Home made forge????

   / Home made forge???? #11  
It's made from steel plate, that was welded together. What looks like a drain is a piece of steel drilled to allow blown air from blower to get to coal. I forget what thickness steel is. But area leading down to blower is made out of heavier metal than rest of forge. I can take more pictures later today to show how it is put together.
 
   / Home made forge???? #13  
Thanks for starting this thread! Thanks to all who have contributed so far! I've got a handfull of great idea's that I now plan on incorperating into the forge I'm just beginning to build.

I'm going to build a wrought iron gate and fence as an entrance to our back yard "flower garden". I've got the design worked out, the material accumulated, and everything I need except the forge. That will be built in a few weeks.

I really like the "washtub forge" concept. I'm leaning towards something very simular, only slightly bigger. I'll also have a smaller one, that will be gas-fired, to do smaller/quicker jobs. The metal tub, filled with "fire clay" looks to be the simplest, (easiest for me to build) method.

When my forge is "fired up", I'll post some pictures. Heating steel with an acetelene torch is getting kind of expensive.

Looks like I just stumbled on to the NEXT WINTER PROJECT!
 
   / Home made forge???? #14  
RFD-TV has a show on called Forge and Anvil. Started off by making a forge out of a wheel barrow. Each show has a step by step project working with the forge and various tasks. On Direct TV it's channel 379.
 
   / Home made forge???? #15  
>Heating steel with an acetelene torch is getting kind of expensive.

Propane is much more economical for lots of heating with a torch. POL adapters should still be available at most welding supplys. Nice alternative to the forge for field use and larger material.
 
   / Home made forge???? #17  
Its funny you mentioned rfdtv i just built a forge based on forge and anvils design. I thought about propane for a bit, but im in anthricite country and its everwhere up here. Plus i like how quiet the coal forges are, and you cant beat their heat. coal here is 6.50 for 50 lbs, that is a real nice reason too.
basically this is the design, i am sorry i cant post any pics i dont have a digital camera, once i do buy one (after the holidays i will be glad to post).
you need
4-15''
4-18''
4-30''
these are all 2x4. they make the base of your forge. the 30'' are the legs.
once this is assembled you put your wheelbarrow on top. i had an old one so i just used the holes in it to attach it.
before you attach it, measure in the middle of the barrow and then measure 8 inches down from the front (basically measure from where it begins to slant up) and make a 1 1/2 inch diameter hole. A drimmle tool works best took me two secs to cut it out, switched tools and ground the hole to fit my fittings.
fittings are as follows
2-1 1/2'' flanges
1-1 1/2 tee
1-1 1/2 nipple 10'' long
1-1 1/2 nipple 5'' long

the first flange goes into the hole you just made, then bolt it down. then the 10 inch followed by the tee, (also a cap in the bottom of tee) and then the 5'' nipple and a flange.

flange
10''
cap 5'' tee
cap
after this is installed, add your fire clay or castable refactory.
i found it took me 12.5 lbs of castable refactory cement to cover the bottom good. I choose this because i dont plan on moving it much and thought it would give the forge some strength which it did. Also i bought 4 of the thin fire bricks so i can control the size of the fire. It says to let it dry for one day at 60 degrees, but its been cold here the last couple so i am putting off using it probably for a week.
While it was drying i bought a squirrl cage blower from surplus supply. I made sure it was an ac motor, and the one i bought had a 1 1/2 inch opeing. The only thing that i had a problem with was that it is a square 1 1/2 opeing, so i bought some brass reducers, and it fits into the fittings perfectly.
I also bought some handles the silver door ones to put on the sides to help make moving it easier and to hang tools from.
For the turyre (spelling) i bought a stainless steel shower grate and will put that over the flange in the barrow. I cant wait to light it up and start moving metal.
Its been about 6 years since i was able to forge, i moved a bit and lived in apartments but now im in the country with a small barn as a workplace.
One note on being safe, i did buy glasses that cancell the uv rays that can come out of the forging fire, smokey grey ones and they were very cheap and i got them from sentry safety supply, the price was right for 3 dollars. also got some hearing protection and a welders jacket and apron. That firescale can jump and iron sometimes likes to bite back.
hope this helps if any part needs clearing up just holler.
happy hammering
forgeblast
 
   / Home made forge???? #18  
I have sent you a PM.
Forgot about posting more pictures. Today we have snow coming down. It's seat time soon. Will get pictures yet.
 
   / Home made forge???? #19  
Forgeblast,
Just wanted to add a note to your post. I've been blacksmithing for over 5 yrs now and you don't use Anthracite. You use Bituminous coal for blacksmithing. Beleive me the Anthracite will drive you nuts. There are more technical reasons for using the Bituminous but there isn't enough space here to discuss them. I suppose you can do a search on the net.
 

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