Ash gate on homemade brake drum forge

[HandsomeRyan]

I spent a few hours this afternoon working on my brake drum forge. The hardest part was fabricating an ash dump [from stuff I had laying around] that is effective at dumping ash but only on command.

I originally made a 'counter weight style' ash dump cover but I couldn't get it to work exactly right so I decided to switch gears and go with this sliding style instead.



The forge itself is a brake drum off a 3/4 or 1 ton truck and the piping is all 2". The ash gate is reasonably thick (14ga. maybe?) sheet metal salvaged from an old lawn mower which pivots using a lever with a classy plastic ball at the end.

I still need to complete the grate to keep the coal from just falling down the piping and I need to make a stand of some sort bu I'm feeling pretty good about what I've put together so far.

[Maillemaker]

Looks good. What do you have for an air supply?

[HandsomeRyan]

Looks good. What do you have for an air supply?

Thanks.

Right now I've got a couple options on air supply. I have 2 old blow dryers available to me. I don't know why my wife keeps buying new blow dryers when her old ones still work but as long as it benefits me I won't ask too many questions. I also have the blower out of an "aero-bed" that I could use. It blows a startlingly large amount of air but only has one speed. Not sure what I'll use yet but open to suggestions.

[kyler]

I would probably use on one of the blow dryers if they have different speeds so you can control your fire and how munch heat you have.

[Maillemaker]

Or use the aero-bed blower, and build a control valve for the tuyere.

[mtforge]

I still need to complete the grate to keep the coal from just falling down the piping and I need to make a stand of some sort bu I'm feeling pretty good about what I've put together so far.

I use a cast iron drain grate from Mcmaster-Carr for a grate. It's cheap thick and ash falls through it. I still need to fish out a clinker once in a while but it's not a problem.
2413K2 Light Duty Cast Iron Round Drain Grate 5" Diameter http://www.mcmaster.com/#catalog/118/2115/=jrp7bt

[HandsomeRyan]

I use a cast iron drain grate from Mcmaster-Carr for a grate. It's cheap thick and ash falls through it. I still need to fish out a clinker once in a while but it's not a problem.
2413K2 Light Duty Cast Iron Round Drain Grate 5" Diameter http://www.mcmaster....18/2115/=jrp7bt

Awesome! Thanks for the tip!

[superdome65]

Seriously, Thanks for that site, i just ordered a strainer through them for an ash gate because i melted mine today. hahahaha

[Dan C]

An option to building an air-gate is to somehow divert the air flow.  An added bonus to using a furnace blower like what I used is the speed is governed by the amount of resistance, the more resistance the harder it blows so when angled up high it blows less.  I now use a Christmas tree foot switch so I can leave the angle unchanged and just turn it on or off. 

 

[ThomasPowers]

I usually use a piece of expanded metal for a grate replacing them as they burn out but I wanted to test a theory so when I was forge welding last weekend I use a cast iron valve handle I picked up at the scrapyard for a quarter.  Worked great, and after I chipped the borax/clinker cicles from it didn't see any erosion worth mentioning.  (Making a trivit from some 1" by 1/4" strap: take 3 pieces and forge weld the ends together to make the legs---I usually make smaller ones out of lighter stock but I have a cowboy frypan I hope to use at the campout this weekend...)