divermike Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 About 2 years ago I bought the Lively's knife making video, and ever since I wanted to try making one of their little forges, so yesterday and today I put one together, nothin special, but it works, I did some forging on it and learned a few things that need to change, but for about 4 hours, not including drying the refractory cement, not bad! oh yeah, I used charcoal for it, works pretty good!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Ameling Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 And the ... addiction ... has firmly taken hold! Hello. My name is Mike, and I'm a blacksmith. Welcome, Mike. Tell us your story. Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
divermike Posted August 1, 2009 Author Share Posted August 1, 2009 Hey Look, I don't have a problem, I can stop anytime I want to! Just because I woke up at 3:30 this morning thinking about finishing the portable forge, and could not go back to sleep doesn't mean a thing. And I keep those tongs and hammers in my truck just for emergencies. It is just a healthy interest, and I like to read, so the pile of BSing books on my bedstand is just for helping me relax. Wait, did I just hear someone strike an anvil with a hammer?/ I'll be right back... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brasilikilt Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 I first saw that forge design a couple years ago and have always admired the concept behind it. I will most likely end up building one, and seeing yours is just motivating me to get it done sooner :-) I know the design is intended mainly for blade smithing, but how do you think it would work for general black smithing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
divermike Posted August 2, 2009 Author Share Posted August 2, 2009 Thanks A-MAN, it was fast and dirty, Brasilikilt, I believe this forge would do just fine on smaller projects, and adequate on medium projects, its working trough is about 13 inches, and as long as you can keep fuel goin, it a burner, the metal gets hot all across the pipe holes, I angled my holes off to both sides and middle, basically staggered them, seemed like a good idea at the time, because the coal disrupts the air flow in my buffalo forge, so I figure this would aproximate that, I was pleased with the response. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lordcaradoc Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 My gosh Mike, what's the wife going to say about you doing that to her wash tub? Good looking set up. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
divermike Posted August 2, 2009 Author Share Posted August 2, 2009 Frosty, funny you would mention that, she HAD planned to make a planter out of that one, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAH (sinister laugh)!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisfrick Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 (edited) I've been using a "Lively" style for about a year now and have just made a slightly bigger one for bigger stuff. Works fairly well for general blacksmithing and if you're doing a lot of small stuff, all you gotta do is either slap some mud over the last half of the holes or just only put the charcoal in one end and you've got a half size forge! I'll post some pics of my setup tonight when I get home. Nice little rig you got going, by the way. Just keep in mind that if you're using charcoal, it's going to get ashes *everywhere* (I use mine exclusively outside on my back lawn). Edited August 3, 2009 by chrisfrick grammatical errors Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
divermike Posted August 3, 2009 Author Share Posted August 3, 2009 Chrisfrik, I found that out right away, and sparks!! holy cow!! by the way, I was born in Sonora, Ca, and had a business in Tracy for 12 years, so I spent a good deal of time in Sacto, don't miss the heat though!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisfrick Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 Hey there Divermike--There are days that I absolutely *will not* run my forge in the summer due to the excessive heat (you know how it is). I've been trying to figure out a way to eliminate or cut down the sparks--was thinking that maybe sprinkling water on the charcoal or something like that, but then the heat required to evaporate the water and burn the charcoal gets wasted and by that time, you've once again got dry charcoal. Best thing so far is either long sleeved cotton shirt, or lots of beer! (set my grass on fire several times, now I water the lawn before starting the forge.) As for the pics, I had something come up last night that's lasting into tonight and wanted to get a picture of the forge running--I'll shoot some tonight with it cold to show you the top I made for it. Does anyone know of anyway to reduce the sparks from natural, lump charcoal? You may be able to apply for a patent if if works! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easilyconfused Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 I had a similar style but recently went and switched to a duck's nest style. Since then, the sparks are way less as I've got a bigger air inlet than the holes drilled into the pipe like the Lively style. Less air velocity for the same amount of air which means the lighter pieces of charcoal don't get lifted out as easy. Another is a good hood with good draft and a long chimney so they go out before the top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisfrick Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 Okay, here's a picture of my smaller forge--variable speed "blower" ('modified' old hairdryer) that's capable of the smallest whisp of air to full on blowing the coals completely out of the forge. I made two separate bricks of a refractory mix I was able to find online so I can add charcoal to either the back or the front, one at a time (plus, it's a little easier to handle that way). I've been playing around with the airflow, and seems like much lower settings work better, however with a higher setting, it'll heat a 1/2" round of mild steel to cherry in about 2 minutes. Okay, gonna try adding a thumbnail, if it doesn't work, please forgive me as I'm obviously still trying to figure it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Budd Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 the only ways I've found to reduce the sparks are to avoid charcoal made from oak and similar woods (ones with a high silica content often show medular rays in the wood) and make sure you have a bed of charcoal over the embers when forcing air in as it is too easy to blow the fines out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bnewberry Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 I built this recently and it works great. I was also inspired by the Lively knifemaking DVD! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
divermike Posted August 19, 2009 Author Share Posted August 19, 2009 how do you like that hammer? I been thinking of getting one, I would grind the sharp edges off if I were you, it looked like they were still there in the picture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bnewberry Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 how do you like that hammer? I been thinking of getting one, I would grind the sharp edges off if I were you, it looked like they were still there in the picture. I like the hammer. I was put off at first because of the synthetic handle but it works well. As for sharp edges, the sides are rough but I did some work on the face of the hammer to smooth it out a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bnewberry Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 the only ways I've found to reduce the sparks are to avoid charcoal made from oak and similar woods (ones with a high silica content often show medular rays in the wood) and make sure you have a bed of charcoal over the embers when forcing air in as it is too easy to blow the fines out! There is a big difference in charcoal. I bought a bag of generic "hardwood" lumps and a bag of mesquite. The mesquite charcoal sparks a lot! So much so that it caused a couple of small fires in the straw about 30 feet away. No more mesquite for me. I have also made my own pine charcoal and that works well and doesn't spark much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nakedanvil - Grant Sarver Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 Maybe O.K. to get started, but thats a pretty long fire for most things unless you just put a few holes in the center part. No sense having a longer heat than you can work at one time, just wastes fuel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bnewberry Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 Maybe O.K. to get started, but thats a pretty long fire for most things unless you just put a few holes in the center part. No sense having a longer heat than you can work at one time, just wastes fuel. That is true. I have run a smaller fire by only putting the charcoal at the front. Worked fine. Lively recommends covering holes with clay if you don't need a long fire. For knives, the longer fire is pretty much what you want though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skidbat Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 I have only had a couple fires in the "lively" style forge I built, plan on giving it its first true workout this weekend. I'm using clay and made a fire in it just to dry and harden it for use. That being said the one thing I noticed immediately was that on the second handful of charcoal I put into it something started sparking like crazy. I actually have a little raspberry behind my right ear where one of them landed, funny but not fun. Anyway, because its trench shaped and all the sparking was at one end, I isolated the cause pretty easily. There was a piece of half charcoal half bark in the end. once I pulled that out the sparking went away. After that I started watching as I was digging charcoal out of the bag, bark = sparks every time. Without that I have almost none. Hope this helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 With my long forge I left one end of the air pipe open and used a "ram rod" made from a steel pulley and a small diameter pipe to control the length of the fire by controlling where air came through the holes.. For knives you ONLY want to heat what you can work as heating more than you can work promotes grain growth scaling and decarburization. Only time you need it all hot is truing it up and heat treat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bnewberry Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 With my long forge I left one end of the air pipe open and used a "ram rod" made from a steel pulley and a small diameter pipe to control the length of the fire by controlling where air came through the holes.. For knives you ONLY want to heat what you can work as heating more than you can work promotes grain growth scaling and decarburization. Only time you need it all hot is truing it up and heat treat! That is an excellent idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 Figured that one out in 1981 when I got started smithing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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