Sink forge?

B

BChou-E29

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Dec 4, 2009
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I was reading an old Popular Mechanics magazine a couple days ago and it had this article on backyard blacksmithing :eek: In the article they made a forge out of a SS utility sink based on an old design from an article in 1941. My question is has anybody used this kind of forge? Are there any pros/cons to this design? It looks like a typical coal forge with the addition of a quench tank on the side using the additional sink basin on the side as a container for a quench medium (pretty cool huh?). Here's the article and original design "plans" if you can call em that.

http://www.origin.popularmechanics.com/home_journal/workshop/4303543.html?page=3

http://media.popularmechanics.com/documents/pm-forge-1941.pdf
 
I can't say that it's a bad idea. The key is lining the steel "pot" with fire clay or bricks to stop burning through the thin steel. The large basin would give you plenty of room to build a very nice fire box.

I would prefer a table on the side rather than a quench tank, but I could see just putting a piece of metal over the extra basin so I could get a twofer out of it.

Overall, a very neat project that has as much merit today as it did back then. And, considering that I've been wanting to get back into forging.... I'll certainly be keeping my eyes open as I drive around town!
 
That refractory lining is probably not a bad idea too. I've seen old soapstone basins that were thick enough so that they could probably take the heat but I'd still prefer a traditional firepot type shape. Another thing is that do you know if there are any adverse health effects to heating certain grades of SS? I know heating galvanized steel is bad for your due to the burning zinc but SS should be okay, right?

That is true, I can think of an endless number of uses for that extra sink basin.

Good luck on your forge building! I'm on the same page ;) Check out craigslist, I routinely see people who offer old cast iron utility sinks and such for free.
 
Haha that's almost exactly what I'm doing right now. I have a big (as in about 400lb) soapstone double industrial sink. As both drains were very well plugged up and since I'm going to be setting it in cement I decided not to have the tuyre feed from the bottom, but drilled through the side with a hole saw and used a piece of 1" black steel pipe. I filled the bottom and sides with gravel, then a layer of kaowool covered in satanite to make the area a bit smaller and take less charcoal (the sink is massive, it took me and another one of my friends on my crew team about half an hour to move it 100 feet to my tuck and get it in). The fan is an old leafblower that someone had thrown out because the plug was stripped. It works pretty well, although I had to drill out a few holes in the tuyre because too much air was coming through the charcoal. I won't be using the second basin for a quench tank because its a bit big and its being housed outside, but at some point if I want a propane forge for forge welding, that's where I'll build it.
 
I salvaged an old cast iron sink with the intent of converting it to a forge. The project stalled out when I considered the depth of the sink (around 11-12 inches) and the possible issues with the enamel coating. I went with an old propane tank with Kaowool and a T-Rex burner instead. It works well up to 1900F. 2000 is the limit. Working on a forced air forge next for welding. -Doug
 
I used to use an old cast iron sink with the enamel coating. It works good, the enamel pops off when you get it roaring.:D
But yeah, I used one for a couple years and liked it. I think this idea with the ss sink and fire bricks looks like a cool idea.
Iz
 
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