fire extinguisher forge!!

[A.McPherson]

my forge broke when I tried to move it the other day, so I decided to make one! Out of a fire extinguisher... cause its ironic!
I'll post pics soon as I'm not on my phone!

I'm planning on using some 2 inch kaowool and satanite (when I can afford the shipping) for the insulation, and I'm going to put the nozzle and base back on with barrel hinges(at least I think that's what they are called...). I'm going to be re-using the sidearm burner I made for my last, ill fated and now defunct, forge.

any suggestions? thoughts? criticisms?

 

[Will52100]

Cool, how big is the bottle? My only concern would be if you have enough volume in the bottle for 2" of kaowool and room for blade.

 

[A.McPherson]

Hmmm, you have a point... I hadn't thought about that, maybe I should use 1 inch? It has an ID of about 6 1/2 inches... that's a standard sized fireplace liner brick inside of it in the last two pics...

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Use 1" wool. You probably can get the refractory and wool in your area from a pottery shop or a boiler shop.

Also, it might be wise to make longer legs to raise it about 6" off the table.

 

[JAKs Bladeworks]

That's a really unique idea! Yeah it is a little smaller, keep us posted if it works!

 

[Rick Marchand]

If you are going to make a smaller diameter forge, you need to have your sidearm burner recessed and insulated into the burner mounting port. The burner flare should be kept away from the inner cavity by at least an inch(preferably 1.5 - 2"). Otherwise, you will drastically shorten its working life.

What is the diameter of the extinguisher? My everyday forge is an 8" diameter pipe, 10" long. With two layers of 1" Kaowool. I still have a 4" diameter cavity. My burner flare is about 1.25" diameter and it is mounted in a 2" port tube. I stuff kaowool around the burner and make sure it is recessed 1.5". It really made a difference. I went through 2-3 flares a year, before. This last flare has been in service for almost a year and a half and still in decent shape.

 

[A.McPherson]

well here is an update!
please excuse the bad photos... and the bad welding!

in these pics, the hinge aligned a bit off to the left, but I've fixed it now, but not pics... I'll post more when I get more!
thanks for the input guys!

 

[A.McPherson]

slow going... but getting close to firing 'er up!!

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

I don't understand the hinged front part with the small hole?

Are you planning on closing it off when running the forge...or is it just to close things up when not in use?

The burner will not run with that door shut. You need an exit port for the gasses that is larger than the intake by about 300% to 500%.

 

[A.McPherson]

Hmmm well to be honest, I was hoping that the small hole in front would be enough t vent the gases. Oh well! I'll just use it as a cap when I'm finished, and to keep the heat in if I'm trying to anneal something... Thanks for the heads up!!

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

The use of the cap in annealing is a good idea.

What I would suggest for you to do is make an "L" shaped piece of round stock that fits the gudgeon (hinge tube). Let the long end rest on the stud sticking out on the opposite side.
Weld a 3"X4"shelf on this to make a work rest that sticks out from the forge port for blades and bar stock. (You may have to shape the bar to drop it to the height you want the rest to be at.)

On some of my forges, I have a tube on both sides. The "U" shaped shelf can slide in and out to accommodate long bars or shorter blades. This works great for vertical forges.

 

[A.McPherson]

there has been some progress, and I am pleased to say that I am finished!!! (finally... I know.)

some folks have a shop dog... I have a...

FORGE PIG!!!

 

[Schleifstein]

Nice fire pig! :thumbup:

 

[mc556]

I am making a vertical quench tank out of a old fire extinguisher cut the top off Tuesday ...
I think I am going to go back and get a extra from my buddy who got it for me that is a neat little forge

 

[A.McPherson]

thanks for the comments guys!
it seems to work pretty well... it got a 3" triangle of 1/4" up to non-magnetic in about 3 minutes, and it'll heat a chunk of rebar up to red hot in about 1minute 30... not too shaby. I think. I don't have much of a referance...

 

[bjansen]

Very cool.