Show me your Forge

[neilyeag]

Just put together this brake drum rig.  Will be using self made charcoal for fuel.  My set up is outside.

 

Neil 

 

 

 

[humphreymachine]

Here is a Buffalo forge which I picked up recently. Does anyone know the model number or the approximate years of production? My catalogue shows, and the other fabricated(not cast iron) Buffalo forges I find on-line have cross braced legs rather than the cast iron corner brackets which mine has. The chimney pipe is 8 inch and it appears that the smith who used it added some extra sheet metal to the hood – presumably to improve draft?

[arkie]

I like the side access door fab'd into the right side of the hood.  Good for those long pieces, but keeps the hood side closed otherwise.  That's a nice looking old forge.

[Heelerau]

Gents, had a new fire pot made of bis alloy at work, cost me a carton of cider !! Boiler makers bless them ! this is an old Buffalo forge I acquired 30 years ago with some tools, for the moment it is in the front of my workshop, I will convert a lean to a proper blacksmith shop some time in the near future. 

 

Cheers 

 

Heelerau

[Du7ch]

I have ideas for my brake drum forge however I haven't been able to fabricate the stand I want. I lost patience today and wound up making a temporary in ground forge. It did OK, but I'm excited to have a stand for the forge as well as an anvil stand.

[Du7ch]

Sorry, the picture wouldn't upload.

[loneronin]

this is mine.

 

 

 

[VaughnT]

Here is a Buffalo forge which I picked up recently. Does anyone know the model number or the approximate years of production? My catalogue shows, and the other fabricated(not cast iron) Buffalo forges I find on-line have cross braced legs rather than the cast iron corner brackets which mine has. The chimney pipe is 8 inch and it appears that the smith who used it added some extra sheet metal to the hood – presumably to improve draft?

 

Never seen a Buffalo forge like that one.  The detail is spectacular.

 

You should mail it to me so I can carbon date it and make sure it's an authentic Buffalo product.  :)

[41flathead]

Brake drum forge I just finished. First one I've ever built and it's all from scrap I had laying around. I did buy the wheels and fan switch. Thoughts ??

[johnnie]

Looking good Flathead but I'd shield the wooden purling and those electric cables from the flue. Its gonna get hot hot hot!!

[41flathead]

Thanks Johnnie.
Heat shields are in the works

[elmoleaf]

This is the overview of the entire setup. Location is surburbia, outdoor setup. Everything sits under piece of 4x8 plywood that's hinged off of the eave of a small pole shed (not really visible). When in use, I drag everything out and prop up the plywood for shade. When the plywood is down, it keeps rain, snow etc. off the equipment.

The forge itself was put together with whatever was at hand:

Ikea metal bunk bed tube steel frame and ladder forms the table. All bolted, since I don't have a welder.

Old dryer sheet metal doors for part of top surface, then oven rack and wire shelving for rest of top and shelf below.

Old lawnmower wheels to make it portable.

Closeup of underneath. Air pipe is some of the bed tube steel, and tube from old bike pump. Air supply is hair dryer. Ash dump is piece of scrap metal wired to the pipe and held closed with counter-weight.

Fire pot was made by forming x-cut in dryer door metal and folding sides down. Then dropped in some really thin sheet metal that had been bent and screwed together in shape of the pot.

Insulated it with about 1" thick mix of perlite and mortar.

Fuel is anthracite scraped up from an old basement. Pot has been used about 6 times or so and seems to be holding up fine.

[Kevin Olson]

Here's my clothes dryer forge. Its now installed in my garage with a good working stack but I'm not able to post a pic of it.

[lawman]

This is my homemade coal forge and my son playing with it. 

 

plus what he ended up masking.


 

[norrin_radd]

Man, I like that clothes dryer forge! Here is the forge I made from a plow disc,

 

Link to video

[Knucklebuster]

Hello to all!

I am new to the site, and although I have pounded quite a few nails into wood, I am a rookie and new to the world of Blacksmithing.

I am attaching some photos of a portable forge that I just bought, and hope that one of you folks can help me determine who manufactured it and about when it was made. In one of the photos you can kind of see that It has the name AZTEC on the exterior of the "Pot".  I replaced the wood pump handle and leather drive belt, and it works great and blows air well. I cant wait to fire up some coals and take my first step to pounding and shaping metal!

This is a great site, and I have already learned quite a bit from all of your posts, so thank you!

[Frosty]

Welcome aboard Knucklebuster, glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in the header you might be surprised how many of the IFI gang live within visiting distance. Hooking up with experienced smiths will speed you up the learning curve so much faster and easier than learning the craft on your own.

Nice job on the Rivet forge. Does it have "Clay before using" cast in the pan? If so just ram compactable clay into the pan with a mallet nothing special needed. There are lots of comments pro and con regarding claying forge pans.

The main pro being the clay helps disperse the heat from the fire so the cast iron pan isn't subjected to large temperature differentials in a small area. Cast iron doesn't like large temp differentials and it can cracking or heat checking. My old rivet forge pan is split almost all the way across, good thing I don't burn coal eh?

There are more cons: First being the dirt turns into clinker and can contaminate welds. The next con being what happens if you use a water can in the fire, first the clay can turn right into mud but worse water can collect under the clay and rust the pan out much faster than uncovered in the weather.

You've been reading IFI so I hope you know how addictive blacksmithing is. Happily it's a constructive addiction. The learning curve is endless, enjoy the ride.

Frosty The Lucky.

[wayne1967]

I've got a small champion 16" x 18" that I am currently converting into a larger one. Found a heavy metal cart with a lip all around. Just got through cutting a square to fit the forge down into. 

[Ethan the blacksmith]

this forge is one me and my dad help me build 2 years ago and it is set up great for me.only trouble is I can't move it... 

[wayne1967]

Work in progress.

[wayne1967]

Here is a Buffalo forge which I picked up recently. Does anyone know the model number or the approximate years of production? My catalogue shows, and the other fabricated(not cast iron) Buffalo forges I find on-line have cross braced legs rather than the cast iron corner brackets which mine has. The chimney pipe is 8 inch and it appears that the smith who used it added some extra sheet metal to the hood – presumably to improve draft?

That is a really cool looking old stand. 

[Michael]

Here's my forge, cast iron table with the firepot. Great Craigslist deal (lousy, sideways photos). In use, though I'm in the process of rebuilding my hood/chimney contraption.  Before the cast iron table, I re configured the same brake drum forge a couple of times. First with bolted on 1/2 inch square legs, then I dropped the brake drum into a plant stand and added shelves.  Finally a steel utility cart came my way and I bolted the brake drum under a hole cut in the cart (gave that forge away to an iron in the hat collection)

[Michael]

Oops, pics reversed. Oldest form of the brake drum forge at the top, newest cast iron forge table at the bottom.

 

[Everything Mac]

I like that smoke hood mate. 

 

Andy

[dragon]

I'm loving this new coal forge.

I used getting a giant propane tank installed as an excuse to tear down and rebuild my coal forge, since it made using the propane forge a lot easier in the meantime.

I was tired of the old coal forge.  Terrible firepot design (Really, 'design' is rather a large stretch. It was just a pipe sticking up through a metal bowl shape that was convenient at the time.)  The tuyere was always getting clogged, either with bits of coal falling in and getting stuck, or slag.  The air grate burning away.  It took up a bit too much floorspace.  It was my best coal forge up til then, but it had its issues.

I got an old water tank as part of a scrap cleanup at a neighbor's place.  Using Mark aspery's plans as a rough guideline, I cut some holes, welded some pipe bits and pieces together, and made this fancy water cooled side blast.  Some of the welds seep a bit, but not enough that it seems to matter. We'll see how they hold up over time. The bed is lined with as much wet woodash as I could find.  It could probably use a bit more, but oh well, more coal storage.

So far, works great!  I love that I can forge for several hours now without worrying about clinkers clogging the  air. Clinker still becomes a problem eventually, but not nearly as much as it was with my old forge. And no worries of my side blast pipe burning away like the uncooled plumbing pipe that I tried in the past.  That thing burnt away rather fast, and it was always getting melted shut.

I've realized I like coal a whole lot better all over again.  I'm sure with the right propane setup, I'd be a lot happier, but back to coal for now.  The propane can still happily heat my water and cook my food though!   I might try one of the Jymm Hoffman style gas forges next time I get around to it.

So, I'm giving my thumbs up to the water cooled side blast..