Blacksmith Forge

[mel b 2,226]

48 minutes ago, EDDIE B said:

Nice one mel b. How is it with gas consumption? Would a cylinder last long with one of these forges?

In all honesty , I wouldn't know how to measure the fuel consumption.  I've only used two medium sized bottles of gas in about four years . I used it an awful lot in the beginning,  but I don't use it so often these days .  I use a piece of railway track as an anvil , although my mate does have an old anvil that he's put aside for me.

I use it for all sorts of bits and bobs.

Before I bought it , my wife bought me a day on an introductory knife making course. When I did the course , my hammer skills , and metal manipulation skills , were far in advance of the instructor. I can only put that down to my years working in garages and body shops .

 

[downsouth 7,212]

Ive been doing some building work for a fella who does a lot of ornate blacksmithing/fabrication.Fancy gates/railings etc.He was showing me the chinese induction forget that he uses.Peoper clever bit of kit and not overly expensive from what he was telling me

[martyn2233 2,489]

8 hours ago, EDDIE B said:

Cheers, for the info. Don't have an anvil, and have looked at some at a local flea market. Mad money even second hand/vintage ones. Was maybe thinking piece of railway track, but not sure if that would be good enough.

Where about are you I have some rail track you can have but no posting it  

[EDDIE B 3,162]

Just now, martyn2233 said:

Where about are you I have some rail track you can have but no posting it  

I'm in Ireland lad. I'm very enthusiastic about doing this, but not walking that far

[EDDIE B 3,162]

7 hours ago, downsouth said:

Ive been doing some building work for a fella who does a lot of ornate blacksmithing/fabrication.Fancy gates/railings etc.He was showing me the chinese induction forget that he uses.Peoper clever bit of kit and not overly expensive from what he was telling me

OK, so this is another method of forging? I'll have to check this out, cheers

[downsouth 7,212]

 

[GruffaloGriff 1,858]

On 06/11/2023 at 11:12, EDDIE B said:

Let's try this first

@GruffaloGriff

I have 3 forges, none of them cost me any money. Just a bit of time. If you don't have access to recycled/ scrap steel and fire bricks then it will cost you the price of materials.

For quick bits of heating/ straightening/ bending/ beating my most used is a basic stainless steel box (old water heater) with fire bricks inside. front is open and top 1/4 on the back open. Powered by an off the shelf (yes i did buy that but not for the forge) big gas  blow-torch. Quick to use and no mess.

Always intended building a purpose built one on a stand but this works so well i never bothered.

First forge was coal. Fire bricks in an old oil drum with an old variable speed hoover as a blower. Plenty of heat but messy/ dirty and coal isn't cheap any more.

Last but not least waste oil forge. Crazy power, free fuel, Down side takes 20 min or so to warm up to run smooth and clean. Has to be run outside for the exhaust fumes. If i want to run a forge all day then this my go to. Have used it as a foundry to melt brass. Use the same hoover blower as the coal forge. Did a build thread HERE

You can make a forge from anything. All you need is fuel, air and an enclosure to contain the heat. Along with a bit of time and imagination.

 

[EDDIE B 3,162]

52 minutes ago, GruffaloGriff said:

I have 3 forges, none of them cost me any money. Just a bit of time. If you don't have access to recycled/ scrap steel and fire bricks then it will cost you the price of materials.

For quick bits of heating/ straightening/ bending/ beating my most used is a basic stainless steel box (old water heater) with fire bricks inside. front is open and top 1/4 on the back open. Powered by an off the shelf (yes i did buy that but not for the forge) big gas  blow-torch. Quick to use and no mess.

Always intended building a purpose built one on a stand but this works so well i never bothered.

First forge was coal. Fire bricks in an old oil drum with an old variable speed hoover as a blower. Plenty of heat but messy/ dirty and coal isn't cheap any more.

Last but not least waste oil forge. Crazy power, free fuel, Down side takes 20 min or so to warm up to run smooth and clean. Has to be run outside for the exhaust fumes. If i want to run a forge all day then this my go to. Have used it as a foundry to melt brass. Use the same hoover blower as the coal forge. Did a build thread HERE

You can make a forge from anything. All you need is fuel, air and an enclosure to contain the heat. Along with a bit of time and imagination.

 

That is some great information there, thank you. Just got a couple a proper hammers, and pair of flat tongs second hand, at a good price. Forge, and anvil are next. Probably start off very small with not much cash, at my disposal. But I think once I have those couple things, at least I can make a start.

[GruffaloGriff 1,858]

11 hours ago, EDDIE B said:

That is some great information there, thank you. Just got a couple a proper hammers, and pair of flat tongs second hand, at a good price. Forge, and anvil are next. Probably start off very small with not much cash, at my disposal. But I think once I have those couple things, at least I can make a start.

If you can cut & weld then you can make/ adapt most of your tool for heating & beating steel. The tongs in first pic above are a pair of long handled nail pullers. On the skip as they had a chunk out of one of the jaws. Welded a couple bits of flat bar on the jaws and they make fantastic forge tongs. Most of my hammers are likewise heads that came off the skip that I put handles on.

Any heavy chunk of steel will do for an anvil until you can pick something better up. Proper anvils are expensive but you can still pick them up for a deal if you bide your time and keep your eyes open. I picked one up the one above for £50 from a retired farmer. Later picked up one FOC when they were clearing out an old shed at work.

Picked up an old blacksmith vice off Markitplace for £35. Gave it a good going over and made a stand out of scrap. Now a nice piece of kit.

 

 

[EDDIE B 3,162]

8 minutes ago, GruffaloGriff said:

If you can cut & weld then you can make/ adapt most of your tool for heating & beating steel. The tongs in first pic above are a pair of long handled nail pullers. On the skip as they had a chunk out of one of the jaws. Welded a couple bits of flat bar on the jaws and they make fantastic forge tongs. Most of my hammers are likewise heads that came off the skip that I put handles on.

Any heavy chunk of steel will do for an anvil until you can pick something better up. Proper anvils are expensive but you can still pick them up for a deal if you bide your time and keep your eyes open. I picked one up the one above for £50 from a retired farmer. Later picked up one FOC when they were clearing out an old shed at work.

Picked up an old blacksmith vice off Markitplace for £35. Gave it a good going over and mad a stand out of srap. Now a nice piece of kit.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/215nd68][img]https://live.staticflickr.com/4539/38118096545_d38ed6125d_c.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/215nd68]P1060031_zpsj3ezze8n[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/154623046@N06/]Terry Griffiths[/url], on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/22nxrHf][img]https://live.staticflickr.com/4687/38968830692_8471a4a168_c.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/22nxrHf]P1060074_zpsx0pptfw6[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/154623046@N06/]Terry Griffiths[/url], on Flickr

 

 

Once again, excellent information. Great job on the tongs. Yes, I'm gonna be patient with getting an anvil. Think I can source bit of railway track for cheap that will keep me going for now, but keeping a good eye out for a proper anvil at a good price.

[GruffaloGriff 1,858]

Little project in forge welding chain HERE

[GruffaloGriff 1,858]

On 06/11/2023 at 11:09, EDDIE B said:

Cheers, for the info. Don't have an anvil, and have looked at some at a local flea market. Mad money even second hand/vintage ones. Was maybe thinking piece of railway track, but not sure if that would be good enough.

Few alternative anvil ideas HERE

Quite liking the sledge hammer head in a log. A heavier piece of shaft trough the handle hole for the horn & heel would be my choice but the idea is sound

and forklift toes.....

[EDDIE B 3,162]

3 hours ago, GruffaloGriff said:

Few alternative anvil ideas HERE

Quite liking the sledge hammer head in a log. A heavier piece of shaft trough the handle hole for the horn & heel would be my choice but the idea is sound

and forklift toes.....

Cheers lad. You've given me some excellent ideas, thanks a million

[ditchman 2,760]

On 06/11/2023 at 11:42, mel b said:

In all honesty , I wouldn't know how to measure the fuel consumption.  I've only used two medium sized bottles of gas in about four years . I used it an awful lot in the beginning,  but I don't use it so often these days .  I use a piece of railway track as an anvil , although my mate does have an old anvil that he's put aside for me.

I use it for all sorts of bits and bobs.

Before I bought it , my wife bought me a day on an introductory knife making course. When I did the course , my hammer skills , and metal manipulation skills , were far in advance of the instructor. I can only put that down to my years working in garages and body shops .

 

is that made from scrap silver......still got those saxon cheese knives you made me..

[mel b 2,226]

1 hour ago, ditchman said:

is that made from scrap silver......still got those saxon cheese knives you made me..

The bracelet is made from a copper lightning conductor.  I've made three of them for myself,  but someone always asks if I can make one for them , so I just give them the one I'm wearing(I always was as soft as shite).

I really enjoy making those saxon/viking knives . I make them from van coil springs.  Did the sycamore chopping board stand the test of time ?. I made quite a few from sycamore and lime , and quite a few from oak.