Early Cuyler Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 (edited) I used to use one which used a mid-sized drum mounted into the middle of a 1/4" plate hearth which is 2' x 3' and legs welded on. Also scrounged up enough old bed rails from the dump to weld a nice lip around the outside edge of the hearth to keep coal, etc from falling off. Drum forges are quick and fairly easy to build, almost made for the pipe-flange that connects to the bottom for your air, but.... The cons are that you have the lip of the drum sticking up above your hearth which is a pain, not only for your stock being placed in to be heated, but also getting enough coal in. To slot the sides of the drum to allow your stock to sit flatter in the pot requires a lot of grinder blades or someone with an air-arc setup to cut it as it's a bugger. I finally got sick of the drum due to the limitations, bought more plate and welded up a new pot. Welded it flush with the hole in the hearth so the top is nice and smoothe with no obstructions to get in the way and I couldn't be happier. Plenty of coal laying about the hearth to pull into the pot as needed and no aggravating lip to keep the stock out of the fire. I didn't realize that the bigger stock would need so much room til I tried the drum and that's another I switched. Save yourself some frustration later on and get the stock to build a firepot or just buy a pre-made pot. Mount it flush to the bottom of your hearth and I bet you'll be very glad you did Good luck with your forge Edited September 29, 2009 by Bummy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K. Bryan Morgan Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 Irontwister, it took a couple of weeks for me to be able to get all the parts I needed. This is a hobby for me, and I have priorities. Like getting the house ready for winter. Making my lady happy... you know things like that. As far as putting all the parts together, it took about 30 minutes to grind the hole in the plate, and about an hour to put the frame together. I had to drill 2 holes in the floor flange for the pipe so...I would estimate that all told there are about 2 hrs of work in the forge. Not counting time to go and get the pieces I needed. Total cost for everything I paid for and didn't scrounge was about $50.00. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 Concrete in the bottom might be overkill, a block or a sandbag might be better as its removable. I use good metal shears to cut drums after using a sawsall to open them. Hands get tired and going over the ridges is out of the question, but any shape needed can be cut, even holes as small as 1 inch! Now I understand that not all drums are created equal, so YMMV. Expect to pay at least $10-$20 for a suitable pair of shears that can cut up to #16 steel. They will be worth every penny. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irontwister Posted October 1, 2009 Author Share Posted October 1, 2009 everbody, you guys are so helpful. i cut out the hole... with a cold chisel. it was a little tedious at first. after about 10 minutes i drilled holes around the circle about an inch apart. that made it a lot neater and easier and neater. the forge is not for me, so im not gonna put too much money into it. its for my uncle dave. he already has an anvil to. my great grandpa was one of 4 blacksmiths in my family and he has his anvil. i only knew one. my uncle matt thomas (thomas work blacksmithing and woodworking). but anyway back to the topic,i might hammer on the lip of the drum because i do want it flush. gonna probably bend the lips down on some pipeto make the twyere. are there any schematics on the "coal plumbing" the pipes for air and to clean it out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 Many times a floor flange, a short or close nipple, a tee, a couple of long nipples and a pipe cap are all that is needed. The floor flange goes either inside the drum or bolts to the drum, then the short or close nipple and tee. The long nipple screws into the branch opening of the tee and attaches to the air supply. The other long nipple and pipe cap attach to the remaining (down) opening of the tee to both collect some amount of ash and to dump the ash by unscrewing the cap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francis Trez Cole Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 this is how I make a fire pot I use 1/4" plate can be 4"-5"-6" depending on how deep you want to make your pot it can be any shape you want I made mine square but you could make a rectangle it you wanted. I had a bunch of 4"x4" tube laying around the shop. The first one I made 10 years ago and still works great it is in my portable forge. This one I have had a year. You can see how it workes in my video blacksmithing 101 on my web site. Welcome to nokomis Forge - Hand-Crafted Custom Ironwrok20090924145532643.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irontwister Posted October 2, 2009 Author Share Posted October 2, 2009 thats pretty neat stuff. im gonna make some out of re bar. pics soon gotta cut it short see yall later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francis Trez Cole Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 here area few photos of the inside of the fire pot and the underside with the ahs dump and damper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irontwister Posted October 5, 2009 Author Share Posted October 5, 2009 thats something like im going to do. can i make it out of about 3 inch pipe?wouldn't that work? i might make it as the ash dumper isnt long so you cant have air getting trapped in there. i dont know if it matters though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irontwister Posted October 5, 2009 Author Share Posted October 5, 2009 to make a bottom for the ash dumper did you just cut a plate and weld it too something that let you open and close it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francis Trez Cole Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 i just used square because i had extra laying around.my first one was pipe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irontwister Posted October 6, 2009 Author Share Posted October 6, 2009 i got it almost done last night. i got the "table" that you pile the coal around the fire welded on. then i fired up the torch and cut the steel off the top of the fire pot. little did i know that i forgot my slag chipping fiberglass -rubber handled hammer in the fire pot.i thought the fire in the pot was just some residue burning off and i didnt think anything about it. busted out the square with some thick walled 2 inch pipe, which im also using for the air intake, because i couldnt find the hammer close by.yeah that'll aggrevate a fellar. my uncle came out to make a foddershock(cornstalk) and came over and looked and laughed and laughed and called me a rookie.is that pipe too small?pics by friday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim L. Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 irontwister I make my own fire pots and make them for others If you want a set of plans let me know I will send you a set. Hey Francis, Can I get in on those plans, too? Jim L. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim L. Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 I used to use one which used a mid-sized drum mounted into the middle of a 1/4" plate hearth which is 2' x 3' and legs welded on. Also scrounged up enough old bed rails from the dump to weld a nice lip around the outside edge of the hearth to keep coal, etc from falling off. Drum forges are quick and fairly easy to build, almost made for the pipe-flange that connects to the bottom for your air, but.... The cons are that you have the lip of the drum sticking up above your hearth which is a pain, not only for your stock being placed in to be heated, but also getting enough coal in. To slot the sides of the drum to allow your stock to sit flatter in the pot requires a lot of grinder blades or someone with an air-arc setup to cut it as it's a bugger. I finally got sick of the drum due to the limitations, bought more plate and welded up a new pot. Welded it flush with the hole in the hearth so the top is nice and smoothe with no obstructions to get in the way and I couldn't be happier. Plenty of coal laying about the hearth to pull into the pot as needed and no aggravating lip to keep the stock out of the fire. I didn't realize that the bigger stock would need so much room til I tried the drum and that's another I switched. Save yourself some frustration later on and get the stock to build a firepot or just buy a pre-made pot. Mount it flush to the bottom of your hearth and I bet you'll be very glad you did Good luck with your forge Bummy, Couldn't you line the tray with refractory and eliminate the bump? Jim L. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francis Trez Cole Posted November 6, 2009 Share Posted November 6, 2009 Jim L at the top of this page is a pdf of the plans Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackSmithBear Posted November 6, 2009 Share Posted November 6, 2009 latest find at my local garage......the long shafts are 24 mm dia and 1.4 meters long,they look like some sort of drive shafts They look more like the torsion bars used on chevy S10 blazers than driveshafts. Bear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calixt0 Posted November 17, 2009 Share Posted November 17, 2009 heres mine. I have so far been able to get 1/2" rebar up to critical as well as some 3/16" 1095 that I made a knife out of up to critical as well. I'm currently looking for a 2'x2' piece of steel to weld the drum to the bottom to so I can use just the drum as a firepot since this picture i have replaced the rotor with a drum. If I can find the steel that I want I may go back to the rotor as a firepot. right now if I can get the drum welded underneath I was wanting to have steel x cut and the middle just pounded down to round out the square edges of the drum. I've been using lump charcoal but will be buying some coal soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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