[TheForge] inspiration

Tue Jul 18 17:06:56 EDT 2006

I built my first forge from a 55 gal. barrel and a brake drum with pipe fittings.  I'm not 6'4", so I stood the barrel on end and cut all around it about 6" down from the top.  I then inverted the top section and tack welded it back in place.  That gave a nice wind break around the fire pot, which was the brake drum set in a slightly undersized hole in the middle.  I cut 8" wide slots in the wind break on opposite sides of the fire pot for sticking stock through.  I used a small squirrel cage fan for the blower and a home made sliding blast gate on the intake side of the fan to control air.  I just stopped using it a few months ago, after about 9 years, when the brake drum finally gave out.  It worked great and was my primary shop forge even though I have several rivet forges now.

Aubrey

________________________________

From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net on behalf of Mitch Widham
Sent: Tue 7/18/2006 6:38 AM
To: 'Sponsored by ABANA'
Subject: RE: [TheForge] inspiration

My 1st forge was a 55 gal forge, it worked great and I still use it. It is
just the right height, approx 36 inches, I'm 6,4. My fire pot is a cast iron
Dutch oven with 8 or 10 half inch holes drilled in the bottom and a threaded
flange bolted to the base. The flange has a short extension then a Tee, with
ash dump going out the bottom and a 90 degree extension that extended out
through a hole cut in the side of the barrel, which to attach the blower, an
old bathroom exhaust fan with a dimmer switch. The fire pot rests in a hole
cut in the top of the barrel, which is slightly undersized. I was operating
out of the garage at the time and limited for space, when not in use I could
store most of stuff inside the drum. I heat with coal, the pot did develop
some cracks in the bottom but has not broke yet, if it does you can usually
pick up a old rusted Dutch oven at yard sales or flea markets for a couple
of bucks. Note a shallow pot is preferable to a deep one, hard to heat long
stock if it is deep. I found lots of advantages to the 55 gal forge, cheap,
portable, storage, height, work from any side, you don't have to weld to
build one, my holes were cut with a drill and an angle grinder. It don't
look like much, but as we say here at the Spartan Forge, crude but
effective!

-----Original Message-----
From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Bruce Freeman
Sent: Monday, July 17, 2006 5:56 PM
To: theforge at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [TheForge] inspiration

A 50-gallon drum is pretty big for a forge.  I won't say it won't work,
but it's big.  Try restricting the fire to an area about 8 inches
square.

Skip the river rock - some of that may explode when heated.  Use
quarried rock (not limestone) or just sod or clay.  You want that on the
INSIDE of the forge.  (I can't tell if that's what you meant.)

Folks often say you need 10" to 12" flue pipe, but then don't tell you
where to find it.  Trick:  Take two pieces (preferably the 5' length) of
6" sheet metal flue pipe (the kind that's sold unrolled and you bring
the preformed edges together to make the pipe). Now pursuade each of
these that it wants to be a half-cylinder, not a full cylinder.  Now
lock the edges of one to that of the other.  Voila': 12" flue pipe.
You'll need 10' or so.

Don't swipe your wife's hair dryer.  Blowers are cheap and readily
available once you start looking for one.  A vacuum cleaner (use the
exhaust) is MORE than enough air - you'll have to divert some.  Try flea
markets, etc., and keep your mind open.

If you use charcoal fuel, inject the air from the side, not the bottom,
as the stuff is so lightweight it will blow around otherwise.  Use a few
cheap firebricks (<$1 each) to keep the charcoal from blowing sideways.
Expect your "tuyere" pipe to burn up if you stick it too far into the
fire.

When working on a hot fire, it's useful to stay in the "shadow" of the
fire.  Have something (like the edge of a side-draft hood) you can step
"behind".  Most of the heat will miss you that way.

One piece of advice:  Don't invest too much in your first forge.  It's
almost certain it will work.  It's even more certain you'll want to
change something about it before long.  Once you have a clear idea what
you need and want, THEN it's time to spend more time or money on a
forge.

Best of luck.

Bruce
NJ

>>> jsguardian at hotmail.com 7/14/2006 5:13:12 PM >>>
All I can say is. . . wow.  At this point I am extremely greatful for
the
helpful instructions, and inspired.  I have plans to take a 50gal drum
(from
a local scrap yard) with a large hole on one side a a small hole near
the
bottom, attach a pipe (from the same scrap yard) for air flow, surround
it
all with local river rock and a basic dirt/clay morter, toss in some
charcoal or other burnable fule, and use some more if that local scrap
for
stock, and simply . . . get it hot and hit it. :)  Hopefully that scrap
yard
has a suitable anvil, and my wife doesnt catch me using her hair dryer.

Only one thing is preventing me...90-100 degree clear sunny days.  I am
not
gonna work next to a "hotter then the blazes of hell" fire in weather
that
makes me sweat just looking out the window.  Wish me luck, and if
anyone has
some pointers on improving my 1st fogr design, I appreciate the
advice.

~Jesse

>From: "Jerry Frost" <frosty at customcpu.com>
>Reply-To: Sponsored by ABANA <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
>To: "Sponsored by ABANA" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
>Subject: Re: [TheForge] tools
>Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2006 11:10:52 -0800
>
>Don't apologize Bruce you weren't stepping on toes, I was just teasing
you
>a little.
>
>I didn't describe how to drill and bolt them together on the possibly
false
>assumption it wasn't necessary. If we need to start at that basic a
level,
>heating and beating is a number of virtual lessons away.
>
>On the other hand, for someone with basic metal working skills or even

>general shop knowlege discovering improvised tools and just how much
can be
>done can be a real eye opener. Being able to bootstrap yourself from
>nothing to a working smithy only requires imagination, knowlege and a

>little practice. Good scroungins help's of course. <grin>
>
>Following is a tale from the Frosty files. If you only want the
unvarnished
>facts hit your delete key right NOW! <grin>
>
>Most of my hammer time up till a few years ago was in primitive
conditions,
>literally making stuff around a campfire somewhere in the Alaskan
bush.
>After work while the other guys on the drill crew were killing a half
rack
>of Bud, I'd forge up weird little thingies from found stock or bent,
>twisted, broken, etc. drill tools. I'd been banging away using the
casing
>jack or a safety hammer as an anvil for a long time before I finally
welded
>up a RR track anvil. Other than the track anvil I didn't even pack a
pair
>of tongs, I just used whatever was handy.
>
>The summer of 93 or 94 we were doing a job for the FHWA along the
>Resurrection River out of Seward for at least three months, nearly the

>whole summer. We'd brushed a "road" down to a nice bar on the river to
set
>up camp and moved in. During the summer we spent there, there was a
large
>quantity of beer consumed so I had to find something to occupy my time

>instead.
>
>Scrounging on the Resurrection River near where we were camped is rich

>pickins. There used to be quite a bit of industrial (by early Alaskan

>standards) shops, yards, etc. in the area till the 64' quake wiped
them
>out. Anyway, the river is GOOD scrounging. I found and dragged an axel
from
>a (I don't know what, but it was BIG) vehicle back to camp and
implanted it
>flange up for my anvil.
>
>The wind always blows down the river valley/gorge from the ice fields
in
>the mountains so making a wind powered forge was simplicity. I
hammered
>stakes into the sand in a 3'+/- circle. Using this as a frame I
stacked mud
>mortared rocks and sand into my forge table. I ran a piece of bent
drill
>casing up through the forge mound, facing into the prevailing wind. I
made
>the firepot from hard rammed mud and used found rebar as a grate. I
later
>replaced the firepot with a brake drum I got from a local repair shop.
I
>made a wind facing funnel from found tin siding for my blast.
>
>I burned forge made charcoal generated as I worked. This was REALLY
>unpleasant till I scrounged a steel barrel to use as a combination
forge
>hood, charcoal generator. I cut the ends out of the barrel and spiked
it on
>end to the top of the forge and cut a couple openings to access the
fire. I
>simply cut wood, mostly alder and birch and tossed it into the top. It

>burned down to charcoal by time it got to the openings I was working
>through. It was hot as hell standing in front of the burn barrel forge

>thingy but it worked just fine.
>
>Along with the usual fire pokers, branding irons and other fun with
beer
>things I normally made, I made a pair of rebar tongs. They were
basically
>the same as twist tongs and ugly as hell but they worked just fine. I
made
>hanging hooks for camp, tripods for the camp fires, pokers, skewers,
>tent/tarp stakes and all sorts of little utensils for around camp.
>
>After a while word got out I had a "blacksmith's shop" down on the
river
>and I became kind of a small scale attraction. So I started making
hooks,
>stakes, tripods, toasting forks, fire pokers, branding irons, etc. for

>locals and tourists that found us. I didn't charge much but made a
nice bit
>of change for off duty fun with fire. <grin>
>
>The ONLY tools I didn't improvise or manufacture were the hammers,
large
>and medium crescent wrenches, a hack saw and a handful of files. I
even
>made a vise though I didn't hammer on it.
>
>Anyway, I did this kind of "smithing" for 19 years on the drill crew
and
>dearly LOVE improvising "shops". This is the basis of my perspective
when I
>answer the, "What do I need to get started?" question. I don't put
limits
>on how high tech a smith should go either. If you want to make a
living at
>this stuff you'd damned well better either be a VERY in demand smith
OR be
>willing to do any metal work that comes in the door.
>
>So yes. I can most certainly describe AND post pics of wooden tongs
made
>with stone tools though I prefer knapping obsidian. I haven't tried
the
>local chert, too much on my plate. Still, the chert will make a much
better
>hand axes and scrapers than the obsidian if not as sharp, it'll be
much
>more durable.
>
>Frosty
>-------------------------------
>If it ain't forged
>it ain't real.
>Wrought iron is.
>The FrostWorks
>
>Meadow Lakes, AK.
>
>http://www.artmetalradio.com/
>
>From: "Bruce Freeman" <FREEMAB at pt.fdah.com>
>
>
>>Sorry, Frosty, I didn't mean to stomp on your toes. Really, your
twist
>>tongs description was excellent (though pictures would help), and
those
>>(punched and riveted) should probably be the >second< pair of tongs
a
>>beginner makes.  If we REALLY want to be purists, we could give
>>instructions on making tongs of wood, made with a flint knife...
>>
>>But I operated for so long (before learning to forge) by making do
with
>>capabilities I had (drilling, bolting) that I still often think in
those
>>terms.
>>
>>Bruce
>>NJ
>>
>
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