$25 Furnace for Forging

[AllenMcB]

My son and I had to produce an "instant furnace" last week, and put together this home-designed , home-made small, portable furnace.

This isn't the sort of thing you can make a living with, and there are a lot of better designs that are more efficient and cost effective to run, but if you need a fast source of high heat, this one does the trick.

What's involved is two steel wheels, a small blower, a piece of pipe, a little welding, and about an hour.

Here's the link to the full story with more pictures and more details on construction.

As I said, it's not much to look at, and certainly primitive by most standards, but it sure worked for us.

 

[Fiddleback]

Where are you in North Mississippi? My parents are in Batesville.

 

[AllenMcB]

Where are you in North Mississippi? My parents are in Batesville.

'

No kidding! I lived there for 18 years. Drop me a PM, let's talk.

 

[mykulmorris]

We are not judged by our methods but by our results... Kudo's to you for making it work!!!

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Google 'Brake Drum Forge" or "Truck Rim Forge" , you will see that there is nothing new under the sun.
Here is one:
http://www.anvilfire.com/index.php?...m&titleName=anvilfire.com Blacksmithing FAQs
And another:
http://www.horseshoes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1795
Stacy

 

[AllenMcB]

Google 'Brake Drum Forge" or "Truck Rim Forge" , you will see that there is nothing new under the sun.

Darn. And I had the "intellectual property" papers all drawn up and ready to submit.

 

[Will Leavitt]

Somewhere in that neck of Sissimippi there's a car in someone's front yard missing 2 tires and they probably won't notice for years. Did you have to cut many weeds to get to the tires? what 'bout snakes?

Really neat forge and I'll make sure I direct new smiths to this thread. You done good for someone from Sissimippi. :thumbup:

 

[scottickes]

I welded up my first damascus in a truck rim coal forge. I used a hair dryer for the air flow and flexible dryer hose. It actually worked pretty well. I just hated having to tend the fire, so I switched to propane after about a year.

 

[AllenMcB]

Did you have to cut many weeds to get to the tires? what 'bout snakes?

No weeds, no snakes. Just wheels.

Really neat forge and I'll make sure I direct new smiths to this thread. You done good for someone from Sissimippi. :thumbup:

Mississippi thanks you.

 

[AllenMcB]

I welded up my first damascus in a truck rim coal forge. I used a hair dryer for the air flow and flexible dryer hose. It actually worked pretty well. I just hated having to tend the fire, so I switched to propane after about a year.

We use bud rims off big trucks as fire pits at Scout camp, and that got me to thinking about using a wheel for a forge. I figured if I stacked one atop the other, I could make a forced air chamber.

In any case, it took less than an hour to assemble, and we were heating steel the same night. Simple, but it did what we needed.