lordcaradoc

Remember, the fire's heat will be traveling upwards, the clay you line a forge with doesn't have to handle welding temps, even if your coal/charcoal is at welding temperatures. I just finished lining my lively style forge recently and I used ground clay (dug out of the back yard) and kitty litter bentonite clay, should stand up for several years and I can always just re-line it. There is a pottery place locally, but they keep hours that restrict my access to buying fire clay from them. If I need to re-line my forge any time soon, I will go through them. What style forge are you lining? Regards, Tim

OK, so I am all set except for firing up the forge and working. I got everything situated tonight after work. Sunday, I set posts in concrete for the vise and temporarily for my little rail anvil. tonight I finished getting them situated in on the posts. Now it is too late to fire up the forge, so that will have to wait until tomorrow after work. Here are the pictures of the forge area. Both the vise and the anvil are mounted on sleeves so they can be taken inside this winter. The rail anvil will be kept inside anyway. The only thing currently missing from these shots is the hair dryer blower. Tomorrow, I'll be doing some straightening of the little bit of stock I have and planning on my first project, proper tongs. For now, I'll be using channel lock pliers. I may get the stock for the tongs tomorrow on the way home and make a start of it. Regards, Tim

I made an adobe with Bentonite clay (kitty litter), Packing sand, Wood ash, Vermiculite and a little Mortar mix. I mixed in on a tarp and packed it in. After a week and a single burning, it is still really heavy, not sure if there is still a lot of moisture, but I took peoples advice and made sure it was packing, but not wet when I lined the forge. We'll see on that score.

Rob, For now, it will be a hair dryer, but I wan to get a crank blower like Tim Lively uses. It has easy 2 speeds and I know better than to just leave it running when I pull work out of the fire, besides, Charcoal stays lit for a long time even without a steady air source and picks up nicely when the air starts again. Regards, Tim

Yep, there is a source for restaurant grade charcoal locally, 20 lbs for $7.29. Plus what I can manage to make for myself, there are a couple trees that border our yard that I need to trim up. Once I complete the mounting of the rail anvil and my post vice, I will post more pics with the forge going. Regards, Tim

Greetings all, I now have a forge ready to work. I am still situating the post vise and my rail anvil in the area I have set up for work, but I should be working by the end of the week. Here are the pictures of my process in building the forge. It is built on the pattern of Tim lively's tub forge with some upgrades, both suggested by friends and one I came up with myself The Air tank, allows for a lid to be hinged on. The choke pipe that slides the full length allows for my design variation, the Dial-a-choke. See the pictures with the two pipes sitting next to each other in the three settings for full wide open, then two small fire settings. I have fired it without air once, the other night and should be forging in the next couple days. Let me know what you think. Best regards, Tim

Very nice cliff. And after Frosty, I'll leave it at that. (-8 Best regards, Tim

Mike, I just bought Tim Lively's video and really enjoyed it. I have started the process of building a variant of his design based on this tutorial from the Purgatory Iron Works forum site: Hal Still Memorial Outhouse Message Board: Forums / Blacksmithing Tutorials / Air tank Forge Build along It has the added advantage of a lid and uses a sliding smaller piece of pipe as a choke for the tuyere. Plus, I think I just figured out a way to dial in how much choke I want. Set up the tuyere like Tim's video suggests. Once that is done, slide the choke pipe into the tuyere and mark through the holes into the choke pipe. Remember to mark the end cap as vertical for a full blast of air. Then turn the choke pipe to a new position, at least 90 degrees and mark fewer holes for the amount of choke you want. Then drill somewhat larger holes in the choke pipe so alignment is not as critical and you have an easy dialed in amount of air through the tuyere. Best regards, Tim

1860cooper, Welcome to the broiling, no freezing, no... Well, welcome to the midwest, from another Oregon transplant. I moved to Akron with my family a little over a year ago and am just getting my own forge together here. I had access to several forges in Oregon, so never saw the need for one myself, but now that I am missing the craft, I have to make do for myself. I am hoping to make it to Quadstate in September myself, maybe we'll get to meet. Best regards, Tim

Very nice & dare I say, elegant. :)

Cliff, That's nicer than most of the rivet forges I have ever seen. I was wondering what you filled in around the coke pit with. Seems awful smooth and even, or is that just a plate welded to the pipe? Best regards, Tim Oh, and congratulations on the house too. :)

I wanted to thank all of you for your advice. I have found myself bound up in what I thought was necessary and have this morning had a bit of a rude awakening. (Not really very rude though ) On another site, I got news that Tim Lively is retiring from blade making and when I went to the site where he posted about it, somebody replied with pictures of Tim's shop. What brought this realization upon me was how simple his shop setup was for the wonderful work I have seen of his. It sobered me up a bit about getting started. So, I have decided that I will be making my first forge here based on Tim's excellent design, hopefully by next week, I will have a functional forge setup and will be able to start making "things" Again, thank you for all your advice and suggestions. Best regards, Tim

D'oh! I have that. I have been reading a new book I got, Blacksmithing Basics for the Homestead. Not a bad little primer and some good illustrations and step by steps. Regards, Tim

I am just putting a forge together here in Ohio as I don't have access to a forge less than an hour away and have only just made friends with the local group. I have an old rail anvil (well, it was cut out to the shape of an anvil) that I have used for years in my armor/steel box when going to SCA events. It has always been rough and rust pitted, but worked great for rivets and small things around camp. I do not have much of a budget right now to buy even a cheep anvil, but if one shows up, I will work that out. The issue I have now is that after grinding and sanding most of the rust off the face and dressing the horn up, I wanted to see if there was any rebound to speak of and there was none. I even left a couple of shallow dents with my hammer. (really, I didn't hit it hard ) Now, my forge will be very traditional for the time being. I have a fire pit in the back yard and added pipe to allow for air flow. What is the best method of hardening the face of the anvil so it will last me for at least a few months if not longer. Regards, Tim

Mr. Hofi, That is lovely setup. What is the volume of the forge and does this burner allow for forge welding temperatures. Regards, Tim

Now beast, I know it seems desperate, but even with three commercial heat guns, you won't be able to get enough heat to forge weld. That is why we use Coal/Charcoal and Propane. Best regards, Tim

I love this. I was taught to set a brick on end on the Tuyere and pack with coke, then pull the brick out and pack the space with tinder and kindling, but this is self contained and I could even make up a couple for ease when I want to forge after work in the evenings. Outstanding! Best regards, Tim

OK, so I have been putting the parts together for a brake drum forge and I now have all the duct parts in 2" Black Iron. My problem is that all metal here in NE Ohio is pretty much being sold to the scrap dealers for cash and nobody wants to part with a brake drum. I asked at an auto shop today and they think it will likely be $15 if I go to the dealers. I haven't checked on that yet, but it has me frustrated. My plans have been to put the brake drum into a sheet metal table that I have legs for already and it gives me more space to work with fuel. Can any of you suggest alternatives for a firepot that can still bolt to the flange and set into the table? I don't mind creative ideas, but I don't weld, so making my own is out for the moment. Now, if I could weld, I could just make my own anyway. Regards, Tim

OK, I am not really that new to this, just getting back to it after a long break. I know I probably already know the answer, but I have never heard the term Normalizing used before. I know it is to de-stress the steel while forging, but what is the normal proceedure? Regards, Tim

I can, but isn't it a good idea to have sides to the table too? I actually have a bit of the table legs part taken care of. It is the bolt together base to a table saw I no longer own. It it 23" tall with sloped out legs and a top that is 18"x22". I figured this would give me a good base and all I need is to add a table. I can build the top out of plywood and give it edges and put a layer of amended fire clay on the wood, but that seems too temporary. If I can get the sheet metal for the table, I can set it at whatever height I want, but I can't weld the corners for the sides and I am not sure even about the hole for the firepot. Now for sides, I could always bolt on wide angle iron, that should do, but cutting a hole would be a pain with the limited tools I have now. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Regards, Tim

Thanks guys. New question. Now that I am good on proceeding with the brake drum style, I have been advised to build it into a table so there is more room to work with fuel than just the firepot. With no welding skills yet, what would the recommendations be for a table around the firepot? Best regards, Tim

Greetings, I am curious if there are any fundamental differences in design for forges using Coal or Charcoal. I know that you usually use one fuel or the other and have even used charcoal to start a coal forge before. I also know that both will allow heat enough for forge welding. so, if I build a forge and usually burn charcoal, will it likely work for coal/coke when it is available? Regards, Tim

Hello all, I am new to this list, but not to blacksmithing. It has been a few years since I worked at it with anything but casual interest. I moved here to Akron Ohio a year ago and realized recently how much I enjoyed working metal, so am getting back to work. I am looking for a teacher who I can learn on a more serious level and work with at least a couple times a month. I want to learn how to make my own tools, particularly my own tongs and put together my own forge. Eventually, I want to start making blades. Regards, Tim