Is it possible to use 1 1/4 black iron pipe for a brakedrum forge?

J

johnnyKnives

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Sep 21, 2008
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I saw a guy that said 2inch, but that is hard to come by around here. At homedepot and lowes they have up to 1 1/4. Is there any reason I can't use that in black iron pipe?
 
I am using smaller pipe, and you will be severely limited on fire size. For knife making work and the fact that I am slow, not using a ton of fuel is nice, so it works for me, but YMMV.
 
What size pipe do you use? Now I see I can find 1 1/4 pipe but only 3/4 inch flange! It's for a railroad spike knife, normal car brakedrum.
 
I am using 3/4 inch, but I have only fired it once, and that was with coal that could have easily been 75 years old. I observed the fire, and then shut it off. It was small, but I could heat up a decently sized section. However, it isn't anything compared to my little propane forge. I wish I could use propane all the time, but I have a lot of charcoal at my disposal for free and I figured my money would be better spent elsewhere rather than on fuel that I had an alternative too.

Short answer: it will work, but you might need a slightly more powerful air source.

ETA: you may want to check out the Tim Lively washtub forge. It might be more adaptable to your available materials. As far as the railroad spike goes, I personally like them for certain stuff. They make great throwing knives, for example. I have one that my friend affectionately calls "the chunk". It is an entire railroad spike with the head forged into a point and the beveled edge pounded into a knife blade. I sharpened it up, and it will go through 3/4 inch plywood at 15 feet without much of an issue. If it bends, i just put it in a vice and bend it right back. However, it doesn't hold an edge worth spit. Again, YMMV.
 
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I think that's plenty of air (if you're talking about 1 1/4 for the air supply pipe) it's more important to keep the grate clean, because it doesn't matter what you use when the clinker builds up and clogs the air supply. You might try a side draft, that's what the English use to get around that problem- the outlet can't get too hot though, it'll burn up.
 
I took a small piece of 1/4 " plate and drilled it full of holes.
If there's any way you can check out a "real" forge it'll help you out. There's a lot of blacksmiths in your neighborhood, most of em don't specialize in knives, but they can sure help you set up for hot work.
I had a strong desire to learn smithing and got nowhere until I got online and found my local blacksmithing group.
Good luck,
Andy
 
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