Portable Forge

   / Portable Forge #1  

Brad_Blazer

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 19, 2004
Messages
1,934
Location
Caldwell Co. NC
Tractor
2006 Kama554; 92 Belarus 250AS
I've been thinking about building a coal forge for a while. There are all kinds of plans out there from very crude to very nice. I decided to spend a couple of weekends building something decent since I have plenty of material laying around.
Main inspiration came from here: My-Portable-Forge and here: Centaur C36 Floor Model Coal Forge - Eligible for Free Shipping. See Home Page for full details-Centaur Forge

My table is 1/8" steel from the backplane of an old electrical control cabinet. It's about 24 x 44" with a 3/4" turned up lip on 3 sides. I welded some bed rail underneath to give it some stiffness. The fire pot is a brake rotor from a 1988 Camry. It's all cast iron and the disk is not vented. I have it clamped under the table with some homemade dog clamps. Hopefully they'll allow for thermal expansion.The pipe for the riser/ash dump is 3" EMT. I welded an EMT slip coupling to a flange plate that bolts to the rotor. Some slots capture the clinker breaker which is an old piece of stainless steel tooling with shafts welded to it.

The air inlet is some new thin-wall 1-1/4" tubing left over from another project with an old 1-1/2" ball valve for air control. I have an old blower from an upright vacuum with a Router speed control from Harbor freight. It seems to blow pretty hard even on the lowest speed setting.

The angle iron frame underneath was from a crate. I just cut it to height and welded on the top and wheel mounts. Now I need to paint it so I can move it out of the shop.
The hood is something I had. It might need some modification to draft properly. It's just sitting there right now and I plan to play with placement and modification of it when I get a fire going.
 

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   / Portable Forge #2  
Looks great, are you using charcoal or coal with this?:)
 
   / Portable Forge
  • Thread Starter
#3  
Thanks!
I'm planning to use coal. The nearest place I can find that sells it is Sunnyside Ice in Winston, so I might have to make some charcoal to try it out until I make a trip that way.
 
   / Portable Forge #4  
You might want higher sides on your table but if you do that will be an easy fix. I like a manual blower prob. because that is what dad had. Looks good. Get it hot and hit it hard, and have fun.
 
   / Portable Forge #5  
Brad,

Nice set up. A Forge is in my project book. I have done a little blacksmithing but need a forge. I have a large and small anvil so I am part of the way there:eek:.

I see you are a engineer at Corning. Is this the plant in Hickory? I am the Sales Manager for a machine shop and do some work for Corning. I also see you live in Caldwell County. My son just started teaching in Caldwell County and I grew up close to the Burke/Caldwell County line.

Be sure to post more pics.

David
 
   / Portable Forge #6  
You could put some fire brick down and have the edges done that way keeping the coal from getting pulled off the forge. Nice design I like the hood, I still need to make one for mine.
 
   / Portable Forge #7  
I like the horseshoe counterweight..!! :)
 
   / Portable Forge #8  
Is the electrical cabinet or the EMT galvanized? Be very careful of heat and zinc compounds. Metal fume fever is nothing to trifle with.
 
   / Portable Forge
  • Thread Starter
#9  
Thanks for the nice comments. As far as higher sides go, From this first reference I posted :My-Portable-Forge maybe high sides will sometimes get in the way? I'll just have to see how it works out and add sides later if I want.

David - Yes I work a the plant in Hickory. I'm in R&D and do a fair bit of business with area machine shops. My two boys are at CECHS.

The EMT riser is galvanized and I welded the air supply and dump bracket to it, managing to avoid fume fever. I also welded a 16 gauge flange to the galvanized EMT coupling that bolts to the underside of the fire pot and captures the clinker breaker. I put a ring of fiberglass rope (wood stove door seal) between the flange and the firepot to try to isolate the heat a little and preserve those parts. If any more of the zinc burns off with the forge lit I think there is a lower chance of breathing the fumes since most should be in the smoke plume from the fire which will be obvious to avoid. The metal the top is made of has a thick coat of hard paint or powder coat. I'm sure some of that will burn off too so I'll definitely stay upwind for the initial burn.

The hood was a surplus ventilation hood. I have 3 just like it. Hopefully the fire will heat it and it will draft like it is but the intake seems low. Some of the zinc will probably burn off of that too but the flue pipe should carry it up and away.
 
   / Portable Forge
  • Thread Starter
#10  
One of my buddies is working in Winston this week and he's picking me up a couple of bags of coal when he comes back tomorrow. :D

I just need to add some braces for the supply tube and clinker breaker rod and it should be ready to burn.
 
 
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