[TheForge] portable forge (was Christmas)

[Bruce .]

Nice setup, but as you say, won't fit in a trunk.  A friend of mine has
been using a forge more or less like yours for many years.  Nice forge, but
the blower crank is too low for me.  He wheels the whole thing on and off a
trailer.

My idea is to go for lightweight everything.  I would gladly have bought
London pattern anvils,up to 90 lb, but they're just not available at prices
I'm willing to pay.  Hence, HF 55 lb anvil -- dirt cheap.  Good enough for
demonstrating and a damn sight easier on your back to move.  The 4" leg
vises are the second heaviest items.  After that, everything will be pretty
light.  Years ago I came up with nestable hoods made of sheet metal.
They've held up fairly well.  They could be made of SS if greater longevity
were needed.  I expect to put pictures in the NJBA newsletter when all the
equipment has been designed and prototyped.

Despite sometimes severe skepticism on the part of my audience, I am well
on my way to getting all the equipment for one forging station into the
trunk of my Toyota Echo:
forge, firepot, hood, & flue; blower & stand; anvil & stand; vise & stand;
slack tub; coal; hand & fire tools; and EZ-Up (type) canopy.

I have ALREADY had in the trunk:
hood, flue, 2 blowers & stands; anvil & stand; and vise & stand.
Which is why I'm so confident!

I'm hoping to be able to fit six or eight of these forging stations (with
some sharing of equipment between stations) in the back of my Nissan pickup
truck.  I'm fairly sure I'll succeed at that as well.

Bruce
NJ

On Sat, Dec 27, 2014 at 1:51 PM, Steve Bloom <sabloom at ironflower.com> wrote:

> At 11:34 AM 12/27/2014, Bruce wrote:
>
>  I'm working on designing and prototyping lightweight forging equipment
>> (forge, firepot, hood, flue, blower stand, anvil stand, vise stand), all
>> to
>> fit in the trunk of a subcompact car.
>>
>
> while not fitting in a trunk, check out
> http://www.ironflower.com/tips/Shop%20Equipment/Portable%20Blacksmithing/
> Portable-forge-n-bench.pdf
>
> there might be some ideas there that can be adapted. I used a van and just
> rolled everything in and out using a ramp.  The real trick of preparing for
> a demo (for me at least) is the temptation to bring too much stuff, 90% of
> which never gets used!
>
> Steve
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