vaporlock Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 Hi All, I was looking for a forum where I would be able to read up on blacksmithing and some answers to questions relating to the restoration of my forge. I found a few good fora but " I Forge Iron" looks like a nice active forum with a lot of "old" knowledge present. After years of stifling my interest in, banging on hot metal and getting it to go where I want it to, and only reading about it, I found a way to apprentice to a bladesmith. It is very irregular due to a time consuming job but man it is good to spend a day at the forge. I found a small forge to work on and another which I thought was to good looking to pass up but I will post it elsewhere. I need some advise on its restoration. Thanks to you all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 Bonjour and welcome to IFI. we have a few other French speaking members here, so dont be afraid of using French terms if you are not aware of the English terms for things. Most of all, have fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vaporlock Posted July 15, 2014 Author Share Posted July 15, 2014 Thanks Steve, Good to know. The forum is an information rich environment, the fun is already there:-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gergely Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 Hi Vaporlock and welcome! It's always good to have folks from the old continent! That is one beauty that forge you have. Is it a manual bellow under it which you have to pump by hand? And is there one single air hole to put air in it (pic 3)? Have you tried it yet? Bests Gergely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vaporlock Posted July 15, 2014 Author Share Posted July 15, 2014 Hi Gergely, Thanks for the welcome, Yeah, I thought she looked good. yes I tried her but i felt there was insufficient air coming out. the bellows work fine on the up and the down stroke. upon further inspection, the valve housing loses a lot of air so it needs to be redone. I took everything apart and indeed, the intake valves are barely hangning on. however, the tuyere was also pretty clogged up with molten lead and aluminum. This is why I need to set up a threat, I need advise on what to use for joints and valve material. regards vaporlock and yes, the tuyere has a single hole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the iron dwarf Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 a single hole can work well depending on fuel and pressure, I use about 11mm for coke and get a fire from 50mm to 300mm diameter ( just under 1/2" and 2" to 12" ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yves Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 Bonjour, Vous êtes à combien de kilomètres de Toulouse? Votre acquisition m'intéresse en ce que nous achèterons probablement une maison en Bretagne cette année et que je compte continuer à forger là-bas. Votre forge est belle. Y en a-t-il beaucoup de disponibles en France? Des moins belles bien sûr ou faut-il plutôt envisager d'en acheter une neuve chez Angele par exemple? Je ne réponds pas à vos questions j'en suis conscient et je comprendrais que vous ne répondiez pas aux miennes. Bonne soirée, Yves Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 Welcome aboard Vaporlock, glad to have you. You're going to want to get all the gunk out of that forge, lead is a BAD thing in a forging fire, it'll vaporize and is very toxic to breath. The aluminum isn't good but not nearly so toxic as lead unless you are sensitive to it. If you can post a couple pics of the valves we're likely to have lots of ideas for repairing or replacing them. It's a blacksmith thing, we just don't do only one answer per question or problem. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vaporlock Posted July 19, 2014 Author Share Posted July 19, 2014 Bonjour, Vous êtes à combien de kilomètres de Toulouse? Votre acquisition m'intéresse en ce que nous achèterons probablement une maison en Bretagne cette année et que je compte continuer à forger là-bas. Votre forge est belle. Y en a-t-il beaucoup de disponibles en France? Des moins belles bien sûr ou faut-il plutôt envisager d'en acheter une neuve chez Angele par exemple? Je ne réponds pas à vos questions j'en suis conscient et je comprendrais que vous ne répondiez pas aux miennes. Bonne soirée, Yves Bonjour yves I live about 2.5 hours away from Toulouse direction montpellier. I bought this forge because they are becoming rather rare in this condition and you can not buy these new anymore. They occasionally pop up on leboncoin. I think it will be easier to find a forge with a handcranked blower. Honestly I do not even know how efficient the forge will be but she is worth restoring. Will you move to bretagne or a holiday house? nice project, Bretagne would be great for a holiday of beach and forge. vaporlock Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vaporlock Posted July 19, 2014 Author Share Posted July 19, 2014 Hi Frosty, Thanks for the welcome. Yeah, I did manage to clean everything out, I opened a separate topic for the restoration related questions under ">solid fuel forges". I will post pics of the valve housing as soon as. vaporlock Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vaporlock Posted July 19, 2014 Author Share Posted July 19, 2014 Ok, I put some pictures of the valve housing up in the thread mentioned above. vaporlock Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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