it be cheaper to buy corn at the feed store instead of coal? 

Thank you sir x100. You just made my day with that bit about making charcoal with wood WHILE FORGING. I have a big tank of wood chunks that I can use. I was "planning" on making charcoal with it, but I'm terrible at open methods and don't have a kiln. Thanks again, Huxley.

On 7/5/2008 at 2:56 PM, S.Willis said:

You can get a lot more finished products out of 50# of coal than you can 50# of charcoal.

Thank you. This is EXACTLY what I was looking for.

I've done some research with very few results and I just can't find a place to buy a screw box, or a complete screw and box for that matter. I figured I could get a vise for that much. Does anyone know where I could buy a screw and box? I don't have any welders, angle cutters, torches, dies , etc. Or does someone have one to sell? Thanks in advance.

On 4/14/2016 at 7:47 PM, Frosty said:

If you're not sure, rinse and neutralize them with baking soda, rinse and dry. Leave them out for a while they'll start rusting almost immediately if the zinc is gone

Thank you! That little bit was Exactly what I needed!

On 3/6/2018 at 10:01 AM, ryancrowe92 said:

well the thing about the etsy page is one you have to have a bank account,which I'm getting very soon.

I really hate to say this ( I'm 16) but you can't sell on esty if you're under 18 unless you're using parent's bank account, payment, account, etc. On the other hand, that gives us time to improve product quality. The one thing about any business is to diversify. Sincerely best wishes and good luck.

ForgingH.