shawnc Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 I posted a question a little over a month ago about a coal forge I was thinking about buying, and the general advice seemed to be more towards buying or building a propane forge. I looked at the Chile forges, but the 2-burner for $800 seemed a little steep and they had at least a 4-week lead time. So I decided to build my own. I considered various options for the shell, but in the end decided to fabricate my own out of 14-gauge and 12-gauge sheet metal. I built an octagon shape rather than round, and it has two burners (similar to Ron Reil's design). It has openings on each end (4 x 7 inches each), and the openings protrude two inches similar to the Chile forges. One end is fixed, but the other end hinges open to allow for easy relining. I used two layers of one inch eight-pound Kaowool blanket inside the body as well as each end, and I used one-inch thick by seven inch wide fire brick as a floor. I also coated the Kaowool with ITC-100. I also built a hammer/tool rack, bought a post leg vice, and I've already made a set of tongs and a couple of other small things just to learn. I'll try and post pics of those soon. I know the wooden workbench is not the best, but this is temporary until I can get something better. It was not being used, so it's OK for now. Since these picture were taken, I've added some heat shielding under the forge to keep the wood cooler. Under construction: Ready for paint: Door detail. The white stuff on the door opening is ITC-100: Other side: Fired up. The post leg vice was pretty ugly when I bought it (rusty and dirty), but after a good cleanup it's working perfectly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawnc Posted March 20, 2012 Author Share Posted March 20, 2012 Sorry, this somehow was posted to the Anvils section. Would someone mind moving it to the gas forge section? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Is that a bunion stretcher heating in the forge in the last picture? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigred1o1 Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 lol Thomas that was my question as well i sure hope not those things are so handy for breaking in new shews on i a side note i like the use of the RR spikes for forge feet and heck the look of the forge over all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawnc Posted March 20, 2012 Author Share Posted March 20, 2012 Dang you guys are good. Sorry, but yes that's a bunion stretcher. I didn't have any tongs, and I found those at a garage sale, so you know how it goes. I kind of felt bad about messing with them, but I figured they would just end up sitting in some tool collectors box if I didn't use them. At least they have a useful purpose now. Thanks for the compliments. After it was built I realized the forge looked sort of piggish, so I couldn't resist the foot shape of the spikes. My kids thought I should add a pig tail too, but I haven't done that yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigred1o1 Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 dose it have a pass through flap on the back? if so you could make a tail handle that would be pig ish and i like to put something like that on mine so i can flip it and open now and then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawnc Posted March 20, 2012 Author Share Posted March 20, 2012 The back opening is the same as the front (4x7), and I've experimented with blocking half of it with a fire brick. It seems to throw more heat out the front, but I've wondered if I could increase the heat or use less fuel by blocking it off. Having a little door with a pigtail handle is a really good idea. I would maybe need to insulate it to keep the door from overheating, but I'll play with that idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anhanguera Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 nice building skills, how much you paid for the leg vice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawnc Posted March 20, 2012 Author Share Posted March 20, 2012 Probably too much, but I didn't want to wait around forever for the perfect deal. I found it on eBay, and it looked kind of rough because it hadn't been cleaned up at all (still dirty and rusty). It's 42 inches long, 5 inch jaws, and I think 55 pounds or so. It was about $130, but the people were really nice and in fact drove it to me the next day since they happened to be coming anyway for a family event. I saw similar ones on eBay which have gone for twice that much, but they were all clean and nice and therefore yielded a higher price. I disassembled it and gave it a good cleaning, polishing, and regreasing, so it's pretty nice now. I'm 90% sure it's an Iron City brand based on the style, but I haven't found any markings so far except for a big number 2 under the mount plate and a 3 I think on the screw housing. It's serviceable bolted to the wooden workbench, but I plan to build a metal bench before long for the forge and the vice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Your forge looks good Shawn. Your burners aren't one of Ron's, he builds linear inducers and yours are ejectors commonly called "side arm" burners and are a bit more efficient than linears. For the pig tail, put a door on the back opening and a pig tail handle to open/close it. It'll make everybody happy and be useful, what I call a win win. The only thing I find with protruding door lips is the heat tends to warp them sooner than later. It's not always a problem but sometimes is. Well done Shawn. Frosty The Lucky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawnc Posted March 20, 2012 Author Share Posted March 20, 2012 If I had it to do over I might have made the burner mount pipes a little larger to allow the burners to be tilted more. I can tilt them slightly, but there's a colder spot between the two burners. It's not been a big deal so far, but it seems like it might be good to be able to focus both burners at the same spot sometimes. I might replace those pipes at some point, and I might even move them a little closer together. They're about 5 inches apart, but I think that's too much separation. When I first fired it up prior to painting, I noticed the front door lip was starting to glow a little. Tilting the burner slightly inward solved that issue (it's not glowing at least), but yeah I wouldn't be surprised if they warp eventually. I smeared a little of the ITC-100 on the metal while I was doing the lining and it stuck reasonably well. I know there's another ITC product just for metal (223 or something), but it's pretty expensive. So I'll just wait and see how they do over time. Good idea on the door; I think I'll do that. That's one of the benefits of building over buying a commercial forge. I wouldn't want to alter a purchased one for fear of voiding the warranty or possibly hurting it's efficiency. Besides using the color of the metal as a guide, what's the best way to determine temperature? It looks like tempilstiks top out at around 2,000 degrees, and high-temperature thermometers are really expensive. The forge heats up in just a couple of minutes and I can start forging right away, so the burner performance seems pretty good, but I'm more curious than anything. I'm running between 3 and 10 psi or so, and I haven't tried to get it hotter than forging temperature yet. I guess I could try to see if I can get past a bright orange glow. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bentiron1946 Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Nice looking forge you got there!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anhanguera Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Dang you guys are good. Sorry, but yes that's a bunion stretcher. I didn't have any tongs, and I found those at a garage sale, so you know how it goes. I kind of felt bad about messing with them, but I figured they would just end up sitting in some tool collectors box if I didn't use them. At least they have a useful purpose now. Thanks for the compliments. After it was built I realized the forge looked sort of piggish, so I couldn't resist the foot shape of the spikes. My kids thought I should add a pig tail too, but I haven't done that yet. to me looks a awesome deal, you got it delivered and for less than $150, im not so familiar with US prices, but here in Brazil a leg vice like that costs from R$150-250 even rusty or somehow cracked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOblacksmith0530 Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Shawn Nice job on the forge. I have a Chili Habanero which is the middle sized forge and I block one end all the time when I am doing smaller items it saves gas and heats faster. As to temp I have a digital thermometer that I use when heat treating inportant items otherwise heat it and beat it. You can forge steel up to and including welding heat just more heat equals more scale and if heated enough and long enough the carbon burns out. If you are working tool steels then you need to take care with your heat time and temp if just plain forging mild steel it is not nearly as critical. I have two gas forges and two coal forges in the shop and all get used as needed. I like to work in coal it tends to put me at a slower pace and for me I weld easier in the coal. I do all my damascus in the gas for the most part though. Oh by the way I have my larger gas forge sitting on a cart that has a 2x6 wooden top and as long as I don't forge too long with the side door open the wood doesn't burn. It has been sitting on this cart for about 9 or 10 years now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel.85 Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Nice to hear you like the chili forge, I talked to the lady out there the other day about ordering the Tabasco with probe port and stand. She said when I order it in April(my anniversary present!) it would take about 4 weeks to receive. They were very nice and professional on the phone and emails. I had wondered about blocking the openings at all, I work with smaller stock a bit too so I think Ill get a fire brick or two for when Im heating that type of work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.