Was chatting with another Blacksmith over the weekend.  I'm interested in a Side Blast Forge.  Greystone in the UK was making them.  But, it is now out of business.  The other fellow said he heard of someone making them commercially in Minnesota.  Does anyone have any info on that?  

I know they can be made.  But, I've lost a couple of years remodeling a house.  I'm chomping at the bit to get back to forging.  

Thanks,

Ray

If I missed your intro post I'd like to welcome you aboard, we're glad to have you. If you put your general location in the header you'll have a much better chance of meeting up with or getting a reply. What you're asking is pretty location specific and you're asking the whole planet.

Frost The Lucky.

Joshua de Lislie has a youtube on making one.

Fairly simple.

I will see if I can find it quick, will link it if I find it

What kind of fuel will you be using? I know this is in the solid fuels thread so: bituminous coal, anthracite coal, coke, or charcoal?

Also - not gonna try to talk you out of a side blast nor talk you into making one - but ... if you live in the United States then it's gonna be really hard to find a sideblast forge sold as a product. I've personally never seen any other than homemade. I'm curious why you want side blast so badly. I've used both side & bottom and I really don't feel like there's a huge difference when working with coal. With anthracite, the side blast worked better but that's just because I was using rice anthracite, lol. I use my coal firepot to burn charcoal but I add some firebrick and add a rack to raise the pot a bit since charcoal doesn't need to be so deep - and I turn the blower crank slower because it doesn't need as much air. But as for that air coming from side versus bottom - I've seen no difference. 

So if you're hard set on a side blast and you're chomping at the bit to get forging, then diy is gonna be your fastest route. You could even go partial diy by finding a firepot pattern online and bringing that to a fabrication shop to pay them to make it.

Building your own can be simple or complex. For the simplest version, try a JABOD (short for Just A Box Of Dirt):

As an example of a more complex version, here's the thread from the one that I built with a proper water tuyere:

https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/55407-new-side-blast-with-water-tuyere-bosh-pic-heavy/

This latter thread also contains links (especially in THIS COMMENT) to other resources on JABODs and other side-blast forges.

 

I used side blast charcoal for a couple years. The forge was an old grill i cut a hole in the side of, inserted a pipe, and attached a fan to. No fire brick, no clay, nothing else. I did however burn through a LOT of charcoal. Something like that may get you forging until you can build a more efficient forge. 

A forge can be a simple as a just a fire with air blown in, i have a piece of pipe i use in my backyard fire pit for heat treating projects bigger than my forge can handle. 

A JABOD or 55 gal. drum forge is provably the 2 quickest and easiest to make. You can build both in a couple hours with some basic hand tools. 

Thanks for the input.  I know commercially Side Blasts are rare in the US.  That's what made the thought that someone was actually making them exciting.  

I'm in Western North Carolina.  

The "complex" side blast was nicely done. 

Thanks again.

You might take a look at the thread by yours that I just resurrected after 6 years. They are not hard to make, just takes some time.

I can’t control the wind. All I can do is adjust my sails. ~Semper Paratus~