Hello the list i am back after some metal replacement parts in my body. I have a question, I have a brake drum forge and have been thinking of making a forge with a lager fire pot. Being on a fixed income, and cheap, I was wondering if anybody has tried to make a fire pot out of an old sink. They are cast iron and have the drain in the center of the bottom. A few whacks with a hammer should remove most of the porcelin, I don't know the effect of a coal fire on porcelin but I don't want to take any chances. I figure that I can cut the sides down if necessary with my angle grinder. Any thoughts?

My first thought is to not worry about the porcelain and use clay/dirt to make the fire pot inside of it. I think it would work fine.

Thanks never thought about using clay, Maybe refractory cement and firebrick, Thanks Das

Just because it has a drain in the bottom doesn't mean you have to make a bottom-blast forge. Put a 2 inch layer of dirt across the bottom (including the drain), punch or cut a hole in the side, and make a side-blast.

Don't waste money on refractory cement damp garden clay mixed with sand works better. If you shape it with fire brick sweep sand between the bricks and they'll stay put just fine. Leave the porcelain it isn't going to hurt anything and looks nice. 

Frosty The Lucky.

Thanks Our ground is mostly clay so it would be easy and cheap.

JHCC I burn coal, not the soft stuff but Anthracite. I use a coal stove in my basement to supplement my oil heat, so i buy it by the ton.  I don't know if the side blast would work with coal.

 

Coal works just fine with a side blast forge, but with a sink you need to bring the tuyere up closer to the top, you want the center of the fire ball level with the top (it's hard to notch the sink sides) sand, clay, silt or coal ash and clinker (that's the classic) to fill in the extra space. 

A 2" pipe nipple and a 2" pipe cap with a 3/4" hole drilled in it about 4" from the top works well. This will let your work up to 1" stock easaly. If you use a pile flange, and make a "S" with 1/2 square stock you can set the top of the tuyere at about 5" and work 1-2" stock. But that style is harder to clean, with the pipe cap the slag slides down away from the hole. 

 

Thanks Charles. With the body parts I've had replaced in the last 2 years, I'll be happy to be able to forge 1/2 inch stock. Old age ain't for the weak!

Yep, I wake up most mornings feeling about 98. 

You should move to The Mat Su Valley, I wake up and it feels about 55.  It's just too darned hot down thataway!

Frosty The Lucky.

If I could sell it to the beter half I would.

Charles,

You are feeling 98? That's good. 98.6 F. is a normal temperature.

Bully for you!

Warm regards,

SLAG.

11 hours ago, Charles R. Stevens said:

If I could sell it to the better half I would.

Somehow, my eye skipped over the "it to" in that sentence....

On 6/27/2017 at 9:28 AM, Bud in PA said:

JHCC I burn coal, not the soft stuff but Anthracite. I use a coal stove in my basement to supplement my oil heat, so i buy it by the ton.  I don't know if the side blast would work with coal.

I burn anthracite as well in a side-blast JABOD. Not sure what size coal you're burning, but the rice coal from Tractor Supply Company works well for me.

JHCC My furnace uses nut coal I think it goes for $.235 a ton. I remember some years back there used to be a size called pea coal, a bit larger then rice coal. Haven't seen it for sale in quite a few years.

.

Just put a bread pan on the anvil and give the nut coal a love tap with your hammer, walla rice coal

Na, wouldn't take a million for Sandy. Wouldn't give a $ for her twin tho.

Charles I can get nut coal to burn OK, although  after 30 years of burning it I  find myself still learning something new every year. That could be the result of old age, I find that if I don't write it down, I tend to forget.

blaschek smithing cole,rite tere in pa,burns good.

 

I buy my coal by the ton, for use in my coal furnace. As soon as the doc releases me I will be making some pea size coal with my hammer.