Buffalo Forge restoration

[Martin Mendell]

I am very new to blacksmithing and recently acquired a Buffalo Forge which is stamped  pat. 1879.  I am looking for assistance with proper rust removal, paint color and any missing parts.  I have spent a great deal of time researching, but have yet to find a photo/info on the type of forge that I have.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.  I do have photos available.  Thanks

[Daswulf]

If you can post some pictures of it I'm sure these guys would be able to help you out way better. 

[Martin Mendell]

Here are the photos from the Buffalo Forge I recently received.

Sorry some of the photos are sideways.  Still trying to navigate thru the website.

I do have the blower for the bottom, which I currently have apart and rebuilding the fan blades.

I am looking for help in:  original color, clay line or not, missing parts etc.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Daswulf]

I'm not really knowledgeable on these, but i dont Believe they were originally clay lined and i wouldnt know about color but i've seen some with the pot and blower black and the legs and gears red but thats just some i've seen. could have just been someones repaint. 

  like i said i'm sure someone else on here could chime in with more info. 

here's a question, Do you plan to use it or just restore it?  If your going to use it then make it how it would best work with the fuel your going to use in it.

[Craig Stebbins]

Looks very similar to my Buffalo #3 Boilermaker's forge (21" x 27"). I just posted about it here: http://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/43858-how-thick-of-a-refractory-cement-lining-in-a-coal-forge/

Here is a 1906 Buffalo Catalog that  maybe helpful: http://www.vintagemachinery.org/pubs/129/5083.pdf

 

Here more pictures of mine to help you figure out what maybe missing:

Edited October 4, 2015 by Craig Stebbins
add info

[Martin Mendell]

Craig. Thanks so much for the pictures and links to the original manual.

I also have the same questions on whether to clay line the forge or not, correct color etc.

I currently have the blower apart and redoing the blades on the fan.   I an considering sand blasting the whole thing and then using a high temp paint on the pan.

I plan on restoring and using it.

[swedefiddle]

Good Morning Martin,

Your avatar does not have your location, Man on the moon??

You can use clay, nothing special, clay from a river. I have used clinker and crushed fire Brick pieces. Anything to give  a space between the cast and the fire.

The proper colour is what fits your attire. There is no rule committee, look in your paint cupboard and decide on what you have in stock. I personally like putting on Flames, any colour you like.

Go very light with the sand blast!! Too much will remove parent material and ruin oilite/brass bushings. The seals are "OLD SCHOOL", be careful.

Neil

[Martin Mendell]

Neil,

Thanks much for your suggestions.  Any idea on how thick the clay should be lined in the pan?

Martin

[Martin Mendell]

I have finally finished restoring this forge. I will be posting some pictures soon. 

It is a buffalo forge from 1879. (Pre restoration pics are posted)

The question is:. To clay line the forge or not?

I live in Michigan so the weather varies considerably and am worried that moisture could get trapped below the clay and cause rust. The bottom is quite thin and I have placed a sheet of steel in the bottom of the pan.

Any suggestions?

[SReynolds]

I Have a champion made form thin sheet steel. IT had no tuyere plate and so I wanted to build something to serve as both a tuyere and a plate to take the abuse of heat. It is a Champion model 145 with 140 Eureka blower. The tyuere plate is not bolted. I welded a collar at the bottom to fit into the hole in bottom of forge. It is sorta free floating, but it won't move about as the collar retains it in place. Afraid if I bolted it, it would warp and thus crack the casting underneath the pan.

It is 1/4" thick plate.l I have come to find over time the small round holes are for garbage. A set of slots functions much better and I will cut slots in this between several holes. The 3/8" holes plug up quickly. Slots in my other forge do not. Another method is to fab a plate and use a heavy steel steam pipe cap and drill holes in that. But they are much higher and you have to raise the fire ball higher  cuz that cap is right there in it.

[Heelerau]

 I have a similar forge, which I clay lined years ago. I have been meaning to make a shield for it. Nice job. 

 

Cheers 

 

Heeler

[Martin Mendell]

• Here is the completed forge.  Sorry getting used to loading images on this site.  I placed a piece of metal in the bottom.  The screws you see are through the bottom of the steel plate are to hold the plate in place as well as the blower underneath.  I was worried that the blower would fall out due to the bottom of the pan being so thin in that area. I have a piece of grating over the plate.  Should I be worried of the steel plate warps?  I would hate to damage the pan.  
• Thanks for any help or suggestions.
• Still unsure about whether to clay line or not....

[PaulE]

I've had numerous small forges and I clayed the first one with high temp refactory cement, water eventually got underneath the cement and started to rust out the pan. I've never cemented another and never had any problems, no cracking or warping the pan.

[Martin Mendell]

Thanks PaulE!

Living in Michigan I have lots of bad weather so I will take your advise and not clay it. 

[Fruita Forge]

I have a very similar forge to the one you have restored except that mine says pat. July 11, and mine is missing the guts so to speak ie; the hand power mechinism for the blower, as it was converted to be powered by an electric motor decades ago.  I wish that I could find those gears clutch and bullwheels/pulleys and brackets off a forge that was broken or rusted out and then I would do a restoration as you have done. Fantastic job, well done!  I may try and post photos of my rig later. Bill

 

[NathanM]

I recently purchased and plan to repair a forge very similar to Martin Mendells. i seen the painted forge. it looks nice, I am also from Michigan. did you ever end up lining it with clay? or does anyone have an answer on how to do it? id like to make mine operational again I'm glad I found this form. I didn't take into consideration these were lined with something at one point. Any feed back would be greatly appreciated

[Frosty]

Yes, line it with clayey soil. I like 1-2 parts sand to one part clay and just moist enough to ram it hard with a mallet, end of a 2x4, etc. Leave a depression over the air grate exposing it. The depression provides a small "pot" to contain the fuel but you can easily build a larger fire with more fuel and air.

Do NOT make mud or modeling clay of the liner material, it will shrink check when it dries. 

No refractory cements or mortars, just clayey dirt or buy a sack of fire clay from a masonry supply. Fire clay isn't any better than road cut or garden clayey soil but it is convenient.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

7 hours ago, NathanM said:

does anyone have an answer on how to do it?

If you look down about six threads there is one with pictures from 1949. Also you can use your favorite search engine like Google and do a search like this   clay a forge site:iforgeiron.com  it will bring up a lot of thread's on the subject.

 

I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sails. ~ Semper Paratus

[NathanM]

Frosty, Irondragon ForgeClay Works

thank you both for the response

[Shainarue]

Whoa. I was also coincidentally looking at this thread the other day because I am ALSO looking to restore an old buffalo forge! Mine isn't exactly like Martin's. However, it does have the lever-operated blower which is what I needed more info on. Mine's a Buffalo No. 0 (zero) which is also shown in that ad above. I was going to post pictures once I actually started working on it. So far I've only just removed the legs & the lever mounting piece. Lots of soaking & waiting to get the blower cover off and see what all I've got going on in there (or not going on, lol).

Edited May 10, 2023 by Shainarue
correction

[NathanM]

Shainarue,   I'd love to see what yours looks like. Here is mine. The last picture is what I believe mine looked like. I found my blower was in poor shape so I have already started making new fan blades for it. I realy like the patina on it so i may just leave it (meaning not paint it). but other than that I'm going to bring it back to working order.

 

[Shainarue]

Here's what it looked like before I turned it upside down and removed the legs for easier access to the blower. 

 

[Shainarue]

I've been soaking & tapping on the bolts holding the blower cover on for over a week now and they are not even close to budging. I'm thinking I'll just use a dremel to cut them off since they'll likely need replaced anyway.

Keeping my eye out for a used air compressor with 1HP or higher, and then purchasing a cheap hand-held sand blaster. I plan to set a table over this and drape a tarp over the table - creating a make-shift spray cabinet - so I can reuse the blast medium.

[Frosty]

What are you soaking the bolts with? Have you tried heating them a little? Cast iron will expand a little more than steel with heat. About 350-400f and a little oil works often enough to be worth it for me to try.

Frosty The lucky.

[arkie]

I recommend heating the bolts, not red hot, but hot with a propane torch then immediately spraying with PB Blaster.  Heat, repeat.  Let soak.  Another tried and true method is a mixture of 50% ATF and 50% acetone.  Don't heat for that mixture.  Some folks recommend Kroil.  I've never used it, so can't comment on it.