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I Forge Iron

Coal Breakdrum Forge


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welp, thanks to the inspiration of another thread in here, I had this made. Working pretty good but I need to build up the drum with some clay.  Including design print too. If anyone wants the .dwg to modify, just let me know. There are 1.5" angle brackets welded to the bottom, 3 sides, so the drum just slips into it. Easy to replace if ever needed.  The hood sections aren't welded on so they can be removed and the circle cutout replace if I ever want to use it for a table. Maybe to hold a propane forge down the road.

My buddy works at a fabrication shop and supplied most of the material from scrap, and just charged me $50 for the stock he pulled off the shelf, then welded it for me (and gave me a welding lesson to boot!)  Can't beat that!

It does a great job keeping the smoke out of my face. I used firebrick just like the original guy I plagiarized did but I don't think they're necessary (an elder from church gave me a case of them!)  I can just take them out and use them for a propane forge some day.

 

 

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forge2bric.pdf

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forge2bric.dwg

Edited by Shamus Blargostadt
adding the .dwg file too.
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Nice looking forge.  I would just leave the blocks in place if you won't need them for anything else...that will help your hood draw better.  If you do remove them, you can stick some sheet metal on the sides and back.  You might eventually need to put some rails around the table to help keep your coal in place.

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Yes, actually in the mechanical drawing I made the angle steel the table rests on are supposed to be facing up, instead of down, to create a rail. He had it welded together though before I even knew he was thinking of welding it. No complaints from me though :D

I was thinking I could probably use that inside my garage, with those bricks in place, and just find a way to pipe the smoke out of the garage. The fire can be light-yellow hot and the outside of the bricks are barely warm to the touch.

 

 

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Nice. The only minor down side I see is if you want to say heat the middle of a long piece for some reason. the fire pot doesn't extend out from under the hood enough for that, and the angle iron hood supports are just about where I'd want to put the steel cross wise in the forge if I wanted to do that. I'd find not being able to work across the forge that way a bit of a nuisance, but that's because that's how I've always worked mine. No really big deal, you can always correct that in later incarnations if you find a need.

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Nice. The only minor down side I see is if you want to say heat the middle of a long piece for some reason. the fire pot doesn't extend out from under the hood enough for that, and the angle iron hood supports are just about where I'd want to put the steel cross wise in the forge if I wanted to do that. I'd find not being able to work across the forge that way a bit of a nuisance, but that's because that's how I've always worked mine. No really big deal, you can always correct that in later incarnations if you find a need.

​actually the bricks, hood, and hood supports are not fixed. They're all removable.   It's all heavy enough to stay in place without welding it.

I do run into length issues though. I had a hard time getting that entire knife length hot enough to heat treat.

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Nice looking build, I like the cost. I say this because if you got a good basic grasp of welding that was worth $50. Most anyone can build with wood (good or bad) Way fewer can build with steel, less can weld. and even less than that have the means to.

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Good point Markknx a lot of folk don't have the knowledge or equipment to fabricate from steel. However, most colleges have industrial arts courses and extension classes. I've known a lot of guys who have taken an extension course just for the use of machine shop or specialized welding equipment with the expert instruction to learn to use it.

Some folk don't have such available but it's well worth looking into. The forge isn't the real prize in this situation, it's the skills and experience, a: forge, anvil stand, wood stove, milled drive parts for a power hammer or swage block, sheet steel forge or kitchen range hood, etc. are the gravy.

Frosty The Lucky.

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