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I Forge Iron

Homemade brake drum forge on the cheap!


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Good Morning,

Welcome. If you put wheels on two legs and two handles on the other end, You can move it.

You won't have any clinker yet, you can use Clay (where ever you can source it. From a construction site or River Bank) to fill in around your Brake drum. This will stop your wood base from burning.

Enjoy the Journey, there is no end.....

Neil

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Welcome aboard, glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in the header you might be surprised how many of the Iforge gang live within visiting distance.

Like Neil says, if you pack damp clay onto the table top around the fire pot the wood won't burn and you'll have a smooth surface level with the pos to make things easier.

The only real "flaw" in that Youtube video is the high temp paint, it's not only unnecessary the wood will burn under it if it gets too hot, an expensive "improvement" that doesn't do much of anything.

Frosty The Lucky.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Greetings: New to this forum and was leafing through and saw the topic on brake drum forges - Here's one I did using a Semi truck brake drum - I inserted a disk brake which had a piston sleeve welded to it to raise up the fire pot put wheels and held it down with an old flywheel - it works pretty well but it took some trial and error to get things to go the way I wanted.

I got all this material from my son who is a diesel mechanic - It was fun to build and I use it daily 

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Nope - you are correct - I started this not having a clue but have been improving it as I go  been hesitant about cutting through 2" of casting - Have been raising the coals to meet the steel bar presently  - Most probably will raise the brake rotor another inch as a solution - want a little bit of lip there to keep everything contained - it's been a trial and error thing - otherwise has really worked well.

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How I got around that issue, (using a regular car brake drum as well) was to take a piece of sheet metal and bend it in a circle and let it "snap out along the inside of the brake drum sticking several inches above it's rim as a fence.  it was cut a bit short to allow the opening for the workpiece and then across from the opening I cut a "mousehole" through the sheetmetal just above the rim.  Worked very well for me and I used it as my main billet welding forge for several years.  (Much lighter to move around than a semi drum too)

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Yes - over did it on the sizing but it rolls around well enough - That's a good idea. I've been using the handrails I made to support the longer pieces of materials.  Often times with a vice grip clamped to the rail - it has kept things but I like the mouse hole idea

 

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that's a good idea.  I have a heavy fire poker which I lay over the top of the stock (as long as the stock isn't too heavy - it keeps it in place while I'm heating it.  Not to 'techie' but it works - I don't do a lot of big stuff but do have a problem when drawing out things becoming unbalanced 

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LOL - It's the right thing to do - I'm just being wimpy.  shuddering about cutting through two inch wall thickness of the casting on either side - that's a big 'ol drum - not your garden variety auto drum - it used to be a rear drive axle brake drum off an old Pete.  Sucker weighs about 150 pounds as is.  Hence I thought, well, let's just raise the fire pot up a little higher - Putting an inch more of that cylinder sleeve underneath it just might be an easier go.

When my grandfather died I inherited my grandfathers and great grandfather's tools - My uncle talked me out of taking my great grandfather's anvil and back then what looked like a really funny looking sink sitting there against the wall of the garage.   I kick myself to this day that I didn't take my great grandfathers forge and anvil.  In this case, might have saved me a bit of trouble no?

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"If I had only known then what I know now..." is a fairly constant refrain in human endeavors.  One reason we suggest a smaller one to start with is that any work on a huge one tends to be a LOT of work.  Some of us without good electrical service to their shop may be able to forge "in *a*  traditional manner" but paying for our hubris can be tough.  (I've used a hacksaw to cut 1.5" medium carbon steel before---on the side of an abandoned spoil pile---amusing it was not!)

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Well said - I can tell you I am one of those that isn't blessed with abundant electrical power. (sigh) Opportunity is what it is - My son came over with this massive brake drum and I said "Wow, that'd make a great forge" - well it made a great forge but it took some time and head scratching to get it to where it was working right.  Better that I should have hauled that 150 year old forge and anvil home (My great grandfather hauled it across the US in a covered wagon to California and set up shop in a small town named Santa Paula) - had no clue about its value.  

the ideas here are refreshing and getting the gears turning.  I'm all about improving stuff - 

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Acualy, cast iron cuts farely easily with a hacksaw, it frills as well (it tends to flake and make dust) so drilling a pair of holes side by side, and cutting down to them, then scoring the other way and knocking out the peice should work. 

I bet it's closer to 1/2" at the rim and 1/4 farther down. I have one beside the front step. Makes a dandy flower pot. 

I must say, that used the drum as a "box" and bringing the fire ball to the top is a much better idea than what we usualy see, most try to cut half the drum away. 

We are blacksmiths, if we wanted to do things the easy way we would be potters. 

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Halellujiah!  I had cut the cylinder sleeve such that there would be a 1" lip around to hold in chunks of coal that tried to escape the forge.  Well, found that this presents the problem which is now the topic of this discussion - (admittedly it has hijacked the initial discussion presenting what looks like a really nice drum forge made by Forrest Betts.  Adding another inch of sleeve to the bottom should probably be ok - but will make the floor a bit messier as I step on errant chunks of coal and clinkers.  -  you are right - a hacksaw will probably do well and a sawsall an even better option.  Was thinking it could be done in a 'V' shape - that'd maybe hold onto round stock a bit. (maybe)

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The 1" lip is a good thing, it holds extra fuel and keeps excaping fuel and embers to a minimum, it just needs notches to allow you to acces the middle of the fire ball with bar stock. 

In my crazier moments I have considerd drilling a hole in the side of one for a tuyere (side blast) and cutting notches in the side just because every one saies the make bad forges!

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yeah, I like the lip around the edge - a notch really is the right thing to do - Could fabricate a support as well to support the cold, non-business end of the stock while the other end is heating. 'cause I'm lazy like that.

Hmmm.  A side hole such as for a tuyere but to hold stock has merit but it might limit the size of the rod or bar stock you could use.  

V notch or square... that's an interesting choice.

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Before cutting the notches find the sweet spot of the fire. No use cutting deeper than that level.

Do not cut the holes in the side of the drum larger than the stock you intend to use. No need for a 4 or 6 inch notch when you only use 1 to 1-1/2 inch stock at the largest. For one thing the fuel will fall out the large notches.

Depending on the solid fuel you use, you can adjust the depth of the fuel on top of the fire. Charcoal will need to be deeper than coal, etc

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Thank you Glenn - this is much appreciated.  I am convinced to do this with the addition of a support for the stock attached to the handle - see note above on laziness and holding stock while heating...

Thomas Powers had a good idea that might just work with this - Could cut a larger area and then use some sheetmetal with a mouse hole for small stuff and for bigger you could just pull the insert out.

cutting wheel on a 4 inch angle grinder just might do the job in this case - and perhaps its time to buy a sawzall, no?

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4" does sound right - Can't think of anything I do that would be bigger than that anyway.  I guess I should post what I end up doing with that beast - (what was I thinking anyway)

Been tolerating it for a bit now - At times I'll sink as low as bending my stock so it sits down on the fire.  Been loath to cut through an inch of steel casting (or drill through it for that matter)  Hoping the steel removal fairy will visit my forge one night and just make it go away.

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