January 22, 20224 yr Good afternoon, First of all, thanks for having me. I'm new to the whole processes with only 7 Months since I was introduced to metal working of any kind. I believe I've read the appropriate pages on the do's and don'ts. I'll do my best to steer clear of any problems for you all. Thanks,
January 22, 20224 yr Welcome from the Ozark mountains. Which Middle of the Mitten do you cast a shadow?
January 22, 20224 yr Howdy from eastern Oklahoma! and Welcome to the forum! what kinda projects are you working on?
January 22, 20224 yr Author Thank you for the welcome. Michigan, And the fun part of being green is I'm exploring everything at the moment.
January 22, 20224 yr Are you running solid fuel or a gas rig? Do ya got any pictures of your work yet? we love pictures!
January 22, 20224 yr Welcome from 7500' in SE Wyoming. I hope you find the craft as rewarding as I have for the past 44 years. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."
January 22, 20224 yr Author Mostly gas as of right now. I have a older rivet forge I need to work on though. Cu Mia Billet is my recent task. Thank you George,
January 22, 20224 yr Boy howdy!!! I don’t know nothing about gas forges but that dude looks like it could Do the forging an keep the shop toasty at the same time!
January 23, 20224 yr You don't want to heat more than you can forge before it gets cold. Viking forges often had a 6" hot spot for making swords! Heating more degrades the metal and wastes fuel, so I suggest you build a smaller 2 burner with a pass through and save the big one for heat treating.
January 23, 20224 yr Author I'd rather host 4-5 smiths to a pound in than make a long weapon, way out of my skill set sir.
January 23, 20224 yr Well i think it’s a nice forge all the same! what kinda rivet forge do you have? Ive got two un named old beater rivet forges I need to fix up one of these days,
January 23, 20224 yr I believe what you have there is actually a Buffalo bbq grill! And it’s still complete by the looks of it! I’d love to find one someday to restore and use,
January 23, 20224 yr Author Thank you for the information. So it looks like burgers are on the menu come summer. Win some lose some I suppose.
January 23, 20224 yr Lol, I’d say You definitely still won in this situation! those Buffalo grills are few an far between, I can find a Buffalo rivet forge any day of the week but not so trying to find one of those old Buffalo grills, they have a small following and are probably worth more than a dusty rusty ol farmers rivet forge is, I built a small 15” pancake forge that I call the tiny Buffalo, last summer using a blower and tuyere pipe off one of those, but I wouldn’t do that to yours! because like I said it’s probably worth more as a collectible,
January 23, 20224 yr Author I'm still having a good laugh, That looks like a great setup. I'll have to put some more thought into a coal setup this spring.
January 23, 20224 yr Ive got both forges that are old factory made jobs, and I’ve got forges I’ve built and even though really I like using and fixing up old tools, I’ll say that it’s cheaper, faster and works just as good to build one then buy one,
January 23, 20224 yr Welcome aboard Fat Badger, glad to have you. Don't try too hard not to make mistakes or we won't have anything to talk about. Even if that's really a BBQ it'll still work as a forge. Pack an inch or so of damp clayey soil around the air grate to shield the pan and it'll last quite a while. At least long enough to find of build another. I think TW needs to call those nice little forges Buffalo Calf forges. If I were you I'd put that holy moly TOO LARGE gas forge up for sale and use the proceeds to buy or build something practical. The forges 101 section of Iforge has lots of good proven forge plans to follow. Be warned though there is a LOT of chatter, ideas, questions, wild crazy ideas, etc. so if you have trouble understanding a thing, give us a shout. The burners 101 section is about the same, plenty of good proven home build burners and lots of white noise. Frosty The Lucky.
January 23, 20224 yr Author Thanks, TW I'll have to do a bit more research (clearly). Then start making plans for the future coal forge. Thank you for the welcome Frosty I'm certainly having a good look at the gas forge area here on the site. I've already started looking at plans for a smaller forge to accompany the monster. I'll certainly have questions, but I'm just getting kitted up with tools and so on.
January 23, 20224 yr Buffalo calf forge? Pancake forge? okay I’ll meet you in the middle Jerry, I could call them Buffalo pancakes! sounds appetizing don’t it? Lol on the topic of the big gas forge I guess if you had 2 smiths working you could run a project from both ends,
January 23, 20224 yr Author We've had 4 of us cooking with the table down and both ends open. Its a little close quarters in my shop but seemed to work just fine.
January 23, 20224 yr Buffalo pancake forge sounds good, can you work a swirl pattern in the pan to complete the brand image? Start making them hamburger size and you can call them "Baby Cake Forges"! Don't concentrate on "kitting up." Most everybody breaking into this or any craft tends to buy too many or too expensive tools and equipment. It takes some experience, not knowledge, experience to know what you actually NEED VS. want. Most of us have boxes and piles of things we "wanted" but virtually never use. One of the guys in our club has I don't know how many hundreds of tongs, literally a 2 car garage wall covered 3-4 tongs deep on hangers because he can make a pair of tongs faster than finding the right one. Blacksmithing has really basic necessaries: A HOT fire, something heavy and hard to beat on, something to beat with and something to heat and beat. You don't need tongs, just use stock long enough it doesn't get hot where you're holding it and cool the hand hold regularly. A hot chisel is a yard sale item, old masonry chisels make decent hardies. I start guys with a 32 oz. drill hammer, they're heavy enough to make mistakes permanent in a satisfactory manner and time. The shorter handles make accurate blows easier and don't fatigue you as quickly so you're less likely to do joint damage. I've seen 3lb. drill hammers but 2lb.s is plenty, honest and even after you get good one will be on your ready rack for those operations where you want that extra control. Frosty The Lucky.
January 23, 20224 yr 23 minutes ago, Frosty said: Buffalo pancake forge sounds good, can you work a swirl pattern in the pan to complete the brand image? Start making them hamburger size and you can call them "Baby Cake Forges"! People are gonna start wondering if I’m a blacksmith or a baker! Lol hamburger sized forge sounds interesting! though, I’d have to find some itty bitty blowers though.. instead of baby cakes, I’d probably call them pocket forges! For the smith on the go!
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