Lowest budget possible?

[roboticist]

So, I'm a college student. I don't have a place to set up anything permanent, nor really a proper place to set up. I have a little experience doing this from this summer, and I'd like to have something I can work on over the year. Of course, I also don't have almost any budget...

 

I was thinking I could do something like this soup can forge for getting metal hot, assuming that that looks like something reasonable - I know it could only heat up small things, but most of what I figure to work on over the year would be on that scale. My goal is to learn to make small knives pretty well, so I think the size of that should be serviceable.

 

I haven't in my research so far come up with a good solution for an anvil. I looked into the rail iron ones, but I don't have the resources to make one. This is the part I'm most looking for suggestions on - I can't afford more than $100 or so for an anvil and still afford to eat (and that's with a job!) If any of you have ideas for a cheap anvil, let me know!

 

For tools, I got lucky - My dad used to do some blacksmithing, so I can probably get some of his old tools. If not, for the size that I'm trying for, I'm willing to go to some sort of hardware store rough equivalent until I make some.

 

Thanks so much for any help you can give! I'm not positive this is the right place for this kind of thing, so apologies if it isn't.

[ThomasPowers]

damaged fork lift tine, broken rail car coupler, chunk of dozer scrap; shoot I've bought real anvils for less than US$100!

[Maillemaker]

If you wouldn't mind updating your location, there might be a fellow smith nearby that can help with your lack of equipment.

 

Welcome aboard.

[Charles R. Stevens]

Sounds like a chalange. What kind of scrounging can you do? What's in your neck of the woods? Any good junk shops? Harbor freight?
Dose that include building a forge, or just an anvil and basic tools?

[ThomasPowers]

Let me provide an example of what can be done:

 

I needed to expand my smithy so I started scrounging stuff *before* it was time to start:  the uprights were utility poles---my local electrical coop gives the ones they pull out to it's members---so I got on that list and received 2 40' long poles that had been in the ground *10* years---they were along the train track and it was widened for two lines.  Cut in half they were 4 poles that I sank 5' in the ground and trimmed for a 10' side wall.

 

The sides were metal roofing that I got from a coworker who had it replaced after a massive hail storm.  The roof was over runs from replacing the metal roofs on the local schools after that storm.  I had a friend that got the job "cleaning up the site" after the roofer's were done.

 

I did *buy* two quite old metal trusses on craigslist and the purlins and self drilling and tapping metal screws an a sheet of fiberglass roofing to make skylights.

 

Another friend had a manipulator---4WD fork lift and set the poles for me

 

Another friend sold me 2 10' wide roll up doors for the ends

 

So for a very small cash outlay I added on a 20'x30' section to my shop---sand and gravel floor from the local arroyo.

[roboticist]

Thanks everyone so far - I'm in Potsdam, NY.

 

As far as building things go, I was planning to set up a portable thing I could bring to where I was going to work. 

 

In the mean time, looks like a visit to the dump is in order!

[ThomasPowers]

a visit to the dump or scrapyard is *ALWAYS* in order!

[EtownAndrew]

I went and watched the bean can forge video that you referenced. When I was starting out I tried a similar thing called a "1 brick forge". I couldn't get the metal hot enough in it to do any forging. My main problem may have been that I was using a plumbing torch. I bought a different over the counter Harbor Freight one and had the same result. The guy in the video seems to be able to heat 1/4" round rod but that is not very big for making a knife. So I think that getting a commercial propane torch with enough output may be your biggest challenge. They are normally set to the output needed to melt plumbing solder which is different from what you need.

 

So after trying that route I bought a 3/4" burner that was really more suited to heating up knife size material. I have now used it for a couple years and made many knives. I recently added a second 3/4" burner that I made myself by partially copying the one I bought. That allowed me to more easily heat up all of an 8 or 12" long knife to then quench it for hardening. I run them using a barbecue type propane tank and a regulator and hose that I got from Tractor Supply. 

 

The attached pictures show my first test of adding a second burner. The second picture shows the propane tanks and my "brick pile" forge. You only need one tank even though I have three.

[EtownAndrew]

Thanks everyone so far - I'm in Potsdam, NY.

 

As far as building things go, I was planning to set up a portable thing I could bring to where I was going to work. 

 

In the mean time, looks like a visit to the dump is in order!

You'll want to call around to several and tell them that you would like to buy some scrap steel and ask if you would be able to look around to see if they have some suitable scrap steel. Some let you walk around and some don't. 

[the iron dwarf]

a visit to the dump or scrapyard is *ALWAYS* in order!

I do this 6 days a week and make tools from the finds, I stock 5 types of rail at the moment and each in various lengths, lots of wear parts from excavators and agricultural stuff, lots of bearings and parts of bearings and much more

[Donnie]

I picked up a sledge hammer head for $5, at a flea market. It wasn't my Kohlswa. But it still serves me well when needed. I have a lot of back problems and a lot of arthritis. The sledge hammer head is a lot easier to move. ;)

[Donnie]

I believe you could put together a very basic kit with $20-$30, at a flea market.

[EtownAndrew]

Going to my dump can be inexpensive. They weigh me when I go in and out. So if I pick up a few things after unloading it can partly cancel out.

[Frosty]

Welcome aboard Robo guy glad to have you. Put your general location in the header, just saying it in a post isn't going to do any good, we aren't about to go hunting through all your old posts.

 

A lot of the troubles with the "one" brick forge stems from using ONE brick. Back pressure tends to make the burners not work well if at all. Drill a cavity between TWO bricks and lay them together. The walls will be thicker and not degrade from thermal cycling and you'll have a little larger chamber with an opening at both ends. Bean can forges can be very efficient and they're light and not very fragile.

 

Almost anything that weighs a few times more than your hammer can serve as an anvil, 10x is a better number but it's still a light anvil. Keep your eyes open for shafting, try the local machine shops, they often have drops that are too small for their purposes they'll let go for scrap price or less. RR rrail is good, better if you stand it on end, it'll have a much better depth of rebound and you don't really need much more face than the hammer's width.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

[jcornell]

The soup can forge is pretty small - I'd upsize to a 3 pound coffee can.  Don't use plaster of paris and sand for refractory, it's not built for the task.  Buy some superwool (Axner.com sells it by the foot) stiffener and some sort of refractory coating.  PM me for a 1/2" burner design that is really, really easy to build

 

I scrounged a 30" piece of railroad track and donated it to another smith  -  he turned it on end and set it in a five gallon pail with cement - it's a pretty sweet anvil, and still portable.  The cement dampens the ring a bit.

 

It's doable,  but it will take creativity.