Beeko Posted May 28, 2012 Share Posted May 28, 2012 Hello everyone, Long story short, I am a 20 years old who has been fascinated by Mele weapons since I was a kid, now I decided to learn how to make them, I have a lot of unused space (roof and garage and a very small garden). I can't wait to start, so far I can't find any blueprints for a brick forge, as I said I have space but not so much on cash :D If anyone got any references or Threads for beginners, can you please share? :D Can't wait till I start knowing you guys, have a nice day :D B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iron woodrow Posted May 28, 2012 Share Posted May 28, 2012 the search engine is my reference. i lurked on the search engine for at least a year until i posted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Einhorn Posted May 28, 2012 Share Posted May 28, 2012 The search term that I suggest is "masonry forge".http://www.iforgeiro...h&fromMainBar=1 A masonry forge is basically a table comprised of four masonry legs connected by arches. This allows access to clean out the tuyer and chimney. The firepot sits just outside the chimney opening because if the firepot is between chimney supports or within the chimney, then the size of your project is limited to the size of a large horse shoe. If the firepot is too far away from the chimney opening then you can have problems with the smoke not drawing into the chimney. The size of your flue is critical, there are differences of opinion on the diameter of the flue but 12" diameter is the old standard with anything less than 10" not recommended. You can connect two small size flue pipes to create a larger diameter. The height of the top of the chimney to the roof is also important. Check your local code for fire safety requirements, and any requirements for distance of forge from your building's wall. Size of forge table is dependent on your space available, what you plan on making and your work style. A larger table allows you to have space to draw coal into the fire and space to have your tongs and other fireplace tools handy. I highly recommend trying out as many forges belonging to other folks as possible, and talking to the smiths about the advantages of features and what they would do differently if they were to build another forge. Excellent examples of masonry forges are the forges in Williamsburg Virginia, and my favorite arrangement so far is the masonry forge in Furnacetown Maryland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 Welcome! Nothing teaches a person more about weaponry then making them and testing them---especially if they try to replicate the ones that "worked" historically and then work there way out to the fantasy ones---doing so will tend to help you not make slick grips; or guards and pommels that injure the *user*---and only the opponent from laughing so hard they fall over. A plea for clarity and being careful with the Jargon We don't find many folks specializing in the weapons used in Mele in the Province of Genoa in the Italian region Liguria! Or was that supposed to be Melee? We do have a marvelous world wide group of talented smiths here and I'd bet that we could turn someone up who knows a lot about Ligurian blades of the XYZ period; but that would be a lot of work thrown away if you really wanted the melee weapons info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 Welcome aboard, glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in your header you might be pleasantly surprised at how many smiths live within visiting distance and nothing shortens the learning curve like hands on instruction. There's plenty of info on building masonry forges here somewhere propane forges as well. Both have up and down sides so it's not totally unreasonable to have both but don't get carried away and start off with multiple forges. Frosty The Lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bentiron1946 Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 Welcome to IFI and just search the various sub forums for lots of information on building your own equipment. Most of us have done our own builds to get what we need, it's what smiths do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beeko Posted May 31, 2012 Author Share Posted May 31, 2012 First of all I am sorry you guys for the late reply, I've been having a bad time with the connection, I am really glad a lot replied and tried to help :D iron woody: Yes indeed, the thing is I have NO clue about bladesmithing whatsoever. That's why I asked for keywords :D David Einhorn: I think I understood 70>>85% of what you said xD Thanks a lot :D the link you posted is not working though, and I think I have no idea how to make the forge to have a space to blow air and still a space to collect ashes from (this is all the knowledge I have about Forges :D) The Illustration is not showing a lot when it comes to these two points, but it's really helpful to imagine most of it. I am going to build a brick forge on the roof, it is REALLY cheap to build one in here, almost 18$ will cover the cement and the bricks xD I can't use any other forges, because where I am from, there are almost non (not in my city any ways), no one makes weapons and stuff like that, they are only interested in handcrafted iron projects, and they use electric wielders to make those xD. ThomasPowers: Well, thank you for the warm welcome :D I'll seriously follow this advice, I have to build a forge first :D Yes, my bad it WAS supposed to be Melee xD, and I doubt I could meet up with anyone to help me with this quest of mine xD Frosty: Thank you too for this welcoming :D But let me assure YOU that it's you the one who would be surprised :D I am from Egypt, I bet I am the first from there to join this place xD I don't know the difference between the propane and masonry forges, but I've been looking into how the masonry forge works and I didn't get anywhere xD no need for multiples, I just want to know how to build one that will coast less on the long run. Bentrion1946: Thank you, and I can assure you I wasn't planning on buying anything xD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironbudd Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 were you located? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 Dang and now you have me all interested in Ligurian Weaponry and I'll have to look it up for my self... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beeko Posted June 1, 2012 Author Share Posted June 1, 2012 Ironbud: I am in Egypt man xD ThomasPowers: Glad I was of help xD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 Considering I'm at work with a copy of "Metal Techniques in Medieval India" sitting on my desk while I'm testing astrophysical software I don't know if that is a help.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
divermike Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 welcome, may I suggest you spend at least a year learning basic blacksmithing prior to doing weopons? It behooves one to get a real understanding of metal work to become a fine blade maker, and the great part is, you get to make so much cool stuff on the journey. I'm into Roman stuff myself, and have yet to produce a competent gladius, after several years!! But I make a mean Pilum!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 Diver is that a "rice pilum"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iron woodrow Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 making pila is easy, since when they bend, and the customer complains, you say "thats the point!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 Ironbud: I am in Egypt man xD ThomasPowers: Glad I was of help xD While I don't know, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if there are a number of folk from Egypt here, as I recall we have more than 150 countries represented. Frosty The Lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beeko Posted June 13, 2012 Author Share Posted June 13, 2012 Thomas: You are a tester? Divermike: I have no problems with doing so, the reason I got to this forum is to find someone to tell me what to do, where to start, how to start. So far I can't even get how the masonry forge works or how is it built, most of the Blueprints I found didn't explain or even show how to get rid of the ashes, but they all agreed that you have to lose them :D. Have you made badass Blades yet? :P iron woody: Isn't that how Chinese spears work? :D Frosty: Wanna bet Egypt is not one of them? :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 So far I can't even get how the masonry forge works or how is it built, most of the Blueprints I found didn't explain or even show how to get rid of the ashes, but they all agreed that you have to lose them There are two types of forge hearths, side blast, and bottom blast, Side blast forges do not have an ash dump, the ashes and clinkers are removed directly from the fire using a slice and rake. Bottom blast forges need an ash dump and grate to allow the air to come up through the fire, clinkers can be dealt with in a similar way to the side blast, or a clinker breaker incorporated into the tue. This set up means ashes and debris will fall down into the air supply arrangement, and so to prevent choking, some form of ash dump must be considered. This picture shows an assembly to fit under a bottom blast hearth, It will need a suitable arrangement for the air to pass through And this is the hearth it is fitted beneath, the air holes are 10mm diameter on a 75mm pitch circle diameter Hope this helps and gives you something to start to work from Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beeko Posted June 13, 2012 Author Share Posted June 13, 2012 There are two types of forge hearths, side blast, and bottom blast, Side blast forges do not have an ash dump, the ashes and clinkers are removed directly from the fire using a slice and rake. Bottom blast forges need an ash dump and grate to allow the air to come up through the fire, clinkers can be dealt with in a similar way to the side blast, or a clinker breaker incorporated into the tue. This set up means ashes and debris will fall down into the air supply arrangement, and so to prevent choking, some form of ash dump must be considered. This picture shows an assembly to fit under a bottom blast hearth, It will need a suitable arrangement for the air to pass through And this is the hearth it is fitted beneath, the air holes are 10mm diameter on a 75mm pitch circle diameter Hope this helps and gives you something to start to work from You have no idea how much that helped me :D I got a lot of keywords from you to search for, and I found this: believe it or not, this ACTUALLY helped A LOT :D I am trying to build a brick Masonry Forge, I found an article a few weeks ago in here, for some dude who build an Amazing one in his garage, seriously it was beautiful, not that big though :D Can'e seem to find the link again though xD I Also found this forge But I've never seen anything like it while I was searching, not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing, but he got a lot of positive feedback on that one. I have a lot of space (my roof) and I want to build the forge my self, but I can't wield yet :D :D :D That's why I am thinking of brick forges first. Thanks a lot again for the info, it really helped a lot :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 Glad that was of some use, The picture there does not show a regulator for the air flow which is essential for good fire management. This could be a slide valve, electrical speed controller, or you could use the ash dump lid (which I personally would not recommend)The forge picture you linked to is a little bit specialist for blademaking as it gives a long heat to the materials, not always useful when doing general forging work, and may be a little heavy on fuel usage. You could make the design so as you can alter the effective length of the tue iron which would make it a little more controllable/versatile/economic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beeko Posted June 13, 2012 Author Share Posted June 13, 2012 well I AM going to work on swords, but if it's a lot on fuel... then that's a bummer :D I am starting my work on the forge in a couple of days max, hopefully. Just waiting to find the best blueprint and design. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 Start working on knives first for a couple of years 'til you get the techniques, then graduate, see how your forge works then rebuild if necessary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beeko Posted June 14, 2012 Author Share Posted June 14, 2012 Start working on knives first for a couple of years 'til you get the techniques, then graduate, see how your forge works then rebuild if necessary That's probably it. I have a question though, During Feb 2011 in here, people brought out their weapons, I saw one of those, but it was a REAL one.... How is it possible to make such a thing? Is there a forge big enough? Skills great enough for it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iron woodrow Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 if that is metal, which it most probably isnt, it would be aluminium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 IIRC even in aluminum, if solid it would be about 20 times the weight of a using sword, if the wielder is not 20 times as strong as a normal person it's a useless display piece and a pain even to carry to a con. Making it up out of sheet with a hollow core helps; but still.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beeko Posted June 16, 2012 Author Share Posted June 16, 2012 This is an example, this was not the Sword, the one I saw was REAL, he was dragging it behind him and it made sparks with the friction on the asphalt xD He's well built and he can use both of his hands to kind of lift it 180', but when it comes to swaying a hit, gravity does 99% the other 1% is aiming by him xD Is it even possible to make such a sword? How??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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