Hey Everyone!

I picked up a damaged Buffalo Forge some time ago for a decent price and set it aside for when I found an Anvil or other piece of metal to use. After finding an anvil recently, I've decided to try to rehab the forge so I can get started.

The forge came with a one piece blower/ash dump that attaches to the bottom. My plan is to cut out what was the fire-pot and replace it with a 1/2" steel welded fire-pot. The blower and gears/lever will be mounted to the underside of a bench and connected with some tubing.

My question mostly relates to the cracks in the cast. Some of it will be cut out, but I'm not sure what the best method to prevent the cracks getting worse. Could it be welded (I'd have to bring it somewhere, I have no welding equipment or experience), Bolted together with a random scrap? I've also thought about trying to pick up a piece of 1/8 or 1/4" steel plate that fits the shape of the full bottom of the forge to sit inside, and cutting the hole for the new fire-pot into that.

I know it would probably be easier to make something new, but I kinda like the look of this pan, so I'd figure I'd give it a shot.

Brian

Hey Brian- pix didn't come thru for me. Anyway, here's what I did for my cast rivet forge. I cleaned the crack area and once I was sure I found the end , I drilled a hole, 1/8- 3/16 " or so, with the thought that would stop the crack from expanding. I then bridged the crack with short straps (1/8 x 3/4 x 2-3" or so) bolted thru the strap and pan. once that was done I clayed the whole pan. Seemed to work well. I used it for a while with no problem before passing it on.

Steve

Sounds like a good plan to try, thank you!

Drill the ends of the cracks, bigger holes are better than small ones. Cast iron can be a crap shoot to weld, and a sure fire way to stick it together is to simply braze it. When you cut out the bad section, do not leave sharp corners, always leave a generous radius to help avoid cracking.  Look up stress risers.

 

 

Can you shoot a couple of more photos of the cracks that won't be cut out in the re-hab so need to be considered?  It's kinda hard in the photo to see if they are a big issue or not.

Because things are so bad already,  I'd currently lean toward drilling out the ends of any cracks as others have mentioned and just bridging any major ones with a piece of flat bar and bolting it in place.  It's not a great fix but things are so far gone that you don't want to toss too much money/effort at it--if you toss a ton of effort or cost in, you might as well be starting from scratch anyway.

Then clay the thing (or similar) as appropriate so heat never gets back into those areas to further any cracks.

 

 

I'll grab some more photos of it tomorrow afternoon, I've got some things to move around in the garage before I can get to it haha

On 11/22/2019 at 5:01 PM, BIGGUNDOCTOR said:

Drill the ends of the cracks, bigger holes are better than small ones. Cast iron can be a crap shoot to weld, and a sure fire way to stick it together is to simply braze it. When you cut out the bad section, do not leave sharp corners, always leave a generous radius to help avoid cracking.  Look up stress risers.

 

 

I second this as well. 

Here’s a few more pictures:

 

I think drilling out the ends of the crack and bracing it with some 1/8” thick strips might be the best idea.