Brake drum forge

[Guerreiro]

Good day,

I'm starting to build my first forge and a friend of mine gave me this Volvo truck brake drum. What do you think of it.
It has 20" in diameter and about 12" deep, I manage to insert a smaller brake hub inside it reducing in this way the hole on the bottom of it. The hole of the smaller brake hub is just 2" making it ideal for inserting the blower pipe.



Miguel Guerreiro

[Marksnagel]

Hey there Miguel,

Although it may be a bit deep it is a good starting point. Just because it is deep doesn't mean your fire has to be but if you need it deep you are set.

Did I understand you right in that you have placed a smaller brake drum inside of the volvo drum?

My forge is a brake drum from a 3/4 ton pickup. I have it placed in the shallow bottom of a 55 gallon drum that I cut to give me a larger area to work in. There is a post here called "55 forge build". There is also a blueprint with instructions on how to make a 55 forge. Very helpful.

If you have any particular questions feel free to ask as there are many knowlegable people here that are very willing to help. No question is a bad question.

Mark<><

[Glenn]

Forges are designed so that the work can be inserted into the sweet spot of the fire, that is about midway to 2/3 of the way up the fire ball. This is where the oxygen has been consumed by the fire.

The size of the fire is determined by the size of the stock. The shape of the forge determines the shape of the fire ball and the shape of the heat. A small round fire can be designed to heat no more than a 4 inch section of metal, where as a brake drum or pan forge full of fire can heat 12 inches or so of metal, and a slot forge can heat 2 feet or more at a time.

If you can work 4 inches of metal with your hammer (during one heat) then it does you no good to heat 24 inches of the metal at a time. No matter how much metal you get hot, you can only work so much under your hammer in one heat. Build your forge and fire to match the work you are doing.

The attached photo is a 55 Forge using a potty chair for a stand. This was the first fire in the forge so it is a little shy on both coal and ash. Usually the bottom of the forge has ash to the top of the air pipe and coal above that so it can be raked into the fire as the fuel is consumed. How much? That depends on the work being done.

For ideas on forges, go to the IForgeIron gallery and search the word forge.