First of all, I have to say I am extremely grateful for this site and also some of the other blacksmithing sites on the Internet. As a new smith I have found a wealth of information here. It must have been hard back in the day when they didn't have access to information like this, (without knowing someone).

Anyway, I am moving ahead with my small smithing setup. I am very lucky to have access to a few pieces of old equipment. An anvil, a forge and a hammer. The forge is a round Buffalo Forge that's been in the barn for years. Tonight I started on track with getting it up and running. More to come...

So, I have a round Buffalo Forge that I want to fire up, but I was reading about how they can crack and many people recommend coating them. So after looking through different mixes I decided to use the masonry mix we had on hand. Here are some pictures of the process:

The forge after I brushed it out:


The bag of Mason Mix:


Starting to pack it in:


The finished product:


After that I left it in the garage to cure. Hopefully this will help extend the forge's life as it will be the one I use everytime.

That is a pressed steel pan it will not crack from cooling. You did not need to clay it if you did not want to. The advantage you will have with it clayed is your fire will be alittle higher. I have one like that that I use fire brick in it to help control my fire. Makes it more like a fire pot. next time ad a little vermiculite to your mix makes the forge lighter but just as durable. the forges that are recomended for claying are cast iron forges. they can crack by putting water on to control your fire. it cools the cast of to quick and it can not handle the stress. you may hear some poping once in a while until your mix fully cures. concrete and mortare mixed can pop and spalt with high heat.

Ok, thanks for the info- sounds like it won't hurt anything.

Nope forge away and have fun!!!

Making mistakes is part of learning.  Save your failures in the scrap pile.  As you grow you will see in your scrap pile what you should work on.  Eventually your successes will exceed your failures.  Failure teaches the wise craftsman, but a master teaches best.

 

Failure is the second-best teacher.  Submitting to a master craftsmen is much better and faster for your education than self-taught attempts.

Istill have some of my first failures. They are embarising, but many of my failures have not survived the several moves that I have made sence.  If you can find a master blacksmith submit to the mysteries and exicutions of the craft.

Yeah I used mine like yours for about a year with no clay all good..

Good to know, thanks for the advice. At least it will be easy to remove the thin cement lining if I need to.

I am looking at joining the local blacksmith club, I'll have to find one that has meetings coming up. I live south of Denver and it looks like there is a group called the Rocky Mountain Smiths.

Well, I fired up the forge for the first time this weekend. I've been running it on lump charcoal. Yesterday I was having trouble getting it hot enough, but today I made a small fire pot out of angle iron to contain the coals. That helped, but I think I am going to get some firebricks and make a taller, more contained forge/oven area above the blower. I'm getting it working though, I made this fireplace fork today (with torch welds).




A little rough, but it will work for what we need.

did you spray any water on after you got it packed in or just dry out of the bag?

I mixed it in a wheelbarrow with just enough water to keep it together and then packed it into the forge by hand and pressed it down with a piece of scrap. The grate above the blower was about 1/4" above the surrounding steel and I just put in a layer thick enough to level that out.

One thing I did with mine is, someone suggested dusting the top with coal dust when the mixture was still wet this will keep the clinkers from sticking. This proved to be good advise and works great.

thanks a bunch