[TheForge] Forge design

[Rich Maynard]

Hi all,

I have been approached by a metal sculptor for some help with part of one of
the processes involved in a new series of sculptures she is creating.

They are basically approximately 3 foot diameter spherical balls made up
from a mesh of 1/8" mild steel wire at around 1" spacing. One of her
assistants MIGs these up, then she likes to heat areas of the sculpture and
beat into shape with a hammer. At the moment they are using oxy-acetylene
torches to do this with, but are finding that they can only work a small
area at a time.

My suggested solutions are:

1. Use a bigger oxy-acetylene torch (or oxy-propane). Quite wasteful of gas,
but simple and controllable and also uses equipment they already have.

2. Build a big gas forge, like one of Mike Porter's. This would be a huuuge
forge, take quite a long time to heat up and make the whole sculpture hot
and malleable, which wouldn't necessarily allow the boss to do what she
wants - I envisage the whole thing caving in when she starts laying into it
with a hammer...

3. A version of a 'real' forge. This would be coke-fired (no problem getting
coke in the UK) and would have to be lit with an oxy-fuel torch - the
'studio' is under a railway line and the smoke from using a wood-fire to
start the forge isn't acceptable. I have taken the opportunity to draw up an
idea using Google Sketchup, and uploaded some jpegs of the results here:

http://www.muchhadhamforge.co.uk/Forge.jpg
<http://www.muchhadhamforge.co.uk/Forge.jpg>
http://www.muchhadhamforge.co.uk/Plate%20up.jpg

<http://www.muchhadhamforge.co.uk/Plate%20up.jpg>There is a sort of  'air
chamber' driven from a biggish fan (probably 3-phase to make controlling the
speed via an inverter easier). A semi-disposable 3/8" plate drops into the
top of the chamber; this plate can have different patterns of holes to give
bigger/smaller fires as needed for the sculpture being worked on. If we find
a pattern that works well, we might have it cut in stainless steel for a
slightly extra longer life.

This is a bit out of my experience, and I would really, really appreciate
anyone's observations on my thoughts/plans.

Cheers,

Rich.

Richard Maynard - Artist Blacksmith
The Forge, High Street, Much Hadham, Hertfordshire SG10 6BS

www.muchhadhamforge.co.uk
rich at muchhadhamforge.co.uk

Be a blacksmith for a day!
<http://www.muchhadhamforge.co.uk/experience>
www.muchhadhamforge.co.uk/experience