home built forge???

eddy.s

eddy.s

Joined
Dec 5, 2010
Messages
11
I'm wanting to build a forge. Until now I've ground my blades from flat stock but I kinda want to expand into other possibilities like blending metals folding steel and so on. I was going to use a metal oval basin a friend had built for an out door boiler idea he had, (didn't pan out,) the basin is made of 1/2 inch steel and is roughly two feet by one foot wide. I figured I would pipe in air from the bottom fed by a car heater motor on a rheostat to govern the speed. Any thoughts?
 
i would consider a propane forge, they are simple to make

there are tons of plans for them.

indian george has good plans on his website

good luck

jake
 
It depends on what you have around for fuel. If you're going coal or charcoal, it sounds like you have the start of the most beefy washtub forge of all time. Google "washtub forge" to get some examples of what I'm talking about.

If you're going gas, do some searching here about building gas forges. There's LOADS of threads on the subject.

-d
 
The sticky "PID Controlled Forge and More" has lots of forge build info and plans.
 
I thank you all for your help. I might just pursue the gas option seems like it might be the most straight forward. Although I will likely try charcoal at on point just for the experience. thanks again.

Eddy
 
As someone who is not going to try and sell you something, you've got a good start. If you plan on using coal, make sure you line the tub you're using with refractory cement to help hold in and concentrate the heat. It will also protect the tub. In the bottom, lay down a steel pipe with holes drilled in in, say 1/8 or 1/4 inch size holes. This is how you will pipe in air. As for the rheostat, that can work, but make sure you use the correct voltage. A car electric motor is made to run on a cars voltage, likely 12 volts. You can't just plug it into the wall and expect it to work. You'll burn it up. You'll need a 12 volt power source to make it work, or a 120 volt electric blower of some kind. I used a blower I pulled out of an old gas heater/AC unit. Other than that, I think you've got a good idea going. Don't forget to post the results.
 
I like a more traditional coal-type forge configuration, which normally would have a little bit more room. That way you can keep a good amount of unburnt fuel around the sides of the fire, and keep raking it inward as the center burns. To conserve fuel and control the size of my fire, I keep a watering can next to the forge so I can wet the coal down in a ring around the fire, keeping it to the size I want. I find this works OK with charcoal as well, which burns even faster than coal. You don't want to heat the whole blade up at once usually, just get a heated section long enough for you to deal with in one heat; about 4-6 in. long at a time. If you need to HT, shape the fire with your rake and the water to be elongated, and if you can't get the fire as long as the blade, you can gently heat it while sliding the blade back and forth for an even heat.

My first charcoal forge was built with the cabin fan and speed switch from an old Toyota truck. It worked well, but don't forget and leave the fan on while you are distracted or your blade may end up as a sparking puddle. I use a hand crank blower for coal forging now.

It sounds to me as if that 2'x1' pan is a bit small for controlling the fire, but you might get by with watering the edges. If you get the whole thing full of cot coals, it burns a lot of fuel and you have to give it a TON of blast to get pretty much the whole fire up to the heat you want. This sucks if trying to forge weld. It's good to have a "duck's nest" in the center, basically a deeper part that the air comes in under. It enables you to have more coals under the work and makes it easier to control the fire. Try going to some sites like anvilfire.com or iforgeiron.com, those are great references for smithing stuff. The "Complete Modern Bladesmith" by Jim Hrisoulas has some good forge-building guidelines and is a classic knifemaking book to own anyway.

Beginner propane forges are stupid simple to build and cheap. I'd probably recommend starting out with one to most people, I do really love the "old school" way however.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top