Why no firepot?

[Randy Bill]

This is a long story, but for starters what kind of forge is this? The blower motor is inoperable and the fan is seized to the shaft; not much fix there. "Buffalo Ace Motor"? I thought the cast air inlet (Tuyere?, end just visible at right) was neat so bought the unit but why no usual "firepot" or clinker breaker? Grate and ash dump door were missing.

[bigfootnampa]

A typical rivet type forge.  Often used with charcoal to heat soldering irons, rivets, horseshoes... light duty stuff.  Adding a few firebricks can help to get good fire depth for general smithing... or just pile the coal/charcoal up pretty good.

[the iron dwarf]

not all forges have a firepot

[ironwolfforgeca]

I have a forge very much like what you have, but it does have a fire pot that the bottom is broken out

& no worth fixing the pan is in real good shape though

 

SO my fix was to cut the bottom 5" off a lg ox tank about 8" OD that I had in the scrap pile

& then  weld 3 bolt tabs on it, then cut the old fire pot off the pan

its OD was a little smaller than the tank piece I drill some bolt holes in the pan & bolt the fire pot to the pan

I also re-cut the hole bigger before that with a plasma torch witch will cut cast nicely

 

and now I can make a BIG gong someday out of the left over tank & hang & yep there noisy

 

thats what I would do to that forge then you have a good useable forge

& !! you don't have to worry about the cast fire pot breaking / cracking later in down the road

 

Steve's Welding

[Randy Bill]

Whew! Imagine my relief finding out that what I have actually was a forge. Because my loved one was becoming increasingly harder to find when I wished to move it, I added wheels. They are from an IHC grain binder; the flanges prevented the side-draft of the implement from shoving the horses sideways and won't matter on my dirt floor. Ash dump door replaced.

A blower was next, all the way from Pennsylvania. Champion #1(?) with 3" outlet reduced to my 2 1/2" inlet thanks to a Summit Racing part that I fit.

LANCASTER on intake side of blower. In this position plenty of air would come out of the Tuyere(?) with only moderate cranking of blower. But, I have the 2 1/2' tubing to connect.

 

 

[Frosty]

Is, "clay before using," cast in the pan anywhere? If not you might still want to ram a layer of clay in the pan anyway. It helps prevent localized heating of the cast iron and cast iron doesn't like localized heating, especially if you use a water can on the fire. I use the clay liner to make a "duck's nest" for the fire and increase or deepen the fire with fire bricks.

 

It's a darned good looking rivet forge, she'll work a treat for you.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

[Randy Bill]

No sir. A few numerals but no wording or ID. In my case "cart before horse" would apply. Jeez you probably saved my bacon on the clay advice; I've marveled at how thin the pan is (not from corrosion).

Cast iron floor drain grate. The plumber had PVC but the farm store had iron. Is it suitable?

2 1/2" tubing swaged up at one end and down at the other to connect. Bracing fit to legs.

Thank you guys for your input. This is new stuff to me and the replies are very much appreciated.

[bigfootnampa]

Oh NO!!!  The PVC will be GONE after the first fire!!!  Cast iron or thick steel is what you need for your tuyere!!!

[Frosty]

NO PVC Randy! Around 300f it turns pretty liquid but that won't be a problem because it will have turned to warm taffy and fallen off the forge first. Black iron plumbing parts are suitable. A pipe T, three nipples and a floor flange. The floor flange screws, bolts, etc. to the bottom of the pan. You may have to make an adapter if it's too small to cover the bolt holes so you can drill matching holes. An adapter is as simple as a piece of sheet steel large enough to mate to the forge pan with a hole for the air supply and holes for the floor flange.

 

Then you screw a longish nipple to the flange, then to the T, the second nipple into the T so it's pointed straight down for the ash dump. Lastly the third nipple screws into the T so it's horizontal, it will connect to the blower and be the air supply.

 

The ash dump should be as simple as you can manage, a crew on cap works but is a hassle, especially if you need to dump it and it's full of hot coals. I used an exhaust flap cap like you see on Semi stacks. They clamp on and upside down are balanced so the counter weight holds them closed till you tip the with tongs, poker, whatever. I extended the counter weight so it's close to the edge of the forge table.

 

The Tuyere I made for my forge is semi exhaust pipe, the vertical is 3" dia, the horizontal is 2". I cut the T hole with a hole saw and welded it up with my little (mig) wire feed welder. The flange was another bit of 14 ga. sheet steel cut with saber saw and hole saw, welded to the pipe and drilled to screw to the forge table.

 

I'm a real fan of the exhaust pipe air supply but I'm set up for fabrication, have the tools and years experience. I'm betting just a drawing will let virtually any exhaust shop make you one but you'd be spending more than plumbing parts. Another thing I like about exhaust pipe is it's thin enough the air blast is more than enough to keep it "hold in your hand" cool. I also get all I want, as scrap or drops from a couple local shops where I'm known.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

[Randy Bill]

Uh, I meant to point out that a local plumber no longer had cast iron floor drain grates but I was still able to get one at the farm store. Was asking if the cast iron grate (in the image) was suitable.

[Frosty]

That ought to work fine. If/when it breaks or burns through make a copy but use 1/2" rd. bar stock with 3/8" - 1/2" gap between them. It's a popular air grate among some of the old timers here because it works well and is cheap.

 

 

Frosty The Lucky.

[VaughnT]

That's a really nice set up you have, Randy. A lot of folks thing the fire pot is a necessity, but it sure isn't.  It's helpful in a lot of ways, but not having a fire pot is equally nice because you can change the shape and size of the fire with a few bricks.

 

Love the wheels!