[TheForge] Portable Forge rebuild

Wed Jul 16 12:18:01 2003

Calamity:

Welcome to this gaggle of smiths. 

First off, do you really want to invest your time and effort into reconditioning a forge that is not going to be a full service forge when you are done? These portable forges, or rivet forges, were never intended to be used to build a big roaring fire with a beeshive big enough to work on stuff bigger than 1.5 inches. Remember, these were farrier or farm smithy forges, not intended to be used all the time for bigger dimension steel. It is like crossing the Atlantic in a canoe.... you can do it, but....... it just doesn't work well, and it is not efficient.

I have the same forge you are trying to restore. They are fine for doing demos where all I'm doing in working on small dimension steel, but it just doesn't cut it for big stuff. The basin is too small, the energy used to crank the blower gets tiresome and the lack of a deep firepot all point toward using a bigger, more appropriate forge.

Why not get a welder to fabricate a forge top for you? Plate that is 3/16" thick is plenty for bottom, cut out a hole for firepot,(firepots are available used, or new from Centaur) drop it in, put four legs on your table, connect 3" pipe to a stand alone blower (about $100 USD) and you are in business. Or.... buy a gas forge from one of the big guys like NC. Gas forges are economical, no fuss with smoke killing you are aggravating the neighbors, they take up less room, you can control your heat precisely so no more burned steel. 

So just know that if you go ahead and restore what you have, you'll be wanting another forge before long. It happens every time. They are quaint, but they were intended for light duty.

Hey, there is a world-class smith in Calgary. He runs a 3-man shop. As a young British lad he was trained in the traditional methods in a govt sponsored school called COSIRA and he also completed a formal apprenticeship about 1985. He did restoration work for museums etc before coming to Canada. If you can ever get over to see him he is not only a great guy but a fantastic smith. No hammer blow is misdirected or wasted. He forge welds without flux. Contact me if you want his contact info. 

Reynolds

 --- On Wed 07/16, Best, Dianne < [email protected] > wrote:
From: Best, Dianne [mailto: [email protected]]
To: [email protected]
Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 10:06:52 -0500
Subject: [TheForge] Portable Forge rebuild

(Fer them what also visit the Blacksmith's Junkyard, I apologize - this'll be a duplicate) Good mornin fellers! I'm rebuilding a portable forge that was in a fire and I have a few questions: #1 - Cracked pan. The pan has a crack 3/4 of the way across the bottom. Since I am planning on lining the pan with clay, I don't think the crack will be a problem. Am I wrong? #2 - Broken drive wheel A segment (between two spokes) fell out of the large flywheel that drives the blower. The ends are rusty, so it has been broken for a long time. I know how cast iron is SUPPOSED to be brazed (by evenly preheating, brazing, and the slowly and evenly allowing to cool) but I haven't had much luck with that process - I have had new cracks form during cooling. I am thinking about repairing the flywheel segment by using epoxy and putting in a couple of small steel pins. Is there an easier way? #3 - Flywheel weight This is a lever-operat
 ed blower and, looking at the flywheel, which is relatively light, I was wondering if adding some weight would give longer blower action (momentum) - would this be an advantage? I could put steel "tire" around the flywheel and just about double its weight. #4 - Blower drive belt I am wondering what to use for a blower drive belt. Obviously the thinner and more flexible the belt, the longer the blower will spin for each pump of the lever. I have some rubber (conveyor belting), but that has lots of drag. The only canvas belting I have is too heavy to turn easily on the small blower pulley. Any suggestions? Thanks fer yer ideas fellers! Calamity Jane --- StripMime Report -- processed MIME parts --- multipart/alternative text/plain (text body -- kept) text/html The reason this message is shown is because the post was in HTML or had an attachment. Attachments are not allowed. To learn how to post in Plai
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