Zombie0hour Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 Well gonna ask my folks to take me to the local junkyard is search of parts. As i remember to build a basic forge i need a drum of some sort, like a brake drum or will some other part work? I also need that t shaped pipe so i can blow air through the side, and the bottom to get rid of the ashes and such from burning. I can decided on making it a coke powered forge since it would be the easiest for me. I am going to build it next weekend i hope if i can get the parts in time. Then all i need is an anvil and a hammer. Any cheap solutions on how to build a homemade anvil? Thanks guys, once i get the forge up ill post some pics of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 Go back to your first post HI and follow the links suggested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geofthesmith Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 (edited) i useda brake drum from midas for the pot, put it on an old charcoal BBQ for suport, and i can still grill with it! but for anvil usualy just a big 'ol piece of steel from teh junkyard works, railroad *rail works good as well...aparently the ties are the wooden part. Edited June 27, 2008 by geofthesmith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabre Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 i use a brake routor for my firepot in a table madde o steel. my first anvil was a solid 20 pound piece of steel... it worked.. so anything that is hard and solid should work.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 RailRoad *tie* works terrible---all that creosote smoke as the wood burns. A piece of RR rail can be a starter anvil but if you can find a more compact chunk of heavy steel at the fleamarket it will work better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zombie0hour Posted June 27, 2008 Author Share Posted June 27, 2008 well i did some thinking and was wondering if you can build masonary forages like made of brick thought that would be a good idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geofthesmith Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 well i personaly think all that stone is unnesesary, i could be wrong but unless your forging realy big things i think a steel one would be more ecanomicle and work as well. check out blue print 133, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zombie0hour Posted June 27, 2008 Author Share Posted June 27, 2008 ok thanks, and how come i can not look at the blueprints like 200 and beyond? Steel one sounds great, should i just go to a junkyard and look for parts and stuff? What should i use for the air blowing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geofthesmith Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 BP are casualtys of reacent updates, so they be back soon ya just go scraping, and for blower it realy depends on the size of your pot and how big the stuff you are forgeing, i personaly only do small stuff right now, like no bigger than one inch so i can use an industrial hairdryer and blow it into a dryer exaust tube then into some gas pipe from plumbing in home depot, and that get my stock to a nice light straw color. but realy anything that blows air will work, i think there is also a BP on making bellows... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 You can build your forge from nearly anything. The only part that must be fire resistant is the firepot, duck's nest, etc. itself. The rest can be steel, wood, masonry or paper mache if you wish. Practical and economical are important, especially when you're figuring it all out. A masonry forge can be a thing of functional beauty unless it doesn't fit your shop, the work you end up doing or you find yourself moving. Then it's a Big, HEAVY, fragile, blasted thing. Keep your eye's open for any old piece of sheet metal a couple three feet square and something for legs, cinder blocks, saw horses, milk crates (one of my favorites), etc. When You find the stuff, cut a hole in the sheet metal the brake drum will slip into and rest on it's rim. Ram damp clay around it till it's good and hard. Hook up your air and go back to workd. I say "back to work" because I assume you'll be practicing with whatever you have while you look for what you want. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 A blow dryer, shop vac, etc. will supply plenty of air for most operations. I've used a Coleman Inflatall and it worked just fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racer3j Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 Now a Pilgrim wouldn't want to try this, but Frosty's so tough, that he once hog-tied a Brownie(aka Kodiak, not the little girl in the uniform-) to the muskeg surrounding his forge and just kicked it in the rump when he needed a big huff of air to the coal! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 A blow dryer, shop vac, etc. will supply plenty of air for most operations. I've used a Coleman Inflatall and it worked just fine. It's the bright yellow thing behind me to the left in the pic, it's blowing through a piece of pipe I had handy. I'm burning wood in a slight depression. (I didn't even have a HOLE! ) That's a round of birch I'm using for an anvil. Sure, I'm "only" re-arcing and setting a log tong instead of changing the actual cross section of the steel. . . Still. Please note the focus and intensity with which I hold my tongue. It's these important tips that are the secret of the craft you know. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 Now a Pilgrim wouldn't want to try this, but Frosty's so tough, that he once hog-tied a Brownie(aka Kodiak, not the little girl in the uniform-) to the muskeg surrounding his forge and just kicked it in the rump when he needed a big huff of air to the coal! Geeze Mike! You sound like you're from Fairbanks! We call them cheechakos not pilgrims. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geofthesmith Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 this is my forge, i jsut set the pot on top, (cuz i ran out of O2 before i could cut a bigger hole ) i welded some lilttle 1/8 inch steel bar to the bottom of the drum to keep clinker out, just to give you some ideas, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 You can safely tape the blow dryer directly to the tuyere pipe rather than go through the flex ducting. Otherwise an excellent example of a simple economical forge. Good job. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zombie0hour Posted June 27, 2008 Author Share Posted June 27, 2008 Lol ideas are sparking in my head. Thanks for the design ideas and such. By the way, what is the best solid fuel? I do not really want to mess around with gas casue i might blow up consitering how stupid i can be . What are the pros and cons of Coal/Coke, Charcoal, and Wood? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geofthesmith Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 well when you use coal you make your own coke in the process so not much sence in buying coke and im pretty sure coal is about as hot as it gets for solid fuel only downsides are the smoke at the start of the fire and when you add new coal and the clinker left over fromt he non organic parts of coal that dont burn, they can clog the airways and you have to poke em out, charcoal gets almost as hot as coal but ive not been able to get it to welding temp and its virtualy smokeless, and wood..well i dont think wood can get hoter than maby orange i wouldnt use it unless i was out of everything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 (edited) "Best" in what way? Price, availability, how it works for what *I* want to do---maybe very different from what you want to do---ease of use for beginner, ease of use for an experienced smith, most foolproof,.... Charcoal was what all the viking/frankish/celtic pattern welded swords were forged with as coal did not come into smithing use until the latter high middle ages ("Cathedral Forge and Waterwheel, Geis & Geis) Japanese swords are traditionaly welded up and forged using softwood charcoal even to this day! Now we are talking *real* charcoal not briquettes which are 80-90% crud. It's easy to find. Easy to light and use. Burns fast, spits out more sparks and the ash flies around too. Ash build up in the firepot can be a problem. You really need a forge designed for charcoal to get the best out of it. Deeper narrower forge pot to get the necessary charcoal underneath it but not use as much charcoal as all of it on the forge table will burn! Neighbors do not complain of the smell. Can't make a cave fire with it. You can make your own. Little clinker produced. Takes less air than coal or coke, (good for hand powered air supplies). Coal: Bad coal is absolutely worthless, the neighbors will nail you upside down to the nearest wooden object and use twisty nails too! You will regret ever even thinking about smithing. Good coal can be wonderful, easy to light, coking up nicely, not as much sulfur smoke, hot fires, little clinker. Learning to use a coal fire takes some time---having a teacher helps. You can burn up your work in it if you don't pay attention. Cave fires for forge welding are possible. Unlikely to be able to mine your own... Smoke/smell can be an issue---hard to hide it from the neighbors. Can *you* tell good coal from bad coal? Cost and availability can vary wildly depending on where you are at. Coke, (industrial) can be quite hard to light, using an Oxy-Acetylene torch to light it is common. Burns very hot, coke firepots are usually much thicker metal to resist destruction from heat. Coke will often go out if you let the air flow stop, not suggested for hand powered air. Coke will forgeweld but will not make a cave fire. One of the harder fuels for the beginner. Harder to source too. No smoke issues. Propane: probably the easiest fuel for the beginner, no more dangerous than a gas grill. Does require properly built burners and they will need tuning and often adjustment during use to control atmosphere in the forge. Propane forges can forgeweld---*if* they are designed for it. Otherwise nope. Propane is the most limiting on size as propane forges they are generally restricted in what can be put in them---with a solid fuel forge you can generally stack the fuel up and turn up the air and put a large object on top of the forge to heat. With propane you need to build a larger forge to fit it. Propane is usually the most neighbor friendly and can be used under many levels of fire restriction where other fuels are not allowed. (I bring a forge on campouts and so fire restrictions are a concern here in the dry west) Easiest to find, even in a small NM town I can get propane at 9pm on a Sunday! Wood is using charcoal; but not as efficiently: smoke is a problem too. Coal and charcoal forges are the easiest to build for new smiths as they can be as sample as a hole in the ground with a chunk of blackpipe in it to bring air to the bottom. Propane forges are the easiest to "bring inside" a garage or other storage structure but---ALL FORGES PRODUCE TOXIC FUMES (save induction ones...) Just because some forges produce colourless fumes do not mean they are not there! I have a propane forge in my shop and 2 10'x10' roll up doors, one at either end of the shop for ventilation and they go up even in the dead of winter! Edited June 27, 2008 by ThomasPowers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zombie0hour Posted July 3, 2008 Author Share Posted July 3, 2008 sorry i have been gone for a bit, i am going to use charcoal becasue it is extreamly cheap, and i do not want the fire depot knocking at my door from the storys i have heard from you guys. This weekend hopefully i can get a brake drum and some t-pipe so i can build me my backyard forge. Anvil will come later once i get me forge all up and running. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabre Posted July 3, 2008 Share Posted July 3, 2008 heres my forge it is a steel table lined with bricks with a small brake routor in it..... yes this is when i just made it so it looks nice but now its black and messy.... i use charcoal also and theres nothing wrong with it..... i am looking to buy coal though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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