Pressed steel Buffalo forge

[TWISTEDWILLOW]

New to me steel Buffalo forge I picked up yesterday afternoon,

overall it’s in pretty good shape, the 700 blower turns nice an smooth with very little noise, the pan seems to be in good shape not rotted out just rusty, also the pan is pretty deep with 6” walls, the firepot is pretty good with no cracks, 

it’s missing the water tub that used to hang on the end and the handle to the clinker breaker is bent to the point you can only turn it 1/2 a turn, and there’s also a crack on the tuyere we’re it bolts to the bottom of the fire pot, and it’s gonna need a new hood,

so I’ll have a few things to fix on it but it’s still in pretty good usable shape in my opinion, 

im thinking about tearing it down, wire wheeling everything and then giving it a nice prime and paint job to stop the rust and ad some more decades to its life,

I thought about using high temp 2000f engine primer an paint on the pan since most of that kinda heat will be In The fire pot not actually in the pan, but then I had the thought of just using regular ol rustoleum and then putting a clay liner in it, not sure yet, what y’all think?

Apart from that I’m sure all the old bolts are probably gonna break off an have to be drilled an tapped, it seems like every time I start on fixing up something like this, that I spend half my time fighting frozen and eventually broken bolt threads lol, 

But before I get into messing all that, I think I’m gonna fire it up and play with it a awhile

[Frosty]

Nice score Billy, I don't know if it was meant to be clayed but it shouldn't hurt if you do. The cracked bolt flange should braze nicely once cleaned. The lever on the bottom of the tuyere is the ash dump, you just reach under the pan with tongs, hammer, whatever is in hand and lift it to dump the ash. And not have to bend over.

I keep a metal bucket with a few inches of water under the ash dump so hot coals don't cause trouble.

Frosty The Lucky.

[TWISTEDWILLOW]

Thanks Jerry!  
none of the old forges ive messed with so far had a dump gate they all had the sliding ones,  

if I like it then I might start putting them on my home made pancake forges too, 

On another note I Decided to go ahead and fire it up, make a hotdog fork and see how i like using it,

so far I’m really liking the big deep firepot and the blower puts out really good air

but the 6” deep pan walls are a little awkward to work with long stock,

I really hate to build a massive fire to reach the two side slots just for small 3/8” stock so I’m improvising an using a holder I made for my pancake forges to just angle it over the high walls, 

I think it’s just gonna take some getting used to because I’ve never made or used a forge pan this deep before, 

I also realized I’m gonna have to make some bigger s hooks that can reach over the wide top flange to hold my tools to, 

 

[Frosty]

My old Buffalo rivet forge has a slide ash dump, it's almost easier to turn the forge upside down than get it open and closed again. I made the first flap ash dump but I didn't know you can buy one at any truck type auto supply for $5-$20, dependig on how fancy you want. I thought chrome was a bit much down under there.

Below is a pic of what I use anymore, it's not THE exhaust rain cap I use but it's close. If it won't close mounted upside down you can increase the counter weight with a nut, bolt and washers, don't even have to drill a hole. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[TWISTEDWILLOW]

That’s I pretty good idea! 

[Frosty]

[arkie]

Twisted, you got a really nice looking Buffalo forge and blower there.  Enjoy!

Frosty's recommendation and picture of a truck exhaust rain cap is excellent.  I made one very similar for my forge.  After mounting it to the dump pipe, drill another hole opposite the existing one to weld or bolt on a counter weight.  In the existing hole which would now be on top, run a 1/4" rod up to your forge to a bracket of some kind.  To keep from having to bend over to dump, just pull up on the rod.  Attached is a pic of my ash dump and rod.  You'll need to zoom in to see the rod setup more clearly.

[TWISTEDWILLOW]

arkie, thank you! 

I really like your clean out extension idea! Ill have to borrow it for one of my next forge builds, 

I’m planning on building a few more of my little portable pancake forges this winter and one big heavy duty stationary table forge,

so I’m saving up cool ideas, tips, tricks and designs from everyone here to try out, as I play around with building different forges, 

 

[arkie]

Twisted, 

If you don't want to spend the $ to buy a ready-made rain cap, you can make one out of scrap.  This is my ash dump when it was new several years ago and clean enough to see the construction details (all covered in rust now).  Zoom in for detail.  Anything heavy works for a counter weight.  I have seen old trailer hitch balls cut off and welded on.

 

[ThomasPowers]

Make the shaft the counter weight and forge a dragonhead on the end.  (You can forge the other end down thinner if you want to fit it between the mounts.

[swedefiddle]

Good Morning Arkie,

Put your Ash Bucket under the bottom, to make sure it will fit and work. Easier to find out now!!

Neil

[Frosty]

I made my first hinged ash dump too and made it almost as heavy. I aimed the counter weight towards the front and angled it up so I wouldn't have to reach down to flip it. I didn't make it nearly as heavy as you have and it was still way heavier than necessary. Not much difference though and it worked a treat.

I've never had enough ash and clinker build up on a rain cap to open it. When empty enough gas can build up a pop can dump the ash though. The upside is the pressure is released before it can lift anything from the fire.

Frosty The Lucky.

[arkie]

23 hours ago, swedefiddle said:

Good Morning Arkie,

Put your Ash Bucket under the bottom, to make sure it will fit and work. Easier to find out now!!

Neil

Look a few posts above with the ash dump handle highlighted...the ash bucket is at home under the forge.  I removed it in the post just above for the picture of the ash dump.