Where can I buy a forge cheap?

SkagSig40

SkagSig40

Joined
Feb 1, 2001
Messages
2,671
I really want to start forging and I have an old lawnmoer blade that could make a good knife but I need a way to heat up the steel to red hot. I have a 2 foot piece of rail road track ready for an anvil so I just need a forge! Any thoughts on what might work? Thanks!:)
 
This looks like it will be an interesting thread....I'd love to know how to & have the equipment to forge things--but I haven't the money for the equipment and I'll probably never have the skill....
 
Here is a site that had some pretty decent designs. I saw another site which had outstanding instructions on building an adobe forge...I will see if I can find a link. Try this for now forge plans .


Matthew
 
A forge really isn't all that hard or expensive to make. I've made one with nothing more than fire brick and a steel sheet. To supply air I used a an old electric leaf blower I picked up at a yard sale for $10. I've seen forges made from truck tire wheels and even adobe. An excellent guide to building a forge and forging can be found in Jim Hrisoulas' book "The Complete Bladesmith". Great reference manual for anyone who want's to make their own blades. Forging steel is fun but I had to give it up when I became an apartment dweller. All the pounding on the anvil I guess:rolleyes: ;)
 
Check out Tim Lively's site if you want to do it cheap and back to basics. He has tutorials on his website, forge kits, a neotribal bladesmithing video even. His forum is at http://pub88.ezboard.com/ftheneotribalmetalsmithsfrm8. You can make your own forge for next to nothing. I made my first forge at age 14 by digging a hole in the wet dirt (this was the firepot)a piece of scrap iron pipe with a elbow entering the hole from the bottom/side at a tangent(this was my tuyere) and a old blow dryer for my air source. You can burn briquits (they burn up fast and make a lot of ash), lump charcoal(my favorite-no smoke,burns very clean, burns up moderately fast, or you can use coal(hard to light until you get the hang of it, full of impurities, smokes and stinks. I you live in the city like I do the neighbors will hate you or worse). Take a look at Tim's site- you can be pounding this weekend. Adios, stevo
 
Maui Rob, railroad track appears to be made out of medium carbon steel, something to the tune of 1030 -1045 steel. Most of it will harden if you heat treat it, but we've come across some that wouldn't. adios, stevo
 
Steve posted what I was going to but even better as I had lost the link to Tim's website.

You can also do a search in the Shop Talk Forum as forges have been discussed and cussed a lot there.:)
Mike Sweany is another one of the Neo-Tribalists and has built a forge or three and posts on the said forum.
Mike's also one of the good guys and doesn't mind sharing information, actually all of the Neo guys are that way because they like to encourage people to keep things simple, just drop Mike an
e-mail.:)
It may be a day or three before he gets back to you since I understand he and his family are always busy, but when you really want something done the best person to ask is one who's really busy. They Will get it done for you.:)

Mike sent me some pix of a couple of his forges quite a while back, but I lost them when I moved from WebTV to a real 'puter.:(
 
Just dig a hole in the ground ;) Seriously though in PI alota hill smiths just use a hole lined with clay and covered with charcoal. Air is supplied by bamboo bellows. Ive seen smiths there do magic with very few tools. You could go and make a gas forge with all the high fancied digital whatzamatoozits, but then youre gonna be spendin more cash.
 
WoW!:) Thanks for all the info guys! Now all I have to do is a little research!

Outdoors, I found several small 1-2 foot rail road tracks just walking along a set of tracks by my house. They also pulled up some across town severall years ago and I got a few then. I would give you one but even 1 foot of the stuff weighs alot! I'm guessing the pieces I have are about 40lbs each and the shipping would be alot of $$ I would think.
 
Chris, I'm sure you will, but just in case... Please wear UV/Infrared rated protective welding goggles when you do your forging. No sense in ruining your eyes.
 
You can get to the forum through Tim's site:

www/livelyknives.com

He'll have info on his site too. If it wasn't for Tim, I'd still be doing things the hard way. He saved me from buying alot of expensive specialty equipment that would take as much skill if not more to use than using regular hand tools. Uncle Bill is right, you shoudl try a set up similar to the kamis to see if you like it and then modify it once you decide whether its a permanent fixture. All you need is a hairdryer, a hammer, a bag of charcoal and a piar of vice grips and your good to go.
 
Skag:

I don't have the ABANA (Artisan Blacksmiths of America) link anymore, but you might want to search them out. They have guilds in various spots around the country. Some of the guilds have open forge nights where you can meet other smiths and get some hands-on instruction in the basics.

S.
 
Get the bricks and hair dryer and see if you can get a piece of steel red hot. If you can you're there. It ain't that hard.
 
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