I'm trying to make my first coal forge, and I don't have access to welding equipment (or the skill to use it, if I did). I feel confident I could manage some decent forge welds, if I had a forge, but that's not useful to me yet.

Instead of a brake drum, I'm considering using this torque converter I parted with five bucks for at a junkyard. It already has a little pipe sticking out of the bottom, which could easily be made into the attachment point for a ghetto tuyere. All the little holes and the slight dip in the bottom will be filled with a thin layer of refractory cement to bring it into a bowl shape.

Dimensions, in case you can't tell from the picture, are 12.5 inches across, a little over 2 inches deep, and 1/4 inch thick.

So what do you think? Do you foresee any problems with this, or am I correct in thinking there's a chance it might work?

it should work really anything that can hold a fire and route a blast of air into the fire would work the tube there maybe a little small for most people but it should get you started my first forge i made was out of a top of a propane tank that i put a 2" tee in the bottom i would just look for a larger pan or some thing to set the torque converter in to so that way when you got the fire going if a spark jumps out it will land in the pan and not on the ground

Don't let not having a welder stop you, a local smith built his first forge by bolting everything together. It turned out wonderfully well.

If you change your profile in the User CP to show approximately where you live, then perhaps someone will be kind enough to help with welding.

I built my gasser with steel pop rivets. Bolt together also means that you can replace parts as they wear out, and parts will wear out over time if you are using your forge regularly.

Phil

The size of the forge determines how large a billet or pieces you can weld up as the size of the "hot spot" is based on that and some other factors---fuel, blower, etc.

Being pretty confident about being able to do an advanced process *before* you have even mastered the beginning processes seems a bit like Hubris, no? Don't get discouraged if you find it a bit harder than you originally thought!

Being pretty confident about being able to do an advanced process *before* you have even mastered the beginning processes seems a bit like Hubris, no? Don't get discouraged if you find it a bit harder than you originally thought!

Ouch. Believe it or not, I tend to find being called "overbearingly proud; arrogant; presumptuous" more discouraging than finding something a bit harder than I thought.

In truth, I do have a little bit of experience forge welding--not a lot, but more than my experience with any other type. I feel like I should point out that I should point out that my statement was made for ironic, rather than boastful, purposes. If I had this forge already, I could make this forge, no problem. But why would I need to? Yuck yuck yuck.

But hey, this thread is about the forge I'm building, not my personal flaws. Please PM me with those. In the meantime, I'll post updated pictures.

Edited October 6, 200916 yr by glyph250

Here's the bottom, covered with 24 ounces of refractory cement.

I intend to grind it flat when it's dried, so clinkers and ash won't settle into those little finger grooves at the bottom. The piece of pipe sticking up will also be ground off.

For those of you who have experience working with large amounts of fire clay, how long should I let it dry before I fire it?

And again, any other thoughts?

Edited October 6, 200916 yr by glyph250

not having a welder is not a big thing. My first forge I took a piece of pipe with a 90 degree elbow tied it to a brick and put it in a BBQ grill taper all the holes closed and filled the grill with concrete level with the 90. I uses it as my main forge with a set of bellows I made from scrap plywood for 8 years. The nice fire pot is great but not needed. The best advice I was given was "Just do it". I still have it it is sitting in my scrap pile.