OddDuck

Not much to brag about, but it's working okay so far, a section of rail about 18" long that I mounted to some 2x8 lumber that I laminated into a stand for it. On the top is my first project, a pitiful set of tongs that I really don't want to show a closeup of. They do work, kinda sorta. I've got to make a new rivet for them, the first effort didn't work out as planned. I am going to make some hardies to just slide over the web of the rail, and I am going to cast a swage block to go over the exposed wood on top.

Well, I finally got all the pieces together and built a forge for the son and myself. It's a variation on the 55 forge, I built the side-draft version, and it works pretty well. The only problem is that I have to come up with a different tuyere, because the black iron pipe I am using is eroding away at a very fast pace. Might have to cast a water-cooled one or something. My main hobby is metalcasting, but my son wasn't horribly interested in doing that. After seeing a blacksmithing demo at a living history museum he decided that was something he would like to try. So, wanting to encourage my son in doing something other than Facebook, I built a forge. I hemmed and hawed for a while about how I would build and attach the legs after I had cut the pan off an old drum I had, when it occurred to me that the rest of the drum could just be used as a base. Worked out pretty slick, I just made some L-brackets out of 1/8" strap and bolted the top and bottom together. For a blower I got creative and cast a radial blower case and impeller and used a motor I had kicking around. I may or may not change the impeller design, I'm not terribly happy with it but it seems to push a fair amount of air pretty quietly. Had no problem getting the coal to welding temps, I think. Here's a few pics (if I did it right...)

Wow, all kinds of people from Maine on here, might as well chime in. I'd say go for it, at worst you can put it right back up for sale, at best you will have a nice anvil and a good start. I feel your pain with the scarcity of equipment up this neck of the woods, my main hobby is foundry work, my son and I are just getting into smithing. There are NO suppliers north of Lewiston for most things that would be used in a foundry, and shipping from buying online is a killer. I've seen a few anvils around, I haven't checked Liberty tool yet, but I have looked at one of the offshoots, Capn' Tinkhams in Searsport and they didn't really have anything. Right up the road is a junk barn that had three anvils, one small one with the heel broken at the hardie for $125, a Peter Wright for $300, and a large nice one (at least 200 lbs+-) with a really nice working face for $400. This was in the middle of August, tho, so I don't know if they would still be there. I want to get down to Hulls Cove tool Barn one of these days and have a look around. I say go for it, offer $200 with cash in hand, see what they say.

BCS is expensive. Try this Legend Inc. Sparks, Nevada USA , they have a ton of cheaper crucibles and shipping is still reasonable. The budget clay graphite are used by many and work well, you could probably get away with the fireclay crucibles for even less.

Cast it. Brass casts nicely and you already have the heat source, your forge. Get some fine sand and grind up a little cheap kitty litter for the clay binder, for something the size of a lock plate you won't need much. Make up a small flask out of wood, and you are in business. The biggest challenge will be finding a suitable crucible, but in a pinch you can cut the bottom off an empty (please note empty, and cut slowly with a hacksaw) disposable propane bottle and use that. It will work for a melt or two, and your crucible tongs are a set of channel lock pliers, or your forge tongs. Just be careful when using this type of crucible to build the heat slow, and watch for hot spots developing. Turn the crucible every now and then in the fire to even out the heat. Make the pattern slightly oversize, ram it up, and pour. Easy peasy. Of course you may have a new hobby then that is just as addicting as forge work... Don't say I didn't warn ya.;)

Bah. Winter's not so bad. We use it to weed out those who don't belong here... Suppose that could be said of a lot of places in the country, the Dakotas, the Upper Penninsula, upstate NY, etc. Thomas, don't get me wrong, I know it's not that simple, nearly anything will work to get the job done but having the correct tool and method for the task at hand is always better. I am a mere newbie at smithing and I shall not presume to know more than those who have been doing this for a long time. My son and I are going to start out with a solid-fuel forge as a matter of fact due to the simplicity and versatility of that method (plus the fact that I have most of the junk to build it laying around the yard...) I was trying to make a relative comparison as to ease of use. From all my research the most important thing in using a solid-fuel forge is fire and fuel management, what the fire is held in is not as important. And please correct me if I am way wrong, I have much more book-learnin' on this subject than actual experience. Cilbuper, I think it's a viable method. You would have to build a gas-fired style of forge to use it, but once it's up and running it should work quite well. Plus you can tell all your friends that your forgings are made by using biomass and recycling, so there's some extra brownie points for ya. ;)

Matt, yeah there are definately simpler ways, but once this is set up and the learning curve on it is met, it's no more complicated than a solid fuel forge I would think. This would replace the reil-type burner in a gas forge, so the actual forge itself would be pretty simple. Here's a pic of mine (if it works this way, not sure about posting pics yet) As you will notice, my air supply for the ejector portion is just an old compressor out of an air conditioner. This was just a POC (proof-of-concept, or piece-of-crap, jury's still out...) so it's a bit on the crude side, and not made with the best of materials. Once set up and in use it would be nearly as convenient as a gas forge, and easier and cleaner than an oil fired forge, with less fuel processing than a solid fuel forge. I think it may have a niche, worth experimenting with.

Hi everyone, my first post here, couldn't resist. It will work, I'm not sure how hot one will get, but I have been metalcasting for a few years now and I started experimenting with gassifiers for a foundry burner. Someone found a link to a small gassifier and I was off and running. Here's the link: Biomass Energy Foundation: History . I built one and I can tell you they do work. I was able to melt copper fairly easily with mine at one point, and I believe with a proper setup they can reach much higher temps. Word of warning, though. Do not use it indoors. They produce copious amounts of smoke on startup and CO gas while they are running, a good way to wind up dead if you aren't careful. The "Dassifier" does have its limits, and can be finicky to start and operate. I like the idea due to the fact that there is minimal processing of your fuel source, and not much waste produced either. I ran mine mostly on wood pellets, and it would use about a third of a bag on a three hour run. I am currently in the planning stages, nothing on paper yet, of the MKII version, my little dassifier bit the dust as it crumbled internally after setting out all winter. Hopefully I will have something to show in the next couple of months, after I get about a hundred other projects cleared off the bench first. Hope this helps, and good luck.