billp Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 (edited) :D Will I'm as proud as a new Poppa as I just finighed my new forge. It's made from a car wheel rim where I added 5/16" plate to the bottom, with an old metal hair dryer as a blower. I know to many of you more experenced hands this may sound silly but for me, Wow. I fired it up with charcoal (all I had) and made a small tool to help manage the movement of fuel plus a small bracket to help hold my blower/dryer in place. As for the hair dryer it's an old one I had stored away in my parents things (there both gone now). It blows kind of slow to dry hair and has a switch to cut off the heat so it blows regular air without over heating the dryer. It's not strong or fast but did OK on the charcoal. I just can't wait to be able to get enough money up to order my first bag of coal and try it out and a better blower. If I knew how I would post a photo but! Like I said before I know it sounds silly but, beating out those parts on my railroad anvil using my tire rim forge I almost felt a little like my GreatGrandDad who was a blacksmith (also the black sheep of the family, but not because he was a smith ). ;) Edited March 17, 2009 by billp To try and add Pic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unkle spike Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 You have got farther than a lot of people, you started! That is the same basic setup I started with 6 years ago, and have progressed to build a shop, and get better equipment. Welcome to Iforge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billp Posted March 17, 2009 Author Share Posted March 17, 2009 Thanks, I do hope to grow as you have as time goes by and skill grows. For now my wife wants me to make an outdoor candle chandelier. Will be looking for advice and instruction when the time comes. Want to try and get a real anvil first even if it's a cheaper china made make do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 Welcome aboard Bill, glad to have you. Good for you. Too many folk spend WAY too much time looking for "real" tools when what you've built for yourself is so much better than looking. There's nothing wrong with a brake drum, tire rim, etc. forge though a rim is a little deep for my taste it'll work just fine. A blow drier is the first blower a lot of guys use, one was my first blower going on 47 years (YIKES!) ago. RR rail makes a fine anvil, I keep some around even though I have two "real" ones, the rail can be modified to suit where I'd really hesitate to modify one of my "real" anvils. Charcoal is fine fuel, lump is better than briquettes by a good margin. Still, you shouldn't have any trouble finding good smithing coal in Tn. However if money is an issue you can make your own charcoal. Posting pics is pretty easy. below the "Quick Reply" text window there is a button that says "Go Advanced" click it and scroll down in the resulting window till you get to the "Manage Attachments" button and click it. Click a "Browse" button and select a pic from your hard drive, one per button. Then click "Upload" and the pic will be attached to your post and appear as thumbnails at the bottom. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billp Posted March 17, 2009 Author Share Posted March 17, 2009 OKkkkkkk I'll give the pic post at try thanks for the help. BP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billp Posted March 17, 2009 Author Share Posted March 17, 2009 Here are the picitures of my new forge and my welding table also made from scrap metal from the junk yard. Or at least I think I got them loaded. BP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 You're welcome Bill, we love pictures so a little help is a good thing. Did you make your dog stay outside? S/he looks a little sad to me. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billp Posted March 18, 2009 Author Share Posted March 18, 2009 No, he is my wifes 100lb baby (5yr old lab), he was just pouting because he was not the center of attention. I only run him off when I'm welding and when I'm hammering the noise makes him keep his distence. Any other time he is under foot and topping out around 100 lbs. that's alot under your feet. And no he does not hunt or retreve duck only snacks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pault17 Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 (edited) Bill, welcome to the addiction. Make your wife something pretty and/or useful soonest. That always helps. In the meantime, while waiting on your fist bag of coal, go to a local grocery or hardware store and look for some "real lump charcoal". This is actual wood charcoal and not briquettes. You may notice a dramatic improvement in your useful heat. Unless you were already using real charcoal to begin with, then just ignore my useless rantings Edited March 18, 2009 by Pault17 grammar, always grammar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billp Posted March 19, 2009 Author Share Posted March 19, 2009 No Pault17 that's funny while waiting for my frist batch of charcoal to cook at home, I went by our Kroger and picked upped a half gal. of milk and a 5lb. bag of lump charcoal and used it today for a small project. As for my wife she wants a metal candle chandelier for the patio. Kind of big for a beginner I know but I came up with a design that I can handle and that she likes. May have to wait for a regular anvil first though. BP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.