carlson Posted January 6, 2013 Share Posted January 6, 2013 Okay so I have a wealth of scrap lumber from tearing a deck down. And i'm poor in the scrap angle iron and welding department. Will a wood frame work for a side blast forge? Also I have a few options for what makes up the table surface. I have some OSB that I could lay down, cover with plastic or paint, I have a 1 ft square by 3 in tile for a walking path. I have a stainless steel double sink. I have a concrete bird bath about 2.5 ft across. Plenty of random bricks and red Alabama clay. If this its what you had to work with what do you think the best setup would be? I've already got some 3/4 in black steel pipe for the air. Thanks in advance. I'll try to get some pics during the day tomorrow to show all the raw materials. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LastRonin Posted January 6, 2013 Share Posted January 6, 2013 Alabama clay? You in Bama Carlson? and if so, what part? Like many have suggested to other people on here, Post your location on your profile, and you may be surprised at how many on here are close by. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted January 6, 2013 Share Posted January 6, 2013 Plenty of random bricks and red Alabama clay. I've already got some 3/4 in black steel pipe for the air. What more do you need? Add a little water and some fire and be happy. The rest is good material for your second forge. Take about 30 minutes and build the forge. Use the photos to show us how you built it. Basically take the 1 ft square walking path pavers and stack some bricks around it maybe two or 3 bricks high. Place the air pipe maybe 3-4 inches from the bottom of the forge. Add Bama red clay to smooth things over and round out any corners. I would put it maybe 1/2 to one inch deep on the bottom of the forge. Ash build up will insulate after that. Build a small wood fire at first to help dry everything out and after an hour or so add air. Do not over-complicate simple. This is a forge not rocket science. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlson Posted January 6, 2013 Author Share Posted January 6, 2013 But I live near Huntsville, AL the heart of rocket science. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlson Posted January 11, 2013 Author Share Posted January 11, 2013 So this weekend is forge building time. I looked around at hair dryers and new ones were running $20 bucks for a model with a cool running feature. Add to this most people seem to have to add a dimmer to that because it moves too much air. I needed to come up with a freebie solution. Here's what I came up with. Formed the square tubes out of empty plastic baby wipe boxes. The blue tube was a poster holder I've had since college. I cut square holes to line up with the square tubes and then proceeded to apply liberal amounts of duct tape. Top of a soda bottle brings it down to just right for a little duct tape to connect it to the 3/4 inch black pipe. It started out life as a tower fan air filter similar to this one. On a side note, this thing was put together really solid and was a chore to tear apart to get at the electric blowers if your in the market for one. This one was passed on too us free and had sat in my garage taking up space for over 2 years. It's going to get attached to 3/4 in black steel pipe going into my soon to be side blast forge. It's already got three speeds. I'll see if it works in the forge this weekend and if it does I'll put together into something more permanent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LastRonin Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 Love it! Ain't it fun to cobble something together from your own imagination and see if it works? Hope it works well for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaughnT Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 That blower reminds me of the scene in Apollo 13 where the nerds at mission control dump a bunch of scraps onto the table and says, "Alright, this is everything they have on board. How do we make it scrub the CO2?" Figures that someone in the heart of rocket country would come up with that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlson Posted January 13, 2013 Author Share Posted January 13, 2013 Pictures coming. Spent all day in the garage so gotta spend some time with the wife and daughter. Got it pretty much done. Is there any rule in how long if at all I need to wait to start the wood fire? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JNewman Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 I built my second forge with a wooden frame with a firebrick hearth. I did not have a welder when I built it. I used that forge for 5 or six years. I spent most of a morning forge welding on a rush job and went in to the house for lunch. I came out after lunch to hear my CO detector going off. The forge frame was engulfed in flames and there were flames near my wooden shelves and close to the rafters. Fire extinguisher and hose put out the fire and I had to squeeze building a new forge in before the rush job. So while a wooden frame may work just fine. Never leave a fire unattended in it and look under the forge to make sure the radiant heat has not ignited anything before leaving the forge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlson Posted January 13, 2013 Author Share Posted January 13, 2013 Pictures from last night before firing anything up. I bought some casters from harbor freight so that I can roll it in and out of my garage. I put two 1ft square pavers as the base. The other mounds are built up on a base of bricks. I've been twisting the pipe around every once in a while to make sure it can move freely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlson Posted January 13, 2013 Author Share Posted January 13, 2013 I built my second forge with a wooden frame with a firebrick hearth. I did not have a welder when I built it. I used that forge for 5 or six years. I spent most of a morning forge welding on a rush job and went in to the house for lunch. I came out after lunch to hear my CO detector going off. The forge frame was engulfed in flames and there were flames near my wooden shelves and close to the rafters. Fire extinguisher and hose put out the fire and I had to squeeze building a new forge in before the rush job. So while a wooden frame may work just fine. Never leave a fire unattended in it and look under the forge to make sure the radiant heat has not ignited anything before leaving the forge. I won't be forging in my garage, just storing the forge there after it cools down. I thank you for your experience though and will definitely consider additional inspection the price for not having to purchase and learn welding just to get started. I'm hoping wheeling it in an our of the garage will work because that puts me on the side furthest from my daughters room and it seems like the times I get to play are during her naps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlson Posted January 14, 2013 Author Share Posted January 14, 2013 I'm second guessing myself a bit. I'm wondering if I should have a clay lip up to the level of the pipe outlet? And then fill this with ash or dirt so I can form a small depression in front of the pipe. I still have about a wheel barrel full of clay that I can add onto with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted January 14, 2013 Share Posted January 14, 2013 Other than filling in the opening opisit the tweer, and maybe adding a mound on both ends of the trench to act as stock holders I don't see any major changes I'd make. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlson Posted January 14, 2013 Author Share Posted January 14, 2013 Other than filling in the opening opisit the tweer, and maybe adding a mound on both ends of the trench to act as stock holders I don't see any major changes I'd make. I might have been getting to fancy for my own good but I was thinking about some time in the future if I was ever working with something with a 90 degree bend and two long bits. The more I think about it though thats probably not necessary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlson Posted January 14, 2013 Author Share Posted January 14, 2013 While I'm filling it in should I make it taller you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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