November 9, 201312 yr So I was working on designing a side draft hood for my mobile forge and came up with this. I spend under $2 on the bucket and aluminum duct, cut a big hole in the bucket and cut out an opening in the side and here you go. It just sits on the table and you can fine tune its location to whatever you like. Even used the piece I cut out as a sort of adjustable overhang. And I gotta say it works really well. So all you out there that are in my position of limited time money and resources here is an idea for you.
November 9, 201312 yr Author Its about as ugly as you can get but dang it sure beats breathing all that coal smoke!
November 9, 201312 yr I believe that Runion the smith put it best; an object made that does its job is beautiful because it does the job it was designed to do, even if an object was gold plated and encrusted with jewelry but can not function the way it is supposed to it would be ugly in mine eyes.
November 9, 201312 yr Greetings Backyard, I won't be putting that style of hood on my bucket list so to speak.. I sure applaud simple and functional.. Good thinkin.. Forge on and make beautiful things Jim
November 9, 201312 yr Oh, and just in case anyone's wondering..... and you never really know with people nowadays.... You don't want to use a plastic 5gal bucket for the "hood". Trust me, it won't work as well as you might like! BB, as I said before, I think it's great. Of course, now that I'm looking at it, I wonder how it might be dressed up to become more than just a metal pail. I keep thinking back to Jesse James' forge hood and how he's got it really tricked out.
November 10, 201312 yr Author Sam: here is a better picture of my vise. Its an old semi-truck brake drum, some heavy plate on the bottom welded to some I beam and more plate on the top. Since the picture was taken I have added a lip around the top plate to keep tools from rolling off, and some hammer loops on the sides.
November 10, 201312 yr Author Thanks everybody, the only problem with it so far is that its kinda top heavy and if you get a decently strong gust of wind it wants to fall over. So I think I'm going to have to rig something to hold it down to the table. I have some small diameter cable laying around so maybe rig it with a spring and some eye bolts to the table or side rail of the forge.
November 10, 201312 yr "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery." I only had a 3 ft piece of chimney lying around and we always have lots of empty paint tins. The result were very good. A bit windy today, so there were some smoke blown sideways but at periods all the smoke went up. I am now very keen on a decent chimney, I never thought it would make such a difference.
November 10, 201312 yr Author Awesome glad it worked for you. I was a bit apprehensive when I made mine but I was very surprised how well it worked. Especially considering how easy it was to make.
November 11, 201312 yr Author The vise actually works quite well. If im doing some heavy twisting or something like that sometimes I have to put my foot on the rim and lean into it a bit but other than that I really like it. Everything in my shop has to be mobile so I can have a permanent spot for any of my tools.
November 11, 201312 yr Very Cool Set up on the Post Vice . I been looking for ideas for a new way to mount mine up. Thank you Sam
November 12, 201312 yr Excellent side draft hood! Even a piece of stove pipe suspended a few inches off the table a little behind or beside the fire will work surprisingly well. I'm very much a functional is beautiful guy and that's a BEAUT. Well done. Frosty The Lucky.
November 12, 201312 yr Author I will def build a nicer hood once I can move to a spot that I can have a permanent area to smith, but for now with my overcrowded garage and limited work space I think this will be just the ticket to avoid coming in the house covered in soot and pissing off the girlfriend....
April 19, 201412 yr Very interesting idea. The five gallon bucket would overwhelm my little Buffalo Forge pictured here but then we move down the tread and I find one from a paint can. Now that is a more doable size. Then I'm thinking maybe a 10" high shield running horizontally about a third of the way around the fire pan to add that wind protection and this may work really well. Also that "wind skirt" rived to the can would add some stability to this side draft chimney. Something to build and try. For us that have to work outside it's like a BBQ, no matter where you stand the smoke comes toward you. Thanks, Lisa
April 19, 201412 yr With respect to the post vise set up, I know a fella that welded a 2X3 foot section of 3/8 plate on the bottom so when he was working on the vise, he was standing on the platform which helped to hold the vise in position as well.
April 19, 201412 yr one thing that worries me a bit, it might be a good idea to get the paint off the buckets before firing up, it probably gives off some nasty fumes when burning off
April 19, 201412 yr The five gallon bucket would overwhelm my little Buffalo Forge pictured here Fill your forge with fuel. Your running it way too lean from my experience. You may want to try to reverse the rim to see which side works better as a forge. Your chimney is suggested to be 10-12 inches in diameter. That can be the inside shell of an old hot water tank, 5 gallon buckets welded together, or even a sheet of roofing tin rolled into a tube and screwed or riveted together. Secure the bottom and top so it does not slide out or topple over. The idea is to get the smoke out of the work zone.
April 20, 201412 yr Glenn Posted Today, 02:56 PM ... You may want to try to reverse the rim to see which side works better as a forge. ... I believe she cut the other side off of that rim, so she'd need to cut up a second rim... or maybe weld a strip of 1/8" flat around the edge of the rim she has in there to raise the edges to a better height?
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