hillbillyblacksmith Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 Hey guys, I recently got my hands on the brake drum from a tandem coal truck, the inside area measures about 17" wide X 8" deep. Now my question is how big of a air inlet would I need for something this size the hole now is about 10" so I'm gonna have to put in a piece of plate steel and then cut a hole for the pipe fitting so what would be good? I'm guessing 2" would be to small? maybe 3"? I'm also thinking of building a 30"x30" steel table to place this in leaving about a inch above the table surface. any help would be appreciated. as would any other ideas you think i should try on the over all build. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GunsmithnMaker Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 Hillbillyblacksmith, do you have any pictures of the brake drum? I started out with an idea to do something that sounds similar and I was advised to get a brake rotor to use as the fire pot instead. See my thread on the Brake Rotor forge kit in this section to see what I've come up with. I've seen other forges made of small brake drums and at least one made similar to what I was going to do with the large brake drum, but they have a point about getting the iron into the heat with a deep pot. Let these guys help you with your ideas and you will have a product you can be proud of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillbillyblacksmith Posted January 17, 2011 Author Share Posted January 17, 2011 Hillbillyblacksmith, do you have any pictures of the brake drum? I started out with an idea to do something that sounds similar and I was advised to get a brake rotor to use as the fire pot instead. See my thread on the Brake Rotor forge kit in this section to see what I've come up with. I've seen other forges made of small brake drums and at least one made similar to what I was going to do with the large brake drum, but they have a point about getting the iron into the heat with a deep pot. Let these guys help you with your ideas and you will have a product you can be proud of. yea, your most likely right cause this thing is massive it weighs about 50 to 60 pounds. I just came back from doing some forging work and i got to looking at the large brake drum and thought to my self I'm gonna have to have a big fire to get large pieces hot because of how deep the drum is. I think what i might do now is cut it with some torches to when its only about 3 inches deeps and then put it in the table but still open to any and all suggestions. When it comes to rotors I most likely can get my hands on any size I know a lot of people who run garages so any ideas on what would be best ? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Browne Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 Why don't you use that as a base for a forge/table made from a car brake drum? I reckon you will get a LOT more satisfaction from a smaller forge in the beginning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillbillyblacksmith Posted January 17, 2011 Author Share Posted January 17, 2011 that is a 5 gallon bucket beside of it for size comparison Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillbillyblacksmith Posted January 17, 2011 Author Share Posted January 17, 2011 Why don't you use that as a base for a forge/table made from a car brake drum? I reckon you will get a LOT more satisfaction from a smaller forge in the beginning. i have a small one now but its not doing what i want it to do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Browne Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 Fair enough But you may be better off building a larger one from some plate and making it the size you need rather than living with the sizes imposed by the big brake drum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillbillyblacksmith Posted January 18, 2011 Author Share Posted January 18, 2011 Fair enough But you may be better off building a larger one from some plate and making it the size you need rather than living with the sizes imposed by the big brake drum. yea, I've been going through the "show me your forge" thread and have been getting some ideas from there and I agree with you, I think I will just build one closer to what I have seen from others designs I think that would be an easier route then trying to build around what I have. Thanks a lot for your input Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 Cut slots down opposing sides, or build up the interior with dirt/clay/wood ashes until you get the tuyere at a decent depth to use it without having to bend your stock double to get it to the hot spot. Diameter of air piping---what is doing the blowing? High pressure---doesn't matter so much. Low pressure the bigger the better. I usually go with what I can scrounge cheap. The Re-Store has been "berry berry good to me!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillbillyblacksmith Posted January 18, 2011 Author Share Posted January 18, 2011 Cut slots down opposing sides, or build up the interior with dirt/clay/wood ashes until you get the tuyere at a decent depth to use it without having to bend your stock double to get it to the hot spot. Diameter of air piping---what is doing the blowing? High pressure---doesn't matter so much. Low pressure the bigger the better. I usually go with what I can scrounge cheap. The Re-Store has been "berry berry good to me!" I can get my hands on about anything to blow the air. The forge I have been using is a brake rotor with a hair dryer on cool air it works fine so I haven't bothered using anything else Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marksnagel Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 Hey Hillbilly, I was given an identical brake drum by a friend. I thought about using it but also had a drum off of a pickup. The larger drum still sits next to my shed because it is really deep and I thought I would have a hard time getting iron into the sweet spot. Also if you need to heat the center of a particularly long piece it may not reach deep enough into the fire to heat it. I solved the problem of not having as much room as I wanted with the pickup drum alone by making a 55 forge with the pickup brake drum. It gave me a really wide work area and kept the sweet (hot) spot of the fire relativly close to the tray made with the 55. This allows me to put longer stock into the fire. The larger brake drum would only allow me to stand up the stock into the pot. The 55 forge works great for me. Your needs may be different though. Good luck, Mark<>< Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillbillyblacksmith Posted January 19, 2011 Author Share Posted January 19, 2011 Hey Hillbilly, I was given an identical brake drum by a friend. I thought about using it but also had a drum off of a pickup. The larger drum still sits next to my shed because it is really deep and I thought I would have a hard time getting iron into the sweet spot. Also if you need to heat the center of a particularly long piece it may not reach deep enough into the fire to heat it. I solved the problem of not having as much room as I wanted with the pickup drum alone by making a 55 forge with the pickup brake drum. It gave me a really wide work area and kept the sweet (hot) spot of the fire relativly close to the tray made with the 55. This allows me to put longer stock into the fire. The larger brake drum would only allow me to stand up the stock into the pot. The 55 forge works great for me. Your needs may be different though. Good luck, Mark<>< yea, I have been reading a lot about the 55 but when I went to look for the original post on how to build it, it was missing or something but I have pretty much gave up on the large drum just gonna use it for a stand or something anyway I Think what I am going to do is just build a full table with a fire pot and flue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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