AnvilRage Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 I'm hoping to find some information on my forge. I have a military grade portable forge. It was manufactured by the Canadian Forge & Blower Company (CF& - a subsidiary of the Buffalo Blower Company - in Kitchener, Ontario in 1954, and for being 55 years old it's in great shape as you can see here. I'm doing some research on it and would like to find out some info on it: WartimeIt's manufacture date puts it between the Korean and Vietnam Wars. For which war would it have been most likely made? Would this have been used out in the field (perhaps 2nd or 3rd line) as support? If so, what kind of support? My understanding is a manual would have accompanied the forge? Anyone know if a copy is still available? Would this have been a common forge design? Forge & DesignThere are four standoffs inside the forge bed. Any ideas what they were for? I'm assuming they were used to secure the blower / legs / blower pipe when the kit was packed up, but I can't confirm my guess. There some information on the inside of the lid that I'd like to decipher. I'm assuming it's the catalog and serial numbers for the forge. ManufacturerAnyone have historical information on CF&B? All I could find was the year they were established in Montreal, Quebec (1903), and the year they relocated to Kitchener, Ontario (1914 - then known as Berlin, Ontario). If any of the IFI members could answer in some of these questions, I'd appreciate it very much. Thanks. Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monstermetal Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 I cant tell you anything about it other than I saw one that was incomplete and rusted away at a local swap meet..... It was nice to see your pic to get an idea of what it was suppose to look like! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Einhorn Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 1953 border stalemate and armistice according to Korean War - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia . I don't recall hearing cavalry used in the Vietnam war, so while it was likely made for Canadian cavalry, I would doubt it was used in a war. It may have been made for support of horse and mule drawn or carried equipment for Korea and elsewhere. I remember a gentleman tell me that he took care of mules during the Korean war. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HWooldridge Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 Forges were still being used for general work through Korea. May not have been intended for horse shoing but utility work and repair. My main Buffalo forge came out of Kelly AFB in San Antonio in the 1970's and was apparently one of several they sold as surplus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 Navy ships had forges but no horses or mules---they were part of a good repair machineshop for years! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mutt wookie Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 Growing up in the military we were stationed at a navy base in the middle of nowhere Ridgecrest, Ca. The base had stables for horses and mules. The ferrier there used a portable forge similar to this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 I have a WWII tech manual that shows a portable forge that was part of the equipment in a mobile machine shop built onto a 5 ton truck. Now if I can remember where that tech manual is...................too much stuff The forge shown was also a Buffalo, but had a different shape all together. The top was more of a clamshell design IIRC. Always thought it would be cool to own one. My Dad worked out of a MMS for a bit while he was in the military. Small lathe, bench top mill, etc. Hmmm, guess I will have to do some digging. As to your forge, look for Korean vintage tech manuals relating to mobile machine shops, should be one out there. You may also contact the Military Vehicle Preservation Society, or a military vehicle club - there are lots of them around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matto Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 in colorado in the early 50's the army had travel forges like that for there mule teams used in training and moving heavy equipment and supplies in the mountains. they are a great little forge and pack up nice. tricky at first to get everything into the forge box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matto Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 i found the info i have a forge like yours. the QM Museum @ Ft. Lee has some material on calavry forges. and a friend of mine got 30 plus pages from the museum director at ft. Riley Mr. William Mckale. leroy's forge came from Ft Carson Colorado, the mule pack howiter groups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Thompson Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 The UK must have been littered with those things after the last war; every farm had a few of them. We used to cut the bits out of them and use them for tool boxes etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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