Newish Smith(ish) to the forum

[WyoSmith]

Hey folks, I'm just getting back into smithing after a few year hiatus. I moved from Wa to Wy for work in the oilfield and have been slowly building up my gear as time allows. The main part I have been missing is a forge and just yesterday I found a full sized champion forge on craigslist and it wasn't rusted out so I snagged it up. Now, by not rusted out, I mean it's only partially rusted out so it is gonna take some work to make perfect. I started by tearing into the blower and scraping/kerosene washing out the old hardened oil and dirt accumulation.

Attached are a pic of the blower halfway disassembled and the basic shape of the forge with tools stacked up on it for the process. Don't mind the clutter, I have the wife working on that today!

I'll update with the shop build as I go along.

[WyoSmith]

Got the forge up and running after manufacturing a plate to go over the tuyere. I was getting WAY too much air and wasting lots of coal.
I have the distinct good fortune to work in the oil field where large metal and scrap are very easy to find, so while I am waiting to get this forge hooked up to a chimney, here are some pics of the ghetto 20 ton press I made in the shop at work today.

Specs are as follows: body, 2 inch 1/4 wall square tubing. 3/4 inch plate gussets. Random scrap for non structural items and it is powered by a 20 ton air over hydraulic jack. I have 75 bucks in this thing and that's all the jack.

The 3rd pic is what it does to a 1 inch bar at a low cherry heat without straining. I will start making does for it when I get back from the next job. It was welded with a massive Lincoln welder and my shop hand is structural welding certified. It's a beast.

[Jason McD]

Welcome to IFI WyoSmith. I like the press. One of these days I've got to get/build one.