I have been offered to buy this as my first forge, can anyone help identifying it?  I haven't been able to see it in person yet, so only have these photos to go off.

 

 

 

It appears to be a home built job with a commercial blower. As long as the fire pot is deep enough I don't think you will have to many problems with the current blower. However beware it is a small blower, I have one identical and it does not produce much air.

Thanks for the feedback. The the blower a 2" or how do you measure the volume?

 

The forge is actually a cast iron one so would have been production, and there is a cast name plate but it is illegible.

Looks like a commercial side blast to me. What's the name on the blower? If it turns free it should do exactly what it was designed to do. What's the asking price?

 

Frosty The Lucky.

Blower is a Buffalo Forge.  $300AUD 

Any word on how it works? For the most part blowers aren't complicated machines and they were built very robustly so unless there's something broken they can be rebuilt with care and patience. Can you lay hands on it? You will be better able to evaluate it's condition if you can look at it in person, turn the crank and put some water in the parts that hold water to check for leaks.

 

I don't know if that's a good price on your side of the planet. Were it me I'd consider how available coal or even coke is and how much I was going to use it. For me $300 wouldn't be too steep if I had decent coal available. If the water tray and bosh, if it has one, hold water, the blower blows and I used coal I don't think it'd be out of reason. I just can't say what's reasonable for you.

 

I think I've laid out what I'd factor into the value. I hope it's some help.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

Waiting for the guy to ring me to arrange a inspection.  That should give me a lot better idea.

Looks like a great forge.  The water trough comes in very handy, but I'd give it a good coat of some kind of paint to kill further rusting if you decide to fill it with water.  It just makes it last that much longer.

 

It doesn't look to be a heavy-duty forge, but plenty good enough for 99% of the smithing you're likely to do as a hobbyist.  The gear ratio on the blower will determine how much volume you're getting.

 

I've always wanted to try a side-blast forge.

 

Is it worth $300?  Yea, if you have a good supply of coal or coke.  It would be too shallow for a charcoal fire, imo.  If you can talk him down a few dollars, that wouldn't be a bad thing!

$300 is a bit rich, I would of tried much less, I have 1 Buffalo and 2 Rapid blo blowers and the most I have paid was $140 . But in saying that ,none of them had a forge with them , that I had to build myself . So if  you are unable to built one for less than  $160 then it is a good buy.