making stuff out of junk

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BackWoodsMaineiac

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May 25, 2010
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I'm new to knife making and am making a forge out of an old bar-b-q grill and a leaf blower. I wanted to know what would be good to use for the lining, clay mixed with ceramic or something? is there stuff already pre-made that i can buy a bag of and mix? or does anyone have a good redneck recipe?

Thanks
 
Google: Home Made Forge
There are a number of sites dedicated to just that and also supplying the products needed.
Do your research then try sourcing the products locally
K&G has much of what you are looking for
 
Wood ash, lightly pack it down and your good to go. Plus your able to reshape firepot anytime you want making it a very versatile forge.
 
a leaf blower won't be over kill will it? i see a lot of forges made with just a hair dryer. the leaf blower has two speeds low and high. high is 209 mph is that going to put me in danger of heating the metal too quickly? i don't want to burn the carbon out.
 
Have you checked out the stuff here yet? I think I saw a link to forges.

And pardon my manners: Welcome!
 
BackWoodsMaineiac said:
a leaf blower won't be over kill will it? i see a lot of forges made with just a hair dryer. the leaf blower has two speeds low and high. high is 209 mph is that going to put me in danger of heating the metal too quickly? i don't want to burn the carbon out.
Click to expand...

It shouldn't be too hard to build or scavenge some kind of manifold or baffle that can divert or bypass some of the airflow and allow you to regulate it. Too much air you can work with, not enough is a problem.

I have seen a few forges lined with wood ash if you want to go primitive, as someone already mentioned. Otherwise you can buy refractory materials like ceramic fiber blanket and commercially-made hight-temp. mortar to line it with. The ceramic fiber blanket can often be bought cheaper off Ebay than from a typical retailer, it sometimes pays to shop around. The ceramic fiber should be coated with either a rigidizer or mortar, if left naked the fibers will become airborne and they are a health hazard.
Ellis Custom Knifeworks carries pretty much everything you could want for building forges and Darren is a good guy to deal with. Just reading the product descriptions on his web page can be informative.
 
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