Opinion's on brake drum forges?

[Trevor51]

What do you guys think of brake drum forges. I'm a beginner black smith and I hear people who say they are good but others say they don't like them. Do you guys find the steel to be thick enough?

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

They are cheap to build and work fairly good. They are not as useful as a propane forge for knifemaking, but work pretty good for general blacksmithing and basic blade forging.

If it is blacksmithing you will be doing, then go ahead and build one to practice on. You can build a better coal forge later on. If you want to make knives and do HT on steel, consider building a basic propane forge.

 

[Lieblad]

Brakedrums are fine, there is a good variety. But dozens of other everyday steel or iron objects can make a workable firebowl.
Depends on type and size of your workpieces dictates optimal size of "brakedrum". For knife & trinket size work, I suggest no more than 10"x2"
Likely your bigger DIY obstacle is decently workable tuyere/rockerball and blower.