New to the forum and the blacksithing world. Long story short, I have M/S but can still live somewhat of a normal life. I just finished building a new garage and bougth a VW trike and am starting my second childhood. I ended up with a forge and anvil that was headed to the scrap yard and cleaned it up and repainted it. I am down to a few more bolts and a belt. So my question is, what do you make the belts out of? Any help would be great. Don't have any after pictures yet, but heres one of the before.

I have a forge like that and use 1" cotton webbing (available from most fabric stores) stitched together for a belt. I've read where others use leather.

And there should be a grate over the tuyere, I don't know if you've added one or not.

ron

I have refurbed a couple of these type forges and used leather for the belts. I used safety wire (bailing wire) to make the connection. Works great. You may have to adjust the belt to tighten it up after some use. :)

Thanks for the replys...Blugrass, I do have the grate....George,do I need to treat the leather with anything to protect it from the heat? This will be portable, so I can't line it with any clay or concrete. Or is that something that I really should do? Wont be using it everyday and will be making knives and custom twisted pieces for my next trike. I had to have the blower case welded on it and a guy that worked at the shop give me a littler homemade forge. Looks like part of a old water tank with a hand crank Buffalo blower on it. I'll probably use it more then this on because it's lighter. But I like this one because of the mechanicals on it.

mines got a car fan belt on it...

Howdy from East TEXAS!! and welcome to IFI! Yes, you should line this forge with clay or some sort of refratory. It is cast iron and needs that protection. Also, the crack on the top rim can be repaired by using a 1/4" x 1" x ?"long strap, drill holes about 3/4" from the edge of the crack on each side and hole to match on the strap and bolt the strap across the crack. I would also find the end of the crack and drill a small (1/8") at the end, this will keep the crack from traveling further down into the fire pan. I also have a forge like this that I have restored to good use and I found a nice piece of leather at a saddle shop. We used to have webbed belts in our plant and had the connectors so I was able to get ahold of some of this but you can use other methods to attach. Great that you were able to save these pieces from the scrappers!!

If you update your profile and give your general location we can better help you by maybe putting you in contact with other like minded addics! Welcome aboard and look forward to seeing you progress.

see if this will work


http://www.mcmaster.com/#flat-drive-belts/=ja4rxx

I didn't treat the leather on the belt with anything. But it will tend to stretch, after awhile. Just snug it up with new holes and you're ready to go again. Good luck. They really are a neat set up. :)

Thomas, thats what the guy at the shop told me to do with the crack. So before I put it back together, I drilled the pan for the strap and a hole at the end of it. Just need to cut and drill the strap and hope that takes care of it. Francis, thanks for the link, I'll check it out and see what I can find. George, I use linseed on saddles and tack. It does a good job of keeping it soft and weather proof. Might give it a try. Thank you all for your imput and welcome more. I still have to dig out part of a small bank in behind the garage and build some retaining walls in it. It's wasted space the way it is and will make for a good spot to put the forge.

Heres the littler homemade forge the guy at the welding shop give me. The blower is worn, but will get the job done. The rusted up forge is my cousins that my neighbor was using. He is gitting a divorce so I went and repossessed it for him. Pan is shot but the blower is super good on it. I am going to dig out the bank behind the home made forge and make a 3 sided retaining wall about 4 foot tall out of pressure treated 2x6's. Then put a metal roof over it to help keep the weather of things. It's wasted space anyway and a little bit less to weedeat.

Heres the littler homemade forge the guy at the welding shop give me. The blower is worn, but will get the job done. The rusted up forge is my cousins that my neighbor was using. He is gitting a divorce so I went and repossessed it for him. Pan is shot but the blower is super good on it. I am going to dig out the bank behind the home made forge and make a 3 sided retaining wall about 4 foot tall out of pressure treated 2x6's. Then put a metal roof over it to help keep the weather of things. It's wasted space anyway and a little bit less to weedeat.

:ph34r: what is this ?

Welcome aboard, glad to have you. Oh Dude, you're going to fit right in here. We all have something to bear besides life in general and smithing really helps us along. I hear psychiatrists are trying to get blacksmithing banned, it's bad for their business. <grin> One more thing, you seem to have a positive knack for salvaging tools and equipment, three or more forges in a couple days. Keep that up and you'll be a hero.

Pug: Those-are-PICTURES. <snort grin>

Frosty The Lucky.

:ph34r: what is this ?

I was told it was a forge?? Or a BBQ grill??

Thanks for the welcome Frosty!!! Seems to be a lot of friendly people on here and a overwelming amount of information.

o ya there cool ! i love make'n them , heres some of mine...

Pug, Those are super cool!! I was going to go with the RR anvil and brake drum forge before I stumbled on to these.