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I Forge Iron

55 gal brake drum forge


AndrewP26

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Build a fire in your forge and if there are issues with smoke or draft drop the top of the opening 4 inches, then start moving the sides in toward the center. I have my opening at 16 -18 inches wide or so.  My opening is cut in the form of an arch to close off the air slipping in at the corners.

As others have stated, the of the anvil height should be knuckle to wrist high. Put a piece of board on the anvil and hit it with the hammer. Crescent hammer mark at 12 o'clock the face is too low, 6 o'clock and the face is too high. Adjust as needed. For a piece of RR track I like it supported well but so that it can be removed and used as a swage. Lots of inside and outside curves on that track that can be used. Just pick it up out of the support and lay it on the table to use something other than one end. (grin).

Edited by Glenn
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LOL,, I drive the grammar police completely wild.  I am convinced my computer is dyslexic,

 

btw,  who's glen?  and why is my post edited by him?  [the cat,says edited by Glen]

I dont care, just wanna know,

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The cat image was reduced to 1/4 of the original size. This allowed the intent of the photo to remain the same while using much less bandwidth. For those on high speed data connections there is no difference. The rest of the world is still on slow connections or even dial up, or pay to play. The image size is a real problem as they may time out before the image loads, or pay for the additional time and bandwidth for a photo of a cat.

The image of Ernest T. Bass was removed due to copyright. If you own the image or have it under lease, please let me know and we can approve the image.

The admins and moderators do read the site on a daily basis. We encourage posting of original material, images, photos, etc. There are those that want THEIR intellectual property protected (copyright and etc) and we try to do just that by removing the material unless we can obtain the permission of the owner. We have found the owners to be reasonable people and when permission is granted, we post their work WITH a thank you and a note saying it was used with permission. 

The internet is a wonderful place. You can find information on most anything of interest IF you want to do a little research. Just because you find it on the internet DOES NOT mean it is free, or that you can reproduce it, sell it, or use it to make money. It belongs to someone else.

There is a thread on the site about copying another blacksmith's work. It is HIS work, a project HE developed and made. You can build YOUR version, but should not make an exact copy of his work. 

 

It is about respecting and protecting the rights and ownership of others.

Edited by Glenn
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I use a full size keyboard and my fingers hit where the keys are suppose to be. My aim is usually accurate but sonetimes I hit a key only to find that the finger actually hit the edge of another key first, another key altogether, hit the wrong spelling (teh) etc. Then there are those times I shift a key position on the key board and ot ;ppls sp,etjomg ;ole tjos.

My brain works faster than my fingers. I may be one, two, or more words ahead while the signal connection between the brain and the end of my fingers lags behind. This causes letters to be transposed, dropped, or words left out completely.

Charles and many others have knowledge in multiple areas, blacksmith, farrier, and other occupations. Some use a tiny keyboard on a phone in order to post. I would rather they share the information than to make it spelling and grammatically correct. When I see things that need corrected, I try to slide in and make edits and corrections to spelling etc. I DO NOT change the intent of a post. 

We have had members that DO NOT speak English and post in their language. We then translate it to English for them as an edit to their post. When a reply is made in English, we translate it to their language and place it in the post. Now we have two languages being used in each post. Photographs and images are universal and we encourage them to be placed in the posts when possible. No translation needed.

The moderators and admins are encouraged to edit any post if they have the time, or it needs done so the viewer can better read and understand the post. It just cleans up the post and site so it can be more easily read by the viewer. It also corrects mistakes so the poster does not look bad due to spelling or not understanding the English language.

 

Edited by Glenn
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Thanks Glen,  I appreciate the edits and the explanation.

Thanks for a Great site!!!!!!!!!!.        I have learned a lot so far,and have tons more  to learn.

Edited by Glenn
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IForgeIron is like a book that you read post by post, page by page, chapter by chapter. Photos are for detailed explanation, same as in a book.

We do not allow long signature lines, animated icons, advertising, or photos / images in the signature lines as it acts as a stop sign when reading the site. Visually you must stop, deal with the non-information, then try to get restarted, remembering what you just read, and pick up the chain of thought again in order to move on to the next post. 

Without stop signs you cruise down the information highway at full speed. (pun intended)

 

 

Edited by Glenn
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Had the forge up and running and knocked out a a couple small hooks to hang my coal shovel and rake on. And a larger hook. Also cleaned up a hot cut I got when I bought my anvil.

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Not sure why my images are turning sideways  . 

 

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I'm new to the sight my stepson told me about it and have been reading all that I can to learn , was reading on here and saw the drum Frodo had .

This is my first forge build found its great for now just starting out and learning , since this picture I have attached the hood but still need to run the stack pipe out .

my forge.jpg

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If you have a problem with smoke escaping from the hood, first close in the sides making the hood opening narrower. Next lower the top of the opening.  Them turn the square opening into an arch opening. All this will increase the air flow into the hood.

The top of the stack should be 3-4 feet above anything within 10 feet of the stack. That is for instance 4 feet above the ridge of the roof if the roof is within 10 feet or so of the stack. The stack should be 10-12 inches in diameter but use what you have first before going out and buying new stack material.

Please let us know how your forge works after you get it tweeked.

 

 

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Not a bad first forge. I don't care for truck drums they're just too large for a fire pot and too small for a forge in general. If you find a brake rotor med size fire pot or pickup truck rear drum large practical fire pot. then inset it in a piece of sheet metal that fits the stand you have, say the end you cut out of that drum you used for the hood, you'll like it better. It'll save you a LOT in fuel and be much more accessible to the work.

As it stands it'll need a rear opening so you can place longer pieces in the fire. It'll really improve the stack's draw if you lower it some and strap it to the drum to reduce the door size.

It's a good start though, you'll have hours of fun discovering what you'd like different. I don't believe anybody who has been doing this long has fewer than half a dozen forges they THOUGHT would work if not perfect. :rolleyes: I have 4 coal forges and probably 6-7 propane forges. ;)

Enjoy the addiction, it's got you now.

Frosty The Lucky.

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Was it your first time playin in fire? Those hooks look pretty good. What was wrong with the cut off when you got it?

Second  time actually. Is quite a bit of fun I find. The cut off was pitted and rusting  had absolutely no edge on it. Looks like it had sat outside for years deteriorating. But a little grinding and now she cuts. 

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Thanks Glenn I have tweaked it a bit and done some modifications , will post another picture as soon as I can . It draws the smoke out great now but will be a lot better after I build a shop so I can run the pipe up and out , did find I made a mistake on the pot so need to correct it with a few fire bricks but it works for now . I just started this six months ago and I'm hooked , Frosty your right I have plans already for a new forge thanks to a lot of ideas on here , just trying to get the basics down first

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Copy that Sparks, there are so many ways to do most of this stuff it's best to keep an open mind and experiment one thing at a time. It's like trouble shooting, change one thing and see what happens, taking notes really helps.

The #1 most important thing to remember is this is FUN and perfection isn't in the books. Good enough seems like a cop out but it's where a person needs to learn to stop. I've ruined more projects than I can count trying to get it "perfect". You can drive yourself nuts trying to find the perfect tools or getting your projects perfect, just right is about as close as you'll ever get and just right is "good enough" or good enough is "just right," take your pick. ;)

You're doing just fine, keep it up brother.

Frosty The Lucky.

Edited by Frosty
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  • 3 months later...

I have two recomdations, one, cut the bottom barrel so as to lower the table to anvil hight (unless you are 6'8"+) this limits lifting stock between the two hights, bot a great issue for an hours work making 3/8" "S" hooks and such but if you start playing with larger stock, or a grill you thank me. It also alows the use of the anvil/forge table as a stock suport

 s secondly you will find that if you install a stack, that bringing a 10-12" pipe right down the back of the hood to the table hight with a hole beside the fire pot (their is a ratio and sugested hight but it escapes me) and another smaller hole up tord the top of the hood you will get better scavangin of the smok than the top of the hood. 

Edited by Charles R. Stevens
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