zsutton92 Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 I have always had an interest in blacksmiths. I enjoy the folklore and their presence in mythology. That being said, when I found out a member of my church had a forge, I was excited to watch him work. I visited his forge and the weekend after, I had plans to make my own forge. It took me a couple of weeks (between working full-time, making sure my family didn't feel abandoned, etc), but I finally finished it. My smithy is not complete, I just need a stand for my "anvil", then I will be ready to roll. I just thought I'd share some pics of my forge build. I had never fabricated anything before, so I learned a lot through this experience. My forge is not pretty by any means, but she works, and works well for that matter. For my first project, I made a small coal scraper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 Welcome aboard! I will say it's an odd design but it can work. One main problem is you will have trouble getting longer stock into the sweet spot in the fire. If you notch the rotor front and back that will give you a pass through and get your stock lower in the fire where it needs to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zsutton92 Posted March 5, 2018 Author Share Posted March 5, 2018 Thanks for the feedback. I will agree that it does look a bit odd, but hey, I was using what I had available to me. I agree, after running the first fire, I thought about cutting a notch in the drum. Either that or building the fire higher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 Building the fire higher will use up more fuel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zsutton92 Posted March 5, 2018 Author Share Posted March 5, 2018 So, notches it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 Those upright bases look a lot like what I've used as my solid fuel firepot for the last 25 years: axle coves from a Banjo rear end. I bought a couple being used as jack stands and the first one looks to be seeing out the door. I ground out some ridges on the inside and mounted to a piece of sheet metal with 2 edges folded up to make the forge table and added a removable cross piece on the open ends to get long pieces into the hot spot when needed. I traded up to that set up and retired my brake drum forge... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zsutton92 Posted March 5, 2018 Author Share Posted March 5, 2018 Cool! I was not really sure what those were, but that makes sense. I am sure down the road I may do something different, but this will get me going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 I use a rotor as my forge pot and it works great for me. I recommend rotors from the rear of vehicles that have the drum style emergency brakes. Usually around 8-9" diameter and 2-3"deep as that's a good depth to have the workpiece in the hot part of the fire ball. The reason I like those rotors is that you can easily use it in a round cutout in a "table" with edging around the table except where the pass through on either side it. The point being that the rotor lip holds it in the table so it doesn't need permenantly attached and can be swapped out when/ if need be. Also the edging on the table keeps extra coal around the fire pot to start to coke up from the heat and can be dragged into the fire as needed. It looks like you are using coal, is that your fuel? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted March 6, 2018 Share Posted March 6, 2018 Rather then cutting the brake rotor and drum, just extend the air pipe up a little bit and fill in the bottom of the drum with clay or dirt so it is level with the air pipe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zsutton92 Posted March 6, 2018 Author Share Posted March 6, 2018 1 hour ago, Daswulf said: It looks like you are using coal, is that your fuel? Yes, I am using coal. 30 minutes ago, Glenn said: Rather then cutting the brake rotor and drum, just extend the air pipe up a little bit and fill in the bottom of the drum with clay or dirt so it is level with the air pipe. That is a good idea, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted March 6, 2018 Share Posted March 6, 2018 Bituminous or anthracite? ( just curious, they are a bit different in how they burn.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zsutton92 Posted March 6, 2018 Author Share Posted March 6, 2018 14 minutes ago, Daswulf said: Bituminous or anthracite? ( just curious, they are a bit different in how they burn.) Honestly, not sure. Got it from a buddy of mine and I didn't think to ask. It did not take it long to get hot, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted March 6, 2018 Share Posted March 6, 2018 If it's a bit softer( and breaks up easier) easier to light, clumps up a bit while burning , probably bituminous. If it's hard, hard to light and wants to die off faster when the air is off, probably anthracite. I'd guess bituminous if you had an easy time getting it going. Bituminous is more blacksmith friendly in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zsutton92 Posted March 6, 2018 Author Share Posted March 6, 2018 4 minutes ago, Daswulf said: If it's a bit softer( and breaks up easier) easier to light, clumps up a bit while burning , probably bituminous. If it's hard, hard to light and wants to die off faster when the air is off, probably anthracite. I'd guess bituminous if you had an easy time getting it going. Bituminous is more blacksmith friendly in my opinion. I would say that you are probably correct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mopar Posted March 31, 2018 Share Posted March 31, 2018 only certain tractor supply's carry coal Full time. Mine has it in wintertime. They would not order it at my local Store. Just. Saying Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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