Primitive Forge

[UncleJak]

Spent the afternoon making the cheapest forge I could. I made a small dug out hole, lined it with some rocks I had laying around, piped air in using my shop vac, and began heating! I plan on modifying this later, as the air needs to come from the bottom instead of the side. Additionally, I need to have some control over the amount of air. I ran full blast the whole time and burned through all my coal! BUT, I was able to make it work. My total cost: $16. I spent $11 on the tongs and $5 on the coal.
[img]http://i49.tinypic.com/ealcub.jpg[/img]

I started out using a nice flat rock for a anvil; however, I soon broke the rock into many pieces. Never one to give up, I used the side of my 8 pound sledgehammer as a makeshift anvil. I was able to make a "ringer" for my son's triangle.
[img]http://i46.tinypic.com/11b0zk7.jpg[/img]

I then worked on a rr spike knife. It turned out decent. With better tools I may have made some changes, but overall I am happy with it.
[img]http://i46.tinypic.com/2q3906a.jpg[/img]

And here are the horseshoe knifes I started with Spots and took home to finish. All I have left to do on these is handles.
[img]http://i46.tinypic.com/30hv9n8.jpg[/img]

All and all it was a good day. A big thanks to Spots and his dad for giving my the knowledge and ability to make this happen. Hopefully, more items will soon follow.

[Spots]

Very nice. Now thats how you forge on the cheap. If i can find a way ill ship you a ft of track for an anvil

[gunwhatgun]

That is amazing. I would truly love to learn to hammer metal.

[Spots]

Your only three hours from me if you really wanna learn. See threads below

http://www.tngunowners.com/forums/topic/53983-make-your-own-knife-classes-part-2/#entry848714

http://www.tngunowners.com/forums/topic/55210-make-your-own-knife-class-a-review/#entry849370

[Guest Broomhead]

Nice! Where did you get the tongs? Don't leave them holding work piece in the fire, remove them while heating it. They will A. get very hot, 2. act as a heat sink making it take longer to heat your work piece, and C. you could damage them.

I'd take Spots up on his offer again. Dad and I are going back for our third time this Saturday.

[Viracnis]

Awesome stuff! You guys got me wanting to fire up the old forge! There was a SCA blacksmith that used a "dirt forge" like this exclusively - got himself a decent bellows and just used it side draft. He said you had to be careful what rock you use - some can explode! I used to use some sandstone bricks to shape my charcoal fire (had to make it deeper to weld with charcoal) and they'd spall pretty dramatically sometimes. He always sat cross-legged on the ground with his anvil (a sledgehammer head set into a stump. Really low-tech) by his feet to work. It was crazy, but he made some beautiful stuff out of it.

As far as the air coming from the bottom: Bottom draft forges are an american thing as I understand it. The books I've read seem to allude to the fact that English smiths used side draft and I read in one of the stack of books on my shelf that in Asia the smiths used to have people fan the fire with big fans - no tuyere at all! For the coal forge at the shop (which is sadly probably rusted away after 10 years of neglect) we just got creative with some heavy iron hot water pipe from Home Depot and a $5 hair dryer. Don't use galvanized! Even used a T joint to give it an ash dump! Whole thing couldn't have cost more than a few packages of Ramen, as we built it in college. I'll look for pictures.

If you're using RR track for an anvil, set it up on end. Much smaller hammering surface but WAY more efficient. Your anvil face only needs to be wider than your hammer - the rest is just extra space. But more mass UNDER your hammer means more efficient and WAY less "springy". It also rings considerably less. I found that a big magnet does wonders to kill the ring (which is deafening). The piece I have (but rarely use) has holes drilled through it. I bolted two 2x4s through the holes and that helped deaden it even more. Eventually I bought myself a block of steel from Clark Iron and Steel in M'boro and haven't wanted or needed more. It's about the size of a shoe box set on end and I think I paid $60 for it. I spent about an hour with a belt sander smoothing out the face and now it's just as good as any Peter Wright I've used. I just toss my "hardy" tools in the vice.

Broomhead speaks truth about the tongs! If you let them get hot, they'll start to get loose. I actually quench my tongs as part of my "ritual" of putting the hot metal back in the fire. Hammer goes handle-up on the "stump", iron goes in the heat, tongs go in the water, gatoraide goes down the gullet. Fire maintenance, then the hammering resumes. I took a class from a guy at Dollywood years ago and he said not to do that when you're welding - let the jaws heat up a bit so they don't steal heat from the metal during the weld. I don't weld and I don't like my fingers getting burned by the tongs that are supposed to be protecting them, so I dance my tong quench dance!

Thanks to threads like this one, I've spent the last 3 weekends getting the garage back in working order to fire up the forge. Hopefully this weekend I'll whip out some pictures half as cool as yours, UnkleJak. Got the post vice mounted and the replacement switch for my belt grinder shipped today. Maybe a spike knife is in my future - I've still got a barrel full of the ones stamped HC. I like the way you reversed the head on that one.

[Viracnis]

Tongs like these:

http://anvilfire.com/iForge/tutor/gc_tongs/top_index.htm

Can go a long way, too.

[Guest Broomhead]

Viracnis, what belt grinder do you use? Springhill is fairly close to Nashville, right? We should start a meet on this side of the state along with the classes that Spots does.

[UncleJak]

[quote]Don't leave them holding work piece in the fire[/quote]
Unless you are staging a cool picture....They will get SUPER hot! I picked these up at a antique mall in Kentucky for $11. They are designed for larger stock, like the spikes.
[quote]Viracnis, what belt grinder do you use? Springhill is fairly close to Nashville, right? We should start a meet on this side of the state along with the classes that Spots does.[/quote]
And don't forget about UncleJak up on the Kentucky border....

[UncleJak]

And anyone who is interested in learning this needs to speak to Spots. He is the real deal.

[Guest Broomhead]

[quote name='UncleJak' timestamp='1354580075' post='854481']
And anyone who is interested in learning this needs to speak to Spots. He is the real deal.
[/quote]

Truth.

[quote name='UncleJak' timestamp='1354579184' post='854468']
And don't forget about UncleJak up on the Kentucky border....
[/quote]

Wouldn't dream of it.

[Spots]

[quote name='Broomhead' timestamp='1354580339' post='854484']

[quote name='UncleJak' timestamp='1354580075' post='854481']
And anyone who is interested in learning this needs to speak to Spots. He is the real deal.
[/quote]

Truth.

[/quote]

Thanks guys. I really try to make this stuff as open as possible, and teach and spread the art. I love this post because it shows how simple is is for a determined individual can get started. Nothing but a pair of tongs, a hammer, a make shift anvil, and a shop vac. I love it

[56FordGuy]

Great start, UncleJak!

[peejman]

[quote name='Viracnis' timestamp='1354571512' post='854407']
Awesome stuff! You guys got me wanting to fire up the old forge! There was a SCA blacksmith that used a "dirt forge" like this exclusively - got himself a decent bellows and just used it side draft. He said you had to[b] [color=#ff0000]be careful what rock you use - some can explode! [/color] [/b]I used to use some sandstone bricks to shape my charcoal fire (had to make it deeper to weld with charcoal) and they'd spall pretty dramatically sometimes. He always sat cross-legged on the ground with his anvil (a sledgehammer head set into a stump. Really low-tech) by his feet to work. It was crazy, but he made some beautiful stuff out of it. [/quote]

Yes. Some fire brick will go a long way. 1000+deg shrapnel is never a good thing. At least it'll cauterize the wound it makes...

[quote]
As far as the air coming from the bottom: Bottom draft forges are an american thing as I understand it. The books I've read seem to allude to the fact that English smiths used side draft and I read in one of the stack of books on my shelf that in Asia the smiths used to have people fan the fire with big fans - no tuyere at all! For the coal forge at the shop (which is sadly probably rusted away after 10 years of neglect) we just got creative with some heavy iron hot water pipe from Home Depot and a $5 hair dryer. Don't use galvanized! Even used a T joint to give it an ash dump! Whole thing couldn't have cost more than a few packages of Ramen, as we built it in college. I'll look for pictures. [/quote]


Visited the [url="http://museumofappalachia.org/"]Museum of Appalachia[/url] over the weekend. They have several examples of forges from pioneer times forward. All I recall were side draft with a bellows.

[Viracnis]

[quote name='Broomhead' timestamp='1354572930' post='854421']
Viracnis, what belt grinder do you use? Springhill is fairly close to Nashville, right? We should start a meet on this side of the state along with the classes that Spots does.
[/quote]

A cheap one! I honestly don't know that it has a brand anywhere on it. I got it at a swap meet about 12 years ago in Nashville. This weekend when I was googling the numbers on the broken parts some were coming back Craftsman replacement parts, others were harbor freight. Over the years as it has broken, I've either bought or made replacement parts to keep it running. Which makes me sound WAY more technical than I actually am - it's a very simple design that is easy to work on as long as the 1/2 HP motor keeps turning. Chews up drive belts, though.

It looks like this one:

[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/87/Bandslijpmachine_hobbykwaliteit_(Westfalia).jpg/220px-Bandslijpmachine_hobbykwaliteit_(Westfalia).jpg[/img]

I'd love to meet up with some fellow hammer slingers! I'm straight south of Nashville right off I-65 - I used to work off White Bridge in Nashville and it took me about 40 minutes to get in to work. If I'm remembering right, the Kentucky line is about 70 miles north of Spring Hill. Any ideas on where we'd meet up? My current setup isn't big enough for one (the front half of my wife's side of the garage!) much less getting a crew of us in there. I used to have a building in Thompson Station with a coal forge and a 850lb slab anvil. If any of that is still standing, and the property owner is still willing to let me work there I could spend a few weekends (and some quality time with a weed eater) getting it fixed up for a possible meet there at some point. But those are some big *IF* and Thompson Station would be quite a haul for UncleJak to find out my diggs aren't nearly as swanky as what I've seen of Spots. Edited December 4, 2012 by Viracnis

[Spots]

Lol I wouldn't really call my digs swanky....

[IMG]http://i535.photobucket.com/albums/ee356/tnplowboy07/2012-07-04_19-32-51_791.jpg[/IMG]

But it'll keep ya dry. If one of you guys puts something together I'll make the trip to see it, I promise.

[vaiger]

Anyone built a brake drum forge? I built my son a small propane forge last year and he loves it. I am thinking about building a brake drum forge next so he can try coal.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[Spots]

[quote name='vaiger' timestamp='1354675326' post='855063']
Anyone built a brake drum forge? I built my son a small propane forge last year and he loves it. I am thinking about building a brake drum forge next so he can try coal.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2
[/quote]

My dads forge is a brake drum forge, and I'm getting ready to build one for my smithy.

My dad using ours

[IMG]http://i535.photobucket.com/albums/ee356/tnplowboy07/2012-10-13_16-32-42_543.jpg[/IMG]

And if you follow this thread, you'll see my new one being built very soon

http://www.tngunowners.com/forums/topic/54871-building-the-super-low-budget-blacksmith-shop-a-work-in-progress/page__hl__blacksmith

[vaiger]

Thanks, Spots. I have been keeping an eye on your thread and I am anxious to see your setup. I probably won't start building my brake drum forge until after Christmas. My son is banging on his great, great, great grandfather's anvil and that is a pretty cool thing to see.

[Guest Broomhead]

[quote name='vaiger' timestamp='1354675326' post='855063']
Anyone built a brake drum forge? I built my son a small propane forge last year and he loves it. I am thinking about building a brake drum forge next so he can try coal.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2
[/quote]

I'd love to see some pics of your propane forge. I can post some shots of mine if y'all are interested.

[DaveS]

I can't find a brake drum!!! LOL

Dave S

[vaiger]

[quote name='DaveS' timestamp='1354747770' post='855418']I can't find a brake drum!!! LOL

Dave S[/quote]

Scrap metal places generally have them.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[56FordGuy]

I love my propane forge. Coal has an advantage for doing large work though, it's easier to let something stick up out of the fire.

There are a couple of blacksmithing groups here in Middle TN. One is located in Murfreesboro, and the other meets at in Fiddler's Grove on the Wilson county fairgrounds.

[vaiger]

[quote name='Broomhead' timestamp='1354743249' post='855388']
I'd love to see some pics of your propane forge. I can post some shots of mine if y'all are interested.
[/quote]

Broomhead, my forge is much like this one (without the decor). I think I built it for $20 because I was not sure how much my son would enjoy blacksmitthing. [url="http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Build-a-Forge-Gas/"]http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Build-a-Forge-Gas/[/url] . I would like to see your propane forge. I have thought about a larger propane forge instead of a brake drum style forge.

[Spots]

For a urban or suburban area nothing beats gas. But I love the smell of coal coking out, the old school feel, just connecting to the old ways. And yes i know charcoal is even older, but coal is so predominate in this area, and has been for years that its part of the experince for me