silvereaglevaughan Posted April 15, 2013 Share Posted April 15, 2013 So i was brain storming on a small mobile forging setup.The standard advice for moving an anvil around is a hand truck so why not put the forge on it to. Pardon the rough sketch, the idea was alittle above my cad skill lvl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ndnchf Posted April 15, 2013 Share Posted April 15, 2013 Nick - I suppose you could do it that way. But if you are looking for an inexpensive portable frame to build on, I'd recommend an old dead gas grill as a better start. They have 2 wheels and 2 legs and I would think they would be a bit more stable. I routinely see them for free in the "Free" section of craigslist or quite cheap for old burned out ones. You would throw away all the grill parts and just use the frame, so that would not be a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobody Special Posted April 15, 2013 Share Posted April 15, 2013 Well, you might want to consider changing the wheels if you try this. I've had entirely too much experience with hot metal/coals burning through rubber. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvereaglevaughan Posted April 15, 2013 Author Share Posted April 15, 2013 Good point on the melting wheels. This is more of a thought experiment at this point, No real plans to fallow through on construction yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobody Special Posted April 15, 2013 Share Posted April 15, 2013 My wife at church - "Honey, why are your shoes clicking when you walk?".........sigh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted April 15, 2013 Share Posted April 15, 2013 There are as many versions of a portable forge as there are blacksmiths. . . More actually, I have I think 3-4 portables myself. Anyway, what you sketched will work just fine. Keeping hot sharpies out of the wheels is as easy as making it fenders, soup cans are good fender stock. <wink> I'd put larger wheels on it, it'll move more easily and much more smoothly. Garage/yard/etc. sales are a good place to find small bicycles and they have perfect wheels for these things. The solid rubber tires are probably the best bet but you can buy a can of tire foam for a few bucks so . . . There are things you can build into this kind of forge cart that come in really handy. Telescoping tong rack helpers are my favorites. I have two on my large propane forge and use them all the time. It's as simple as welding two lengths of ? ID stock parallel under the forge pan, The rack/helper is welded up from two pieces of stock that slide easily into the stock welded under the pan. Then all you need is a cross piece, it'll need a couple short lengths welded at 90* to the support pieces to bring the cross bar level with the forge pan to make a good helper. That's it, hang your tongs from the long pieces and rest your long stock on the helper. Slide the whole thing under the forge pan so it's out of the way to move. Putting one each unit on opposite sides of the forge is really handy, you can have two guys working OR heat the middle of really long stock. Then, you only have ONE stretcher to keep the legs from wobbling. You really need all four legs connected by stretchers for stability. Of course part of the reason to put all the stretchers at the same level is NOT so you can put a handy shelf under the forge at a handy height. Oh NO, I wouldn't even THINK of doing something so practical. <wink> Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rashelle Posted April 15, 2013 Share Posted April 15, 2013 Wouldn't tire foam pose a bit of a risk for the gas fumes inside the tire and a hot metal puncture? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaughnT Posted April 16, 2013 Share Posted April 16, 2013 Well, if you rotate the table so that it's over the flat part of the dolly, and then put the fire pot at the far end of the table, you'd be a good bit from the rubber tires and could use the dolly the way it was intended. Using larger tires wouldn't be a problem, either. I'd be inclined to find a set of cast iron wheels off an old farm implement simply for the cool factor. A single leg for the far side of the table would give you a three-point landing that would be easier to stabilize on uneven ground. I do like the idea.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dale M. Posted April 17, 2013 Share Posted April 17, 2013 A base (stand) from gas grill is almost ready for fire pot.... Why waste time energy and materials fabrication off a hand truck, when most of the hard work is already done with grill base... Dale Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvereaglevaughan Posted June 1, 2013 Author Share Posted June 1, 2013 starting to come together. sip-tied mock up, disk blade for a fire-pot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dale M. Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 Turn hand truck around.... Wheels do nothing for you facing this way.... Dale Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvereaglevaughan Posted June 1, 2013 Author Share Posted June 1, 2013 The table & fire-pot folds down to end up parallel with the back of the hand truck. closer sketch of stored configuration Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Yates Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 If you turn the truck around and stored it on the plate side you would not have to put any type of feet on it to keep it from tipping over when stored . JIMHO Sam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimsShip Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 I questioned using the wheel side as well. I'm guessing you're setting it up this way so that you could still use the hand truck to move an anvil and stump along with your forge? That's going to be one heavy load! Hope you don't get a flat tire! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EGreen Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 I have made a bunch of woks using the discs. plug the hole and weld on horse shoes for handles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaughnT Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 Looks like it will work, but I think you're limiting your design by needing it to fit between the wheels on the dolly. I'd flip it around, as has been suggested, and then come up with a way that you can still use it as a dolly to move your anvil. Of course, that all depends on your needing to have that dolly function as a dolly again. You can buy a brand-new dolly at Lowe's for under $50, and used ones are available for a lot less than that! I'd just buy a second one because adding all that stuff to the original is going to make it very impractical for its original purpose. Having said all that, I'm seriously thinking about stealing your idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dale M. Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 If one wants the fold down ability for storage space, and retains hand truck use then yes go for it... If you want purely portable (for doing off site demos) I still think putting forge fold down on front side is more practical... If one wants "just portability" then a wheeled cart aka: used bbq cart with bbq junk (hood/pan) removed and fire pot added... Dale Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 If all a person needs is a portable forge you can load in the pickup easily take a look around for surplus ambulance stretcher/gurney thingies. (whatever they're called) The things are designed so two guys can lift a 300lb. victim to waist height roll him/er to the back of the ambulance and with the trip of a release just push it in. The legs fold up automatically and the wheels stay under the load so it still rolls easily. What more do you want? Somebody ELSE thought of it, engineered it, debugged it built it and they replace them regularly rather than chance dropping a victim so surplused they're cheap. Does it get any better? Oh yeah a forge would stay flat and level so it wouldn't need anything special like one that tips vertical would. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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