April 18, 20179 yr So I had a couple of days off in a row and I used my time to finish up my forge. I plan on removing the pipe plug and adding a proper ash dump as well as adding a tool rack somewhere. Sure would love any input. I plan on heating some iron either later today or tomorrow depending upon the weather.
April 18, 20179 yr That looks good. How big is the fire pot? One suggestion i have would be to trim a small section of the angle iron flush with the table top. That way you can lay your workpiece level into the sweet spot in the fire. That's just my opinion. Now, show us a couple pics of some hot steel in it.
April 18, 20179 yr Author 7 minutes ago, Bearded Guy said: That looks good. How big is the fire pot? One suggestion i have would be to trim a small section of the angle iron flush with the table top. That way you can lay your workpiece level into the sweet spot in the fire. That's just my opinion. Now, show us a couple pics of some hot steel in it. The fire pot measures 8"x10" at the top and 3"x5" at the bottom its 4" deep. I welded it up out of 7/8" plate. I had considered opening up the angle as you have suggested, it just slipped my mind. I will do that now for sure.
April 18, 20179 yr I love it. The wheels are awesome along with the vintage slack tub. Fire that baby up and get to beatin hot steel. Whoo hoo:-)
April 18, 20179 yr Looks great so far. Robust construction that should hold up well. One thing you may wish to add, eventually, is a side sucker hood and at least a short vertical exhaust to get the fumes up over your head. Normally I would suggest this be on the "short" side of the pan, where your slack tub is, to keep the larger pan side for a coal/fire tending tool/tong/stock dumping. Another nice accessory I've enjoyed using is a mobile arm for supporting longer stock to the side of the forge. I've seen swing arms and hinged style with a swing out floor leg both work quite well.
April 18, 20179 yr Author Good ideas, I think I will follow up soon with a swing arm. I have just started researching hoods and chimney's, I wasn't sure if I would need one. My thought was if the smoke is blowing my way I could just turn the whole forge down wind for now.
April 18, 20179 yr Without a doubt it's a good looking and should do anything asked of it. Had to chuckle about the ash dump plug because when I built my forge decades ago I too planned to replace the plug with an ash dump door. I'm still unscrewing that sucker after all those years.
April 18, 20179 yr I like a left handed set up. Work well for me as i dont swap tongs from right to left.
April 21, 20179 yr Author 3 hours ago, arkie said: Nicely built forge! Heavy firepot, good. You're gonna love those big wheels..... Oh yeah, it rolls real nice. That was important to me, I was wanting to make sure it would be easy to move in and out of a small shop. Those wheels have all cast iron spokes and hubs, they each weigh about 50lbs.
April 21, 20179 yr That is a very neat package. Nice how you have the quench tub handy. Easily transportable for demos, fairs etc. Well designed and built, sir.
April 21, 20179 yr Greetings Arkham, It looks like you have built yourself a very slick set up that will serve you well. You might check into the blower orientation and lubrication of the gears. Some blowers have a level of oil indicators or proper lube. Forge on and make beautiful things Jim
April 21, 20179 yr Fenders for the big wheels so when you drop hot steel on them it doesn't burn into the rubber?
April 21, 20179 yr 4 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said: Fenders for the big wheels I'm more of a Les Paul guy, myself.
April 21, 20179 yr 2 hours ago, JHCC said: I'm more of a Les Paul guy, myself. Maybe that's why he suggested fenders to protect from the hot steel instead of ruining the Les Paul. I sure wouldn't want to burn up my Ibanez guitars.
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