hi everyone im new to blacksmithing but so far i have managed to make a couple knives and the machine im using for my blower dosent put out a lot of air and was wonder how much air would you guys give to a wood forge to keep it going at forging temp and i mostly use railroad spikes to forge

i used a air mattress blower and it gets just below welding temp.

o i have also tryed one and it worked fine for a while now i have moved on to a kind of old pump that used to go on a gas tank that you pump up and down and it releases air it dosent pump out a huge amount of air at once but it more cost efficent then buying batteries thanks for the advice

a typical blow drier puts out way too much air for a wood fired forge and here in the USA can often be found for trivial amounts of money at yard sales.

Where are you at?

mid louisiana how big do u think the pipe carrying the air to the forge should be

I always go with a 2.5 inch pipe and use a slide gate to regulate it. I used a vacuum cleaner pump for my first forge, it even had an on/off switch to scavenge from good will for 5 bucks!

o that is a good idea i think my forges pipes is to small but for the amount of air it seems to work alright probably gonna try the vacumn and 2.5 inch pipe like you sayed sounds like it will put out more air then my pump one more question what do you perfer to use wood to forge or charcoal thanks for all the information

CHARCOAL++ but real charcoal not briquettes. Real charcoal was what was used for the first 2000 years of blacksmithing with coal sneaking in in places in the high to late middle ages in Europe.

Using wood means you are making charcoal as you go and enduring the smoke and heat it gives off. You can make your own charcoal separately if you want to, either ahead of time or by having a fire you can raid for glowing coals. (I built a shovel made from rock shaker screen so I can steal coals and leave the ash behind...)

thanks for all the info everyone and i think im going to make my charcoal ahead of time dose anyone have a idea of how much wood would it take to make a basic knife with after turning all the wood to charcoal i appreciate any information that can be given

my charcoal system usually makes around 60% charcoal to unburned wood.
not too great, but any unburned wood i re burn next time, and the wood i use is free.
i buried a 44 gallon drum in the ground vertically, with a blower fitted to the base via a 2in pipe. i burn the wood until the smoking is rather low, then remove the blower, bung the pipe and fit the lid of the drum, and cover it with dirt. if it smokes, cover that part with more dirt. any smoke means you wont get charcoal, pile and pack the dirt as much as possible over the smoking area
i leave it for at least 2 days to make sure it is fully out, open too soon and the oxygen will restart the fire, and you will lose all of your work.
thats just how i do it, and there are a multitude of other ways to do it.

o yeah that is a way i've never thought about today i made some charcoal but the lid wasnt air tight so i guess i wont no if it worked until tommorrow when i open the barrel thanx for the info