Clam River Coal Forge Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 Hello everyoneI have a forge that my brother in law gave me quite sometime ago. It was in need of repair. Well it has been repaired with the help of some fine internet articles and several you tube videos. I would have posted a photo,but not sure how to do it. I also had anvil, but he wanted that back for my nephew. I plan to build a larger forge and than give this one to my nephew who has the anvil. I just start today to build an anvil. I have made offers on a peter wright, but they have not got back to me. I think they want to see what the auction will bring. They also had old post drill that was going to scrap, but I did not get that either. My coal story is unique. growing up my father worked for a local lumber yard which also sold coal. That yard is long gone and buying coal here is Michigan is almost non-exsistant. Long story short the river that run along that area was a great place for kids to throw the coal as the piles wre only 10 feet away. The city has since changed the dam and what was once high water is now low. I have retreived over a ton of coal and can not beat the price.George Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 Welcome aboard George, glad to have ya. Living in the mid-west you'll find good anvils a lot easier than most of the country so don't do anything drastic till you've looked for a while. Tell everybody you know or meet what you're looking for, you'll start getting blacksmithing tools sooner than you think. Have you tried the coal? There's a good chance it's anthracite heating coal and not so good for smithing, then again it might be great smithing coal just gotta give it a try. If nothing else it's a great story. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clam River Coal Forge Posted June 4, 2009 Author Share Posted June 4, 2009 Well I;d say the coal is a little of everything I have gotten pretty good at judging between anthracite and bituminius especially when I try and break it in my hand with a hammer. Yep nothing like being a kid again. I keep trying on the anvil in the mean time still going to make something better than a rotor hub. George Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 Sounds like hardware store coal for sure, little O' dis and a little O' dat. Don't wait on getting the "real" tools and stuff, it isn't really necessary. Heating and beating ARE necessary. A piece of RR rail makes a dandy small anvil. If you find a piece long enough stand it on end and it'll make an excellent anvil. The web and flanges can be profiled to make fullers and hot cuts too. If there's a truck shop handy, a truck axle makes a super anvil stood on end flange up. Wonderful depth of rebound with all the high quality steel under the hammer. A little cleaning and polishing with an angle grinder and she's ready to work. The heavier the axle the better of course. I'd like one out of a RR gondola car myself, it'd be a marvelous striking anvil. If you need them portable, standing them on end in a bucket of concrete works well. It will need some reinforcing in the form of something to distribute the energy over a large volume of concrete to prevent it from breaking up over time. Nothing fancy, a piece of plate tacked to the bottom of the rail, shaft, etc. a few inches larger around to disperse impact energy will last years. Stubs or loops of rebar will do as well. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finnr Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 Getting started in smithing is like the way we used to drag race when I was younger and foolisher. Run whatcha brung! The main thing is to get started and learn the basics. Finnr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clam River Coal Forge Posted June 5, 2009 Author Share Posted June 5, 2009 I added profile photo and used the forge with the rotor hub as the fire pot not sure if it took. I am in the process of welding together anvil from RR rail I will take some photos once I start putting together. Have done some forging using a truck rotor to beat on managed to flange a piece of pipe making bird feeder for the wife and floor flange is $10.00 11/2" size took me about an hour to make. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 George: Your profile picture looks like a postage stamp in the back yard. It's a pain getting them sized. I gave up, the AVATAR picture has a wider range of acceptable file sizes. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fisher_norris Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 brake rotors are ok (to me) but if you make a plate in the bottom they work way better. also if you can rig up a table and place the rotor like a fire pot it works better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clam River Coal Forge Posted June 6, 2009 Author Share Posted June 6, 2009 Thanks frosty just finished looks good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clam River Coal Forge Posted June 6, 2009 Author Share Posted June 6, 2009 Fisher Check out my Avatar photo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clam River Coal Forge Posted June 6, 2009 Author Share Posted June 6, 2009 I have fired it up few times, but I get such wind around my garage unless it is dead calm. Hope to build a bigger forge and place inside. Right now rigging up make shift anvil using a tee rail Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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