Iceman_713 Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 so after being on this site for awhile and looking through posts and posting a decent amount myself and talking about building a low budget brake drum coal/charcol forge here is what i have so far, i got the drum from the scrap bin at the auto parts store before they canned me, the pipe i found spelunking in my dads old and very very tired garage, its 2.5 inch diameter pipe which is perfect because that was the size of the hub hole on the drum, the plate welded to the drum is 1/4 steel, i stick welded the wheel stud holes to the backing plate and then stick welded the pipe to the plate, which was probably the hardest part so far( i miss the tig welder i used when i was taking classes) reading through the threads i ran across several that were discussing wooden forges so that is what i decided to make since i have plenty of lumber laying around, i cut four pieces of 2x5.5" and sanded them down then stained what i intend to be the outside and beings as i am in washington and it isnt exactly optimal staining conditions the wood is sitting in the garage to cure then i will assemble it. now comes to my questions, would it be a good idea to stain the entire thing then coat it in polyurethane to protect it against the weather or would that be a rather large fire hazard? im going to fill the main box of the forge with sand so i will get good spacing from the wood that way, as far as a blower i havent decided yet what i will use. Ideas and criticisim are both welcomed gratefully, oh and i almost forgot, would it be a good idea to line the forge with refractory cement to shrink the area the charcol is going to sit in? i was thinking of an upside down funnel style. thank you everyone for your time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgewayforge Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 You should be fine if you're keeping it well away from the heat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceman_713 Posted January 26, 2014 Author Share Posted January 26, 2014 thats why its going to be filled with sand for insulation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgewayforge Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 That sounds pretty good. With charcoal, deeper is better. The charcoal is going to burn burn burn, so keep it contained. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceman_713 Posted January 27, 2014 Author Share Posted January 27, 2014 What are your thoughts on claying the drum with refractory cement Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgewayforge Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 I've never done it, but I have a factory made firepot. I think a conical shape will work for you, just don't make it steep. Have it extend from the air-grate to the lip of the rim. Then, you can use firebrick to make a contained, deeper fire by placing them around the lip when it is seated in the forge. Charcoal will all burn if you have it like coal, you need to keep only what you want burning in contact with the fire. It is looking good, I must say! Keep us posted on the progress! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceman_713 Posted January 27, 2014 Author Share Posted January 27, 2014 i will, im going to stain the other side of the boards and i think im going to need to pick up more polyeurethane because i only have a small can, then i have to make the legs and will stain them as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgewayforge Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 Stain seems like a lot of work for this, you could probably do just as well with spray paint, IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceman_713 Posted January 28, 2014 Author Share Posted January 28, 2014 very true i could but i guess im a little more traditional as far as working with wood :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtforge Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 On my brake drum firepot I put a cast iron drain in the bottom then put in castable refractory from the edge of the grate to the rim. Like an upside down cone. The drain grate needs to be removable as it will burn out eventually. This makes it more efficient in burning fuel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceman_713 Posted January 28, 2014 Author Share Posted January 28, 2014 If it burns out i have alot of grinding to do lol but as far as the cone of refractory thats what i plan on doing i just need to find the castable refractory Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K. Bryan Morgan Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Its a break drum. I've been using one for years and no wear at all. Cast steel is pretty durable stuff. You don't need refractory. http://www.iforgeiron.com/gallery/image/34624-78/ This was taking in 09 and other than some rust it looks exactly the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceman_713 Posted January 28, 2014 Author Share Posted January 28, 2014 Does it chew through fuel? The reason im thinking of using the refractory is to better channel the air instead of having this big open area full of charcol/ coal etc that may or may not get used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgewayforge Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Well, charcoal will all burn up if you have it in an unlined pot. Charcoal needs little air, and a deep fire, but not a wide fire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceman_713 Posted January 28, 2014 Author Share Posted January 28, 2014 K. Bryan what is your fuel source? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K. Bryan Morgan Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Hey Ice, I use blacksmiths coal, and a shop vac with a dimmer switch, the kind you buy for the living room lamp, slider type and just go for it. It goes from 0 to more than I need at the push of a thumb. Usually I use a moderate, this is subjective of course, blast and have no problems at all. One thing I adopted from a very knowledgeable smith, the late Grant Sarver, is a domed tuyere, the clinker falls right off and doesn't block my air flow at all. In his version he took an end cap for a bit of black iron pipe and drilled a 7/8 inch hole in it. Mine is a vent cap for an underground fuel tank and ground slits into it. It works very, very well. Again being cast its durable and easy to replace. It will wear out eventually. Its about the only wear I have in the whole system. But lasting more than 5 years now I consider that cost minimal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceman_713 Posted January 29, 2014 Author Share Posted January 29, 2014 i will have to keep that in mind if i build another force since i have what appears to be a drum from a 1ton truck as well so i may use that and like you said put a dome on it since my current one has a flat bottom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceman_713 Posted January 31, 2014 Author Share Posted January 31, 2014 well i got the wood stained and that spent the week drying because it is always oh so dry and warm here in washington, first coat of polyeurethane went on the first two sides now to let it dry for a few days. sorry for the unfocused pictures ill try to get some better ones tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reading Creek Forger Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Nice work and good plan. Can't wait to see the finished product. I thought about using wood as a frame but a local plumber (& blacksimthing instructor) gave me an old pressure tank to mount mine in. I finished my forge last summer and used a brake drum as the fire pot. I think the brake drum came from a 70's vintage GM truck and was both a brake drum and a disc brake rotor so it had a large lip to secure the drum to the pressure tank bottom. I cut the bottom of the pressure tank off leaving a lip of about 3" above the weld to act a side wall. Cut a hole in the pressure tank bottom and mounted the brake drum in the bottom of a steel pressure tank. I used a thick coat refractory cement to hold four pieces of re-bar in place as a tuyere and fill up some of the space in the bottom of the brake drum while protecting it from the heat at the same time. The pressure tank surface works well as a holding area for green coal. It has worked well so far with no sign of breaking down. I attached four (should have used three) 3/4 inch floor flanges to the exterior of the pressure tank bottom and then screwed in 3/4 inch black pipe as legs. Finished it off with hand crank blower which supplies plenty of air through the flexible tubing another mentor gave me. Nice to be able to work at home though not as often as I would like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceman_713 Posted February 1, 2014 Author Share Posted February 1, 2014 What was the brand of refractory cement you used? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reading Creek Forger Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 I got it at our local Ace Hardware so probably their store brand but it worked well until I tipped the forge over. I had originally cemented the drum to the inside of the pressure tank to reduce the almost 3/4 inch lip but when I tipped it over to load it the drum came lose and broke the cement filler. The re-bar tuyere remains intact so I guess I can live with the lip if I want to be able to take the forge to hammer-ins etc (at last until I build a more mobile one). Moving the forge around seems likely to loosen the fire pot from the hole in the pressure tank. BTW I called it refractory cement since that seemed to be the appropriate name but it may have been some other type of fireplace/heat resistant cement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceman_713 Posted February 2, 2014 Author Share Posted February 2, 2014 Guess ill have to check out ace and see what they have Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceman_713 Posted February 18, 2014 Author Share Posted February 18, 2014 well after finally getting my hind end in gear the last few days since it hasnt been cold just raining i finally got the forge 99% complete shes all put together. instead of going to the hardware store and getting some steel i decided the other day to wander through our old garage and found two commercial sized cookie style sheets and since they were rusty i pretty much think that they are not galvanized so i cut the corners then flattened the sides. then i attached the legs after staining and coating them in a single coat of polyeurethane. After attaching the pans to the top of my framework i marked and cut one pan so that it has about a 2" overlap i then riveted the pans together then i traced and cut the hole for my brake drum to nestle in, i was worried that the drum might fall through the pans as they are fairly thin so underneath u attached a crosspiece of angle iron, i will probably put a second one on the other side of the drum but im out of angle iron at the moment. everything nestles nicely together and looks pretty good to me. im still thinking about covering the bottom of the framework up leaving a hole for the pipe and filling it with sand to further insulate the wood from the head what is everyones opinion on that? im still waffling on whether i should clay the drum or not. Thank you everyone for the input along the way it was greatly appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtforge Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 I would suggest trying it out for a while before closing it up. See what it needs first. Adjust as needed. I put refractory in my brake drum not to protect it but to give it a more efficient shape. Try it out and play with shapes to see if you need anything. Overall I think it looks good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceman_713 Posted February 19, 2014 Author Share Posted February 19, 2014 Thanks mt i wil put it through a burn and see how it does first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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