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Coal Forge Modification question


Drewed

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I have I guess what would be considered a "portable forge" It may be a buffalo forge as that is what the blower says on it. The problem I'm having is that there is no fire pot in it. The tuyer is flush with the bottom of the pan. I'm having trouble getting a deep enough fire. Would it make sense to add a fire pot? I'm thinking a brake drum added to the middle may just be the ticket. Any thoughts?

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I have a similar forge that I have considered doing a similar modification to. You can generally work around it by building a stacked fire and setting your irons into it a couple of inches up from the table.
You just have to use your green coal (dampened) as the firepot walls. Some smiths like to use that kind of forge anyway, IMO it is not ideal but I can work with it well enough that I have never gotten around to altering mine (use it very little nowadays anyway). Sprinkler can is an important tool when working thusly.

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I have a 55 forge and I have found that when I know I need a sweet spot of different size I can adjust before starting the fire. If I need a more concentrated fireball I place firebrick on either side of the tuyere to make a smaller area. If I need a deeper fireball I stack bricks higher which allows the fuel pile to be taller.
Just figure out what you need before the days firing. Remember the 6 p's:

Proper
Prior
Planning
Prevents
Poor
Performance.

Look at the 55 Forge plans in the Blueprint's

http://www.iforgeiron.com/page/index.html/_/blueprints/100-series/bp0133-the-55-forge-r183

My brake drum sits almost flush in the cut off 55 drum due to a lip on the drum edge. This lets me built a fire up to the 55 drum shelf and if I add bricks to the edge I can make a really large fire.

Mark<><

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Sounds like you have a rivet forge, it is a pain to get much of a fire going in one. I have seen them go for some pretty good money on ebay when they are all cleaned up and painted ( I do not know why someone would want that) Clean it up sell it to some sucker and build a real forge with proceeds from the sale.

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Sounds like you have a rivet forge, it is a pain to get much of a fire going in one. I have seen them go for some pretty good money on ebay when they are all cleaned up and painted ( I do not know why someone would want that) Clean it up sell it to some sucker and build a real forge with proceeds from the sale.



yep sounds like a rivet forge. I like the above idea. Or if you want to keep it just to have one, it does make an ok demo forge for nails and leave. Rivet forge designs are very limited though in their application. What were they used for originally I wonder?
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yep sounds like a rivet forge. I like the above idea. Or if you want to keep it just to have one, it does make an ok demo forge for nails and leave. Rivet forge designs are very limited though in their application. What were they used for originally I wonder?

Rivet heating? Well, I guess that I'm the sucker then as I bought the dang thing from e-bay! It will work for a portable to take on demo, and I'll try the brick idea.
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Back in the semi old days structural steel was hot riveted together and they used to have small forge up in the air and then would throw the rivets to be caught by the bucker who would place it and then the air tool would set it.

Another method is to get some strips of plain un galvanized sheet metal and make rings of them that you could place around the tuyere to make a "fence" to let you pile up the fuel higher---I like to make them C shaped to leave an opening to get the stock in and out.

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