ryancrowe92 Posted April 15, 2018 Posted April 15, 2018 Hey guys, I am looking to build a Solid fuel forge for welding medium sized objects in. my current forge is just not cutting it and im having to find alternative sources for my forge like coal i have been using plain wood. i need it to be at least 3 foot off the ground and then i need a 3x3 ft area of workspace and i have an eletric blower.to install. so i just need help designing it for forge welding. Quote
Tubalcain2 Posted April 15, 2018 Posted April 15, 2018 Forge welding what? What is your definition of medium size? As a general rule, a solid fuel forge wouldn't need to be specifically designed for forge welding. Any decent SF forge should get more than hot enough. As far as the fuel-specific design goes, wood forges should have a deeper fire pot than coal, and you don't want constant high airflow level. only when your steel is in the forge. It will save you a LOT of fuel. Quote
ryancrowe92 Posted April 15, 2018 Author Posted April 15, 2018 well my forge is a hobbled together brake rotor that preforms its job only a fraction of the time and i just need something more reliable than what i have and how do i change my on off switch on my fan for a foot pedal for air control btw i want to use coal its just getting it that is the problem so im stuck with wood for right now Quote
Daswulf Posted April 15, 2018 Posted April 15, 2018 We have been through all this before in your past post. I have a brake rotor forge that I can use to forge weld. You were asked and told to go with a proven design. Obviously you have not. Please go back and reread your previous posts and the replies. Forge welding does have it's tricks but they are also explained here at length if you would only look. Quote
ryancrowe92 Posted April 16, 2018 Author Posted April 16, 2018 well its more with what I have been using to get buy with and in the next couple of weeks I'm looking at getting a job to increase my income from $75 to around $200 which will be a big improvement and the other night while i was running it i got the forge so hot it turned red but i have been looking a more robust design. now the fact that you can forge weld with your brake rotor forge is beyond me because i have only twice got the heat sufficient enough for welding and that i had to have a massive pile of wood on top of it but i followed Thomas's advice on starting the fire in the forge and that has worked but i need a forge that isn't a get by with because i don't want this to be a lost cause because i am going to be doing a lot of forge welding Problems with my current forge fuel source - currently using wood looking for a coal supplier the rotor - if i wanted to heat a bar i can only heat the ends i cant heat the middle Current forge is not mounted. now i know earlier i was told to find a forge design that was proven but for lack of funds and driving range i could not build one but was better than i had now i don't know if I'm getting it but lets just say that a reltive of mine had a rich uncle who died and by rich I'm mean with a 1/4 of a million dollars and was a horder of things like there are welders and a forge a vintage old stand up forge with the rounded design and the blower on the side that's missing. now i may or may not get it and that's would be over a year away. the forge i want is a design that is portable, reliable, efficient, and all of the above. good space for extra fuel can heat any shape object at any place and I'm going to wrap this up because its getting kind of long Quote
Frosty Posted April 16, 2018 Posted April 16, 2018 It isn't your tools Ryan, they're not to blame. if you want to learn the craft you have to stop thinking you can figure this out on your own and follow folks advice and directions. I've welded in campfires with nothing but a natural breeze for draft. If YOU can't get a hot fire in a fire pot it's not the forge. How about learning to use what you have instead of changing every time YOU fail to make it work? Listing ALL the things that stop you from advancing is just making excuses and is tiresome reading. It's a poor craftsman who blames his tools. Frosty The Lucky. Quote
ryancrowe92 Posted April 16, 2018 Author Posted April 16, 2018 well I'm the one who built it and like i said it was one of those to get by with things i had it mounted on some horse saws and it finally burnt through them but when I'm using wood i can never get the metal in the right place to heat i might get a couple of good heats but their only on the edge and i took Thomas's advice on starting the fire in the forge and that help a lot and saved some time. but the forge just has its drawbacks to it Quote
Tubalcain2 Posted April 16, 2018 Posted April 16, 2018 There are a million and ten good proven forge designs out there, just about all of them capable of forge welding. Many designs can be found on this site. Some forge design take more skill to build than others. Some take more money to build than others. Some are time consuming, others can be done in half an hour. A "Model 55" forge shouldn't cost more than 20 bucks and would be super fast and easy to build. When it comes down to it, you just have to stop typing and start working. Here is the 55 forge. Not a heavy duty forge, as the article states, but dirt cheap and easy. If you really want a forge, you now have 0 excuses. Ready set GOOOOOOOOO!!!! Quote
ryancrowe92 Posted April 18, 2018 Author Posted April 18, 2018 i will get started on this as soon as i get home one question is there a way to make a stand for this and a fan mount Quote
JHCC Posted April 18, 2018 Posted April 18, 2018 42 minutes ago, ryancrowe92 said: is there a way to make a stand for this and a fan mount No, there are a thousand ways and one. Cobble something together from what you have on hand, and show us the photos when you're done. Quote
ryancrowe92 Posted April 18, 2018 Author Posted April 18, 2018 question do you have to have both lids for this to work Quote
ryancrowe92 Posted April 18, 2018 Author Posted April 18, 2018 ok i think i can do it with the barrel i have Quote
JHCC Posted April 18, 2018 Posted April 18, 2018 You could probably use the cut-off section to make the stand, like this: If you're making a side-blast, you just have to cut a hole in the wall of the forge for the tuyere. If you're doing bottom-blast, you'll need to cut some access holes so that you can get to the tuyere and the ash dump. Quote
Daswulf Posted April 18, 2018 Posted April 18, 2018 Don't even have to weld it. Couple scraps of metal and some sheet metal screws as straps. Quote
Daswulf Posted April 18, 2018 Posted April 18, 2018 Of course it is! I'm just mentioning it for people finding this thread that don't have a welder. Quote
Daswulf Posted April 18, 2018 Posted April 18, 2018 I will admit that my little Lincoln 135 mig welder was one of my best and favorite early tool investments. Still have and use it often even tho I have upgraded, it still pulls its weight in my shop. Quote
ryancrowe92 Posted April 18, 2018 Author Posted April 18, 2018 I bought mine at harbor freight and it has paid for it's self the 180 mig flux but I went to lowes and bought some Lincoln wire instead of the hf wire that came with it and it has done what I have need it to do have a few minor problems with it now and then but nothing major Quote
Daswulf Posted April 18, 2018 Posted April 18, 2018 Ah good, that will make the build even easier. Quote
Frosty Posted April 18, 2018 Posted April 18, 2018 3 hours ago, JHCC said: Welding's more fun! Forge welding, literally. Frosty The Lucky. Quote
JHCC Posted April 19, 2018 Posted April 19, 2018 Looks like you're on your way. Have you fired it up yet? (Might want to take an angle grinder to the top edge and knock off any sharp bits. Blood is not a good forging fuel.) Quote
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