Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => HowTo's and Build-a-longs => Topic started by: fredie on June 20, 2015, 10:45:18 am
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Im wanting to make a backyard style forge and have no idea how to start it . i have a ton of bricks to use . and open to any suggestions. Let me know please -fred
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If you want to use propane they need to be soft fire bricks. NOT hard fire bricks that you get at the hardware store. Basically, if you can't carve it with a spoon, it's not the right fire brick. I have no idea what you need for a coal forge though.
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Thanks any way .
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Start with an old charcoal grill. Hold a blow dryer to the coals for air supply. Use hardwood charcoal, not briquets. Have a magnet, quench tank, safety goggles, fire extinguisher near by. That is all you need.
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Thanks man
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What sort of forge, gas or solid fuel?I've built both with varying degrees of success and which way you go depends on what you have and what you want to do (and for that matter how much you want to spend).
For a solid fuel forge (I use that term as farriers coal will burn better than hardwood charcoal if you can get it, heating coal will be full of impurities) look up for side blown forge on google and use the hair dryer (disable the heating element and thermal protection if you're feeling like doing it right) as previously suggested. I wouldn't suggest using straight bricks as they may contain moisture that will explode when it heats. I would use them to build a base then make an equal part mix of clay, sand, and perilite/vermiculite (though some have had good luck with sawdust but that has never worked out for me). You can use a BBQ as sleek mentioned but the heat you're generating can be pretty tough on the standard BBQ.
The last one I build was built around a cast iron sink that I cut down, installed a tuyere I built by flaring a pipe and adding a cross pipe (actually a soup can) that I hooked up to a scrounged bathroom vent fan for a blower. I did line the whole thing with the clay/sand/perilite mix and it held up very well. The forge was much more capable than the smith.
Personally, I like gas (propane) much more as their are less variables. You can build a venturi burner based on Ron Reil's design (google for his page, the man has created a burner even I can build) with parts from any hardware store. You can build a forge body out of those bricks (same moisture disclaimer) and line it with Kaowool for a start. CAUTION- Kaowool is nasty stuff if you breath the fibers so I wouldn't use it without coating it with refractory cement or another coating.
My current forge project is kinda based around what I can get my hands on in a tiny town in NW Montana. I did have a regulator and hose from a previous project but am needing to collect everything else locally. I picked up some firebrick at Ace that I am going to line the forge with. I am going to make a body using the clay/sand/periite mix I mentioned above. I am scrounging for a trash BBQ cart that I'll set the whole thing up on as when you build with mud, leaving things to the rained on is a bad idea.
As Sleek mentioned, there are a few supporting items to have on hand, especially the safety stuff. Safety glasses are a huge must (unless blindness is something you're in to), fire extinguishers are high on the list, and gloves come in pretty handy, especially in the beginning.
Hope this helps, there are a lot of resources out there, and yes, it can be as addictive as archery.
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I'm a beginner and trying to figure out this forge stuff to. I looked at some pictures and videos and came up with this design out of stuff I had on hand. It's fire bricks in the shape of a V with a snow man blower for the air source. I drilled a bunch of holes in a pipe that goes in the bottom of the V. I use osage scraps for the fuel source. It gets very hot. I was trying to make some tongs the other day and I melted the end off of one of them. I think I have to much air flow.
I have no idea if this is the right way to do it but its what I came up with out of stuff I had laying around.
(http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r55/clintanders/Mobile%20Uploads/20150720_200911.jpg)
(http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r55/clintanders/Mobile%20Uploads/20150720_202231.jpg)
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while I haven't done any forging yet, I'm as intrigued as the rest of you. the best beginners resource for forging on a budget that I've seen is a book titled 'the 50 dollar knife shop'. be warned...if you tend to be obsessive about building and making things [guilty!] this book will provide projects for years to come!
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I just got that book in the mail yesterday. Can't wait to read it
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you will love it!!!
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Osage- That looks like a great start. Yes, you look like you're running more of a blast furnace than a forge there. If you have no other way to adjust it, you should be able to improve a gate valve either at the inlet or outlet side. You might consider getting the whole thing off the ground unless your back is better than mine.
Goddard's book is a good one but I would have to say for a more complete look at the craft to get "The Complete Modern Blacksmith".
I just scored a dead water water heater from the neighbor; can you say forge body? (And maybe a furnace body too!)
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thanks to every one osage outlaw im building a pit forge from a old cast-iron pot with a blower cant wait too finish it
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Nomad Medic, where are you in N.W. Montana? I am in Thompson Falls.
Wayne