February 16, 201313 yr You never know where you'll bump into smithing equipment. I found this forge and hood at an estate sale--no one knew what it was!!!
February 16, 201313 yr Author Yes sir! It came with a 130 lb Mousehole anvil and a 4inch post vice--for $300.
February 16, 201313 yr Author Glenn, how high should that hood be off the table when I get to hang it?
February 16, 201313 yr Author Thanks samcro. It's way more than I'll ever need. The lady selling everything just wanted it out of the barn. I missed a 100 lb Hay Budden and a 200 lb Vulcan for $75 each, and a Miller 250X mig welder for $250!! The cool thing is now when I have Cub Scout groups over for demos, I can get a few more kids in on the second pot!!(:
February 16, 201313 yr The hood will try to suck all the air out of the room, or at least as much as possible. You want to collect the smoke and remove it from the room. Any air you send up the chimney will have to be replaced by outside air. You can open a door or window OR you can pipe in outside air directly to the blower which will feed outside air to the forge, and up the chimney. You may want a bit more outside air to act as a wind shear to go from the edge of the forge table and aim it to the center of the hood. A gate type arrangement can control this air for best results. The purpose is to keep the room sorta warm by not pushing heated air up the chimney. I would keep the hood as low as possible, and still see the work, and have room to work. Do not weld it in place until you have experimented and tweeked the system a little.
February 16, 201313 yr Author Stuart, it came with a 12" pipe that's reduced to 8" at approx 8 foot length. How will that work? In my current barn I'd need another 8' of 8" pipe to clear the roofline by 2 feet, at least where i'd like the forge to be. Do you recommend cables from the roof, or welding a stand right off the table for the hood?
February 16, 201313 yr Author Stuart, that was more than I could digest in one sitting(: I do have access to one of those turbines--we used them on our multi-hole outhouses at the nursery. I will lose the reducer, and straight-pipe it with a turbine at the top for starters. It all makes sense--and I will let you know how it works. Thank you muchly for the info!!!! Wow...
February 17, 201313 yr Wow, is that a forge!!! Mint condition, two coke pots and tuyeres, and a beautiful hood..... all for pennies on the dollar. Gobsmacked is I! Looks like the hood has rings at the top for suspending it with chains. I'd certainly consider that route so you can adjust it to find that sweet spot that draws the smoke away while still leaving your room to work under it. My biggest worry is that you won't get a good draw without both pots lit.
February 17, 201313 yr If you find you have too much air trying to go up the hood, and it does not draw the smoke properly, you can block off a section of the hood away from the fire.
February 17, 201313 yr Author Sounds like I have a lot to learn. Working in small, open pan forges have not leant me to learn the art and science of proper airflow. Challenges are great!! And also, I gave away one of my smaller forges today and will be looking to give the other one away this week. When we are blessed, we need to bless others!!
February 24, 201313 yr Author Glenn, I had a heating contractor here today, and because of the steep pitch of my barn roof he wants to come up 3 feet from the hood and over 3 feet to vent on a side wall. He was also talking about installing a draft inducing blower in the pipe. How many cfm do I need? Hopefully there is enough info here to answer.
February 24, 201313 yr Sounds like your contractor doesn't want to work on the actual roof. That's respectable because a steep pitch makes things difficult. Going out the wall isn't a problem (see: super sucker hood), and installing a blower to induce draft will preclude the need for blocking off half of the hood (between the pots). CFM depends on the diameter of the pipe.
February 24, 201313 yr Author Vaughn, this will be a 12" pipe. The guy didn't want one too large as to suck the heat out too quickly. He's not trying to sell me more equipment, he's my neighbor and is trading all this for me taking care of his landscape.(:
February 24, 201313 yr Working with cub scouts I would have kept both small forages so as to get as many people involved as possible. Also keeping the small one means you don't have to fire the big one if you only needed a small.fire for a short time. Also you woud have three forages if you hosted a hammer-in. Consider all thoughts and possibiles before giving away to much. Armand
February 24, 201313 yr Now, that's a good deal, Cleetis! I wasn't trying to impune you contractor's character. Going out the wall is considered by some to be a better option that going straight up. I don't understand exactly why, but folks rave about side-draft hoods so there must be something to it. Hurry up and post pictures!
February 24, 201313 yr Author Vaughn, I will go out tomorrow after church and snap a few, and give some measurements. Can't wait to get 'er going (:
February 24, 201313 yr Author Here are the measurements. The hood is 78x40 at the bottom, 24x22 at the top. The base of the hood is 56 off the floor, and 23 off the table. The pipe will be a 12 incher, and will go up 3 feet and over 3 feet to the wall. So, what cfm blower would I need?
February 24, 201313 yr I HOPE your' not intending to put the forge in that corner were it is pictured? Would be a real shame to restrict such a nice piece of equipment like that to a corner where you can't make full use of it.
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