Anarx Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 I recently completed my brake drum forge and have been giving it a good run but ran into a bit of a problem. I used this large drum *13" ID and roughly about 10-12" deep* it was working fine until i tried to heat the middle of a set of tongs i was working on. no matter what i did i could not get the heat high enough to get the middle of the bar. right now i'm debating about cutting off the surface of the drum *where the brake shoes would connect* to or put something inside the drum to raise up my coal bead. how deep should i my firepot be? i need to rectify this ASAP and i have my oxy fuel torch ready to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JNewman Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 That is awfully deep. Mine is about 4-5" I have seen some as dee as 6-7". I thinks you will find you have to build the bottom up a little rather than cut the top, as most brake drums are cast iron and you are going to have a hard time trying to cut that with a torch. The other issue you may be having is your blower may not be strong enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avadon Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 How ever did you get it so deep? Mine is probably about newmans size. I'd guess the original brake drum I got was about 11" diameter, 4" deep, I believe it came from a large truck. I welded the brake drum into a piece of 1/4" plate inside a pretty heavy duty old grill that I really beefed up with welds, different racks and cross bracing. As you can see in the pics I welded up the bolt holes in the brake drum. Then I cut a circular piece of 1/4" plate to sit inside the brake drum. I drilled a few holes (I believe six) to allow the air to rise up in the center. Then I fabricated a circular grill I made out of 1/4" x 3/4" steel bar turned up on its edge. This lets the air disperse easier into the coal/coke and makes it easier to clean for me. You could make a simpler setup i'm sure but I had the time and access to make something more sophisticated. I don't know what your setup looks like exactly but if you show some pics we can help you with suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweany Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 slot the drum? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anarx Posted June 22, 2009 Author Share Posted June 22, 2009 How ever did you get it so deep? Mine is probably about newmans size. I'd guess the original brake drum I got was about 11" diameter, 4" deep, I believe it came from a large truck. I welded the brake drum into a piece of 1/4" plate inside a pretty heavy duty old grill that I really beefed up with welds, different racks and cross bracing. As you can see in the pics I welded up the bolt holes in the brake drum. Then I cut a circular piece of 1/4" plate to sit inside the brake drum. I drilled a few holes (I believe six) to allow the air to rise up in the center. Then I fabricated a circular grill I made out of 1/4" x 3/4" steel bar turned up on its edge. This lets the air disperse easier into the coal/coke and makes it easier to clean for me. You could make a simpler setup i'm sure but I had the time and access to make something more sophisticated. I don't know what your setup looks like exactly but if you show some pics we can help you with suggestions. How do you like using that grill on there? is there much space between your grill and that plate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drewed Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 Anarx, I just throw in a course of fire brick in the bottom of that. Give it a coat of cement to make clean up easier ( if you want ) and call it good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 I also have a brake drum firepot. Cutouts on opposite sides weren't that hard to do in Cast iron with and angle grinder. I find that for a charcoal fire, the standard 4 inch depth is a little shallow for welding, its hard to get out of the oxidizing part of the fire without piling on the charcoal. I think 6 or 8 inches deep would be better for a charcoal fire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 A semi brake drum is awfully large for a forge. Try a pickup truck brake drum instead. It'll be less work than trying to cut down the BIG one. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brasilikilt Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 Hey Jesse You could put some fire bricks in the bottom and pack some river clay, or even mud with fireplace ash mixed in between them. I figure you could experiment and see if this works, and if you like it you could always replace the creek clay with fireplace mortar or refractory clay. Have fun, and hope it works better Iain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philip in china Posted June 28, 2009 Share Posted June 28, 2009 By all means use firebrick to fill in the bottom but I would not advise cement! You should pack between the bricks with clay- anything will do- just dig some up. You can incorporate some ground up firebrick as grog if you want. To restrict heat transfer you could use all clay and incorporate some finely divided organic matter such as chain saw swdust. As the temperature rises the organic material burns and you have small pockets which increase the thermal insulation qualities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avadon Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 How do you like using that grill on there? is there much space between your grill and that plate? I like using the grill I made. I don't know if you can see in the pictures but there are some small feet (tabs) I welded under the grill. That allows the grill to sit like 3/4" above the plate with the holes in it that sits inside the brake drum. I also have two little round handles on the sides of that grill I welded up so if necessary I could lift it out hot with a hook, although that is something i've never had the need for. But those hooks also make it easy to lift it out period. The space between the grill and plate allow a good volume of air to rush under the wood/charcoal/coal/coke or whatever i'm burning. Because it's kind of a bin/hopper design I often just burn wood in it and burn that down to really hot embers/coals. Then I will occasionally toss in a shovel of charcoal or coal. It's fun to make mini bon fires in it. I just wear a shade 5 face shield and I can get really close if I want, but when I get serious I wait till the flames die out and start using the really hot stuff underneath. You can get to forge weld fairly easily in a firepot. I just turn the hairdryer to high and I have bright orange heat (sparking) heat. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tribal forge Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Mine will be about 3,5" to 4" deep after the refractory clay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duckybackery Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 mine is 2in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 So the 8 inch x 1.5 inch drum from my cavalier could make a small but reasonable forge? Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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