Mini smithy being made: Forge and ANvil

S

simko

Joined
Jan 14, 2003
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ok so im going to make a forge, charcoal fuel.

Im going to take a freon tank (empty) lay it on its side, and cut the top of the side section off. Then im going to take 2" diameter ( 2" will work right Abe ;) ) and then drill the holes and what not so that is my tuyere. Ill put briquettes inside along with some ashes. oh and ill weld a piece of tube to hold the tank from rolling around. Then ill attach hairdrier etc.


Questions:

1. I have a bunch of fireplace fire bricks that are hard, can i use these? and where should i place them.

2. The location of my forge will be relatively far away from an electrical outlet, are there any alternative blowers? or will i just be stuck with extension cords.

Now the ANvil:

Got a piece of RR track, about 18" long

ive gotten different advice from people. one says use the surface that the train travels on for an anvil, one says use the other side.

if i use the surface that the rr travels on i was going to just bolt it onto a tree stump whcih would be burried part in the ground.

if i use the other surface, i was told to weld a pipe into it to make it form a T and then set it in a 5gallon pale of cement.


any other ideas?

also: when i do make the anvil, at what height should it be?
 
Aaron, I've never seen a railroad track anvil that was upside down. Look around using google with "railroad track anvil" you'll prabably get some good ideas. When mounted to its stand, the striking surface of your anvil should be somewhere close to the knuckles of your clenched fist with your arm straight down the side of your body. Some like it higher or lower depending on your hammering style.

Good luck in your new endeavor. :D
 
ok ill set it at that height,

also, for ahardy hole, does it have to be square to use hardy hole tools? or can it be rounded... as in just a drill bit.
 
aaron_simkovich said:
ok ill set it at that height,

also, for ahardy hole, does it have to be square to use hardy hole tools? or can it be rounded... as in just a drill bit.
Click to expand...

A round hole is for the pritchel, but a hardy hole should be 1" square. If you are making a RR anvil, I wouldn't bother.
 
For an unusual take on RR track anvil look here

http://anvilfire.com/iForge/index.htm check out # 45 RR tools

Personally if I'm just pounding out knifes I like my anvil just about two hand widths above knuckle height.

The bottom side of the track is way too springy for an anvil, plus the top is already hardened.
A round hole for hardy tools will let the tool turn just when you do not want it to. Drill a half round hole instead. But if you just want a cut off tool sharpen the web on your RR trach and use that. An alternative is a flat plate and a chisel.

line your forge with a mixture of clay,wood ash and grass clippings. easy to do.

A smith on the old tribal forums used a kid's Fisher Price leaf blower for his air source. It's got a hand crank and worked fine.

Natural charcoal or wood chunks are better'n briquettes. But you could use the ash from the briquetts in your liner as it already has clay in it.
 
ok, haveing some thoughts, for my forge should i lay the tank sideways and then cut in half? or should i stand it vertically and cut it like that?
 
Which ever way you hold it to cut it should be whichever way is easier to cut it. The final result though I think would be best if it was laying on it's side in use. That way it's longer then it is wide, which is useful for bladesmithing.

You can use your firebricks to line the bottom if you don't want to mix up some homebrew refractory, just lay them in the bottom on either side of your tuyere, preferable slanting them to channel the charcoal into the middle.

For your RR track anvil, either use the side the train rolls on, or... I'm not sure if I misunderstood you, or if you misunderstood what you heard, but you don't want to use the bottom as your second option, you CAN use the end though. Tip it up on end and put it in a bucket of cement. You won't have any area to grind into a horn, and less square inches to hammer on, but it would give the illusion of a heavier anvil since all the mass is directly below where you're hitting.
 
I have sen an upsidedon RR anvil on a Tai Goo vide the guy attached to pieces of mettal to the side for more weight and the bottomn serves as a flater surface. I imagine you can have a 1" hardy hole cut in that better as well.
 
Unless you are absolutely set on using a Freon tank consider this: buy a 5gal Cheapo Turkey fryer setup.
Has everthing you need except the liner and burner to make a Venturi propane forge.
Add a homemade burner (Ron Reils works BTW) buy some Kao wool, coat with ITC you are set.
I have a freon tank one and it works great...would have used the fryer had I thought of it beforehand:D
 
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