WoodFireMetal

Now that you mentioned it, they do look like Pac-Man ghosts! I would definitely cut off the teeth and use just the solid part. I don’t know about stainless because it doesn’t take much for them to rust. I did email one company asking the type of steel and they said it was “proprietary”. One ad did mention the Andis blades being “chrome-coated carburized steel”. not sure if the Wahl blades are coated. They seem more naturally colored. Not with broken teeth. They’re unsafe to use against skin. The small blade on the bottom is replaceable, but if the large half gets a broken tooth, it becomes useless.

I have access to broken grooming clipper blades and it seems a waste to toss them. There are 4 separate pieces to each of them. Could they be used for tooling? Ax bits? Welded together to make chisels and punches?

Is Kanka double horn? I like the style and the 2nd horn is useful to me. I'm up for options of brand. The main thing is that it’s lightweight for easy travel for demos, and not easily dented like my stake anvil which currently provides my flat horn. Edit——-I just looked at the Kanca 77lb and see it’s a double horn. Definitely a possibility. Thanks!

The darker one is 510 euros, the lighter, 525. Not sure what it translates to in dollars. They’re overseas.

I’m in the market for a 60-75lb anvil for museum outreach demos and I’m eyes these 2. They look almost identical except for their numbers, and the side on which they are stamped. Anyone know what the difference is between them? The darker one has a nicer looking face, which is my preference of the 2. The other is covered in chisel marks. I was considering a pig anvil because I love the look of them, but the idea of having to custom make and bend all its hardy tools to fit the curved hardy hole doesn’t impress me at the moment. Maybe in the future when I have a better skill set. Also, does this brand have hardened steel faces? Should I worry about easily denting it? Thanks for the help

An 18” cast iron pan would probably be pretty heavy. Just a small skillet is pretty hefty. I accidentally stumbled upon a forum post while google searching and it turns out my “modernish” forge may not be so modern. Someone else acquired the same style and called it vintage (photo attached). And here I thought it was a homemade job. Doesn’t help me find a pan replacement, but I’m going to chat with some farmers this weekend at the farmer’s market about the ag discs. There is one style that is a little deeper that may help keep the fire a little more contained than the completely flat surface of the original pan. It just uses up way too much fuel and I’m finding myself fighting with the fire to keep it up. Unless I perhaps cut the center out of the disc and drop a forged sheet metal bowl into it as a firepot. Any thoughts on thickness of sheet metal?

Daswulf, I actually have a brake rotor forge I built a few months ago. Brake rotor and piping in a big box of dirt on lawnmower wheels which is not as portable as I need for museum outreach events. Way too heavy. My hope was to find a similarly sized and shaped pan like the forge already has. Little did I realize how difficult it would be. My original search was for oil pans, but apparently they’re nearly all plastic, with an occasional aluminum one. A wok showed up as an option in that search, then all the suggestions above. Finally measured the existing pan and it’s just a hair under 18” between the 3 legs. The stainless cooking pan I showed above has a neat double curve shape that already looks like a firepot bowl, but it’s 22” wide, alas. Not sure the thin tube legs would stretch that far without permanent bend issues. It appears to be conduit type piping. Long term, I’d love to have a more historically accurate forge for colonial era events, but from what I’ve seen, that’s a major build. Jymm Hoffman has one and its a beast!

Anvil, thank you for the offer. It’s definitely a possibility. The new ones are out of my budget right now. The forge I have has a tuyere that is currently bolted to the pan. It fits well for the crank blower that came with it. The intention was to cut a hole and bolt it to whatever the replacement ends up being. Thomas- I’ll wait to cut the legs for the additional ease of travel until I know what the final height of pan and tuyere will be, but that is a great idea. I can probably lathe turn a wooden plug of some kind to fit in the holes of the legs to get it back to original height for use.

In consideration of making a 55 drum base, would the metal be sturdy enough to leave a T shaped “backsplash”, where the top T part comes together to create a flu? Or will that require thicker metal? Or bracing to keep it up?

I appreciate those who mentioned the ag disc blades, but in a quick search, I didn’t recognize any supplier name to have an actual store. They all seem to be online sources, which Thomas seems to think is a dumb resource. The only ag related store I know of in my area is Tractor Supply. The biggest one they have is 22”. I don’t know the size of the pan I have, but it might work.

If I knew where to look, in person, I probably wouldn’t be trying to buy online, nor would I be asking for help. I don’t have machinist, mechanic, or farming background, sorry. Nor do I have building experience, short of putting together a few small wooden goat and chicken houses. I’m a 37 year old female who is self/youtube-taught and has been putzing with blacksmithing alone a few times a month at a tiny museum for a couple of years. By prohibitively expensive, I meant that the shipping for the wok I had found was more than the wok, itself. I’ve never used one, nor have I seen one in person. It just happened to be the only thing I found online that had the correct shape. This is all completely new to me, so pardon me for being a bit clueless. I came here for help, not sarcasm and belittling.

I’m not necessarily “focused on using a wok”. Prior to posting my question, it was the only thing I found online that resembled the pan it currently has and they come in different diameters, upwards to 24”, maybe more. My initial idea was to replace the whole pan with a wok, if that turned out to be a suitable replacement. Weber grills seem to me to be much too deep. If I cut most of the height off, I’m liable to have too little width left to work with. I also considered buying some sheet steel and forging out a new pan, if it came to that. I would try and create an actual bowl for the fire pot area and grate, then a higher plateau area for coal storage, then a lip to contain it. Or maybe that’s wishful thinking, with my lack of experience/skill. My opinion upon acquiring the forge was that it was too pitted and rusted through in several places to try and keep patching. If I’m wrong in that opinion, then I’m open to other ideas on how to keep patching it. It does have some very thin areas that have broken through and crumbled, the whole center has already been patched at least once, which is also old and pitted. Irondragon mentioned using clay around the grate...are we talking about digging the dirt out of the yard, or is there a special clay I should look for? Cat litter, maybe? Pnut mentioned using a fire pit bowl and they seem to also be around the same diameter, so that’s got possibility. I want to keep this forge light and portable and able to be rested on its side (which may negate the clay idea) for travel in my truck. If that means replacing the bowl every several years, then I can probably deal with that. Given the level of pitting in this bowl, I’d guess it’s had many years of service. I’ve included photos of some items I’ve found. Woks seem prohibitively expensive with shipping, so that may be out. The 2nd and 3rd photo are almost exactly how I described what I would hammer out if I ended up with the sheet steel option. Again, I’m up for options. Clay may be out since it will be rested on its side for travel.

Here is the forge.

Once I have it in my possession (hopefully this weekend), I’ll send a photo update of it empty.

It comes with a tuyere pipe and a cap that has little slits to prevent the coal from falling through. The blower also comes with. What I need is a replacement bowl/pan. It’s rusting through. The wok seems to be around the same size/shape. A Weber grill is way too deep. If I were to try and hammer one out from sheet steel, what thickness would work?