Forge Building delema

[Hoary]

Well, I'm sure everyone had this at one point, but mine is quite simple... maybe... anyways. I'm planning to build a forge, I need something for a fire pot. I've got two items at my disposal, 1 a hibachi type grill about 3inches deep and a wheel rim from a car. I would think the wheel rim from the car would be the most resonable item except for the holes in the rim. I've seen the post of Iron puppet title ready firing forge or something to that effect where he did use the rim, but materials needed to make it are kind of hard to come by just yet. With that said, my 2nd choice the habachi would make sense since it is a solid piece of metal and all that would be needed is a hole to put the air flow in and then weld. does anyone have sugguestions? and something to make note of for the habachi is that it is an iron with baked enamel on it, does that create a health risk or a heat rupture risk? just wondering. Also please don't take my post as an impatient jolt to make a shoddy forge as patience to make quality comes first, just not very knowledgeable on how to be thrifty and quality if you know what I mean.

Thanks in advance!

-Bobby

[jayco]

Hoary, if you want to try side- blast on the hitachi---look at Glenn's BP0238 blueprint. You might not even have to make a hole for the air inlet.---Yeah, the baked enamel might get hot and pop off as tiny shrapnel, so be careful---wear safety glasses!

[IronPuppet]

I have the problem of holes too, but I am going to fill them in with clay and use the clay to make an edge around the inside of my fire pot. I would be doing it today or yesterday, but the wind has not gone below 50 k with gusts to 100 k so it's not a real good idea to light the forge.

I was going to put my hibachi in a section of oil drum, using the oil drum bottom and about 6 inches of side wall to hold the clay in place and the hibachi would be embedded in the clay for a metal fire pot. I wanted a deeper fire pot as it seems better for an outdoor forge.

Christopher

[keykeeper]

Hoary:

Speaking from my own experience, I was hung up on the same kind of issues. There are SO many ways to build a forge. Let's see:

1-Brake drum forge, plans available various places on the net.
2-Side blast forge, again, plans available various places on the net.
3-55 forge, see blueprint BP0133
4-custom built shop forge-plans all over the net, ebay, etc.
5-brick hearth forge
etc....etc....
or buy one already built, if budget allows.

All these designs have merit. All have different costs to build.
Now ask yourself what is the ultimate goal of building a forge. To make one that lasts forever, or is easy to build? What is the intended use? Knifemaking? Small items? Large items?

Think outside the box, so to speak. There are just a few things to acquire to build this forge-a source of air, a means of directing the air, and something to hold the fire. Period.

The question is: Do you want to heat and beat metal? Or spend precious forging time debating this versus that? When I was hung up on the same thing, it cost me a few months of precious forging time.

Use your imagination, get busy building whatever you can afford or acquire, and most importantly, be safe and HAVE FUN!

Personally, I use a slightly modified version of the 55 Forge, it uses a brake rotor as a firepot (easily acquired) and it will POSITIVELY burn metal up, if I want it to. There is ample coal reserve with this design. And most importantly, it's cheap to build. There is a blueprint of my forge setup, hopefully it will re-post soon.

Edit: BP0133 is posted.
Keykeeper forge is BP0390

Good luck on your first build. Keep us posted on the progress.

[Glenn]

Just a few more options available on IForgeIron.com > Blueprints

BP0138 Bullet Grate Forge Wayne Lewis
BP0390 First Forge Fire Forge - Design Keykeeper
BP0273 Mini Forge Forge - Design Steven Walker

BP0394 Side Draft Forge Forge - Design Richard Thibeau
BP0238 Side Blast Forge Forge - Design - Coal Glenn Conner
BP0277 Scott Forge Forge - Design - Coal Jerry Carroll

BP0232 Side Blown Forge Forge - Design - Coal Jr Strasil
BP0115 "5th" Wheel Forge Forge - Design - Coal Mike-hr
BP0133 "55"Forge Pan Forge - Design - Coal Glenn Conner

BP0333 Supercharged 55 forge Forge - Design - Coal Glenn Conner
BP0191 Gas Forge Burner Forge - Design - Gas Tyler Gold
BP0272 Gasser Forge - Design - Gas Jr Strasil

BP0288 Gas Forge Construction Forge - Design - Gas Jr Strasil
BP0192 Gas Forge Forge - Design - Gas Garey Ford

There are several photos of forges in the IForgeIron.com > gallery.

The IForgeIron.com > forum has several threads on forges built by those thinking way outside the box. This forge is built from "a little red wagon".



What is your primary fuel used for forging? - click here
The 172 votes listed 6 different fuels.

Different forges heat differently. As to which is best? Build several forges and decide what works best for you.

[Joseff]

Hoary, I made my portable out of fire brick and plain old red clay out of the back yard. I used 1/4" diamond plate with drilled holes for a grate, and connected it with 2 3/8" bolts to a 2" galvinized flange. Then I made the air passage with 2" pipe nipples and a T. Worked pretty good in the scale I was using, and the cost was negligible.
Joseff

[rods8833]

I made a small coal forge out of a sheet metal base with a mixture of cement and pearlite. 50/50 mix. It breaks down if it get wet often , but held up well and repairs were easy. The blast came from a old hair dryer and some pipe into the bottom. I made a grate out of some 1/2 " plate I had laying around that i drilled some holes into. .