November 2, 201411 yr I'm planning on building a portable forge that can function as a side blast(for charcoal)or as an undeblast(for coal), and after searching IFI and Google I've not found anything. Anybody build one of these yet or have some blueprints? I was thinking the basic idea resembling the WWII "suitcase" forge with a door on the side and bottom so I can switch depending on my fuel.
November 2, 201411 yr Coal burns just fine in a side blast, just use side notches on the forge rim or make the tweer so it can be slid up or down about two inches. Otherwise just combine the two in the same box if you make a fire pot that is flat on the front side, you can have a flush tweer in the side and a tweer in the bottom. Drop in a bullet grate and you effectively raise the tweer 2". If you are concerned with ash and fuel getting in the other tweer use a plate either in the bottom or on the side.
November 2, 201411 yr I saw a homemade rig about 30 years ago that had come out of a large wagon shop. The smith had fastened two Champion 400 blowers to one hearth; one was plumbed to a conventional bottom blast pot, which was pretty deep and of round configuration (I didn't see a maker's name and it might have been home made). The other blower came in from the side but tangential to the pot's internal diameter so it appeared the designer's intent was to create a swirl effect. Not sure how effective it was but I expect they were trying to get more heat to the fire when welding tires or other large pieces.
November 3, 201411 yr With the tweer tangental to the fire pot, it may have been to allow the forge to be used with a crucible for melting babbit or other metal
November 3, 201411 yr Author Thanks for the advice, hopefully I can post some sketches soon and see what you guys think.
November 7, 201411 yr I'd just build a side blast forge. You can use any fuel you like. Alternatively build a shallow bottom blast and use brick to build up the height if you need to for charcoal. Andy
November 9, 201411 yr Author I'd just build a side blast forge. You can use any fuel you like. Alternatively build a shallow bottom blast and use brick to build up the height if you need to for charcoal. Andy <script type="text/javascript"> // hmmm....i like that idea. thanks
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