Michael Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 I've been working out of the same brake drum going on 5 yrs now. The other day, sticking out of the dumpster behind the building where I work was a nice sized sheet metal cart for the taking. Take it I did, home on the train to turn it into charcoal forge version 3. I lit my first forge fire the day after thanksgiving in '04 and the try to celebrate that date each year while snacking on turkey leftovers and hitting hot metal, this year I was jigsawing a hole out of the cart and drilling (even more) holes in my now venerable brake drum to bolt it to the underside of the upper shelf. Its nice to have a table space around the firepot, working with charcoal (Cowboy Brand) I need a deeper fire most of the time. Now I can pile the fuel up well over the top of the brake drum without it spilling over onto the ground. Had to rearrange the smithy some to accomodate the larger forge. moving shelf the vise is bolted to. Knocked out a couple of Aspery style leaves and a aff-hassed hanger for my shop sign. Also tried using some of the newest handled punches, on 3/8 stock, messed up the first two tries, using too wide a punch for the stock, but having fun with the hot set cutting off the offending attempts and starting again. The big blue cart on the left, gotten for $5 at a garage sale was originally going to be a forge table. But its both a little too large and some darned useful for holding the gas forge, the tool box etc that I couldn't bring myself to cut it up. Michael-frightening the neighbors since the year Four. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhyfelwr Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 I like it, about how big is your brake drum? I have built two forges from brake drums, my latest is a big truck drum about 18 inches across. It always seemed to work fine for me.. I like the table idea. Do you find the forge big enough for most work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Browne Posted December 5, 2009 Share Posted December 5, 2009 You will go a long way before you need a larger forge than that! It looks great. How does your chimney go? If it was lower it would draw better? Just some suggestions....... Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted December 7, 2009 Author Share Posted December 7, 2009 Thanks, the drum's 14 inches across, a little over 12 inch opening cut in the table. I built the stack back when I tried to use coal, for charcoal is mostly just directs the smoke up. I have a spark arrestor screen installed inside it. Patio I work on is covered but hardly airtight. I like the idea of dropping the stack down to the level of the forge table and adding a side draft opening to it. Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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