Looking for advice on my homemade forge...

D

DKknives

Member
The body of the forge is a small galvanized metal 'bucket'. I'm going to blower tube in the bottom and coat the entire bucket in 2000 degree cement.

With the cement in place, should I be worried about the galvanized metal heating up. We all know that's a bad situation.

Does anyone have any experience with this set up?

Thank you,
Dee
 
I would not do it. Shoud be easy to find a better form. Check with an air cond, company for a empty refridgerant can. They just throw them away.
 
Any other insulation/refractory besides the 2000 degree cement? If not, then a BIG YES, be very worried. That cement will not prevent the galvanizing from burning off. Also, if your only using refractory cement, it will not provide nearly enough insulating qualities....you REALLY need to line the interior with either Ka-wool (ceramic fiber blanket) or AT LEAST 3" of castable refractory.

Here's what will likely happen..... you'll fire the forge up, the bucket will heat up and expand, where as the cement will shrink. It will start falling off, the galvanizing will start burning, and you will have a real mess.
 
You might want to go down to a paint store and see if they have any 5 gallon buckets to use as your forge body. You might even be able to score one that had paint in it for free. If it is used be sure to wipe the paint out. You will have to line it with ceramic fiber insulation and coat that with a refractory but you won't have to worry about cooking off any zinc fumes.

Doug Lester
 
Hey Dee, check out Wayne Coe's tutorial on making a forge out of an old propane tank. Indian George has a tutorial on one from pipe. My new forge is (going to be) a combination of theirs and advice I got from Ed. I say going "to be" casue all of the material is there I just have to find time to put it together. :)
 
Dee, are you talking about a gas forge or coal forge. To me your discription sounds more like a coal forge.

If it is a gas forge you might want to look at: Build a Gas Forge

This design is for a venturi or naturally asperated forge but you could do the same thing with a blown forge.

If you are needing the blanket, castable or infared reflective product you could check out my posts in the For Sale forum or contact me. I will be away from home from today through Sunday. You can PM me during this time.
 
I was talking about a coal forge. The idea was a coating just thick enough to keep the metal cool, after hearing Eds thoughts on the refractory cement cooling and cracking, I think I'll find something that's just thick metal instead the 'bucket'.

Thanks everybody for your advice. I really appreciate it. Being that I'm just beginning, it's important to me to find the most economical routes.

Thanks again,
Dee
 
Hi Wayne,

My family and I live in Crossville - turns out only an hour from Sunbright. I'm interested in knife making and blacksmithing. If possible, I would like to stop by your shop and introduce myself and see how you do things.

Thanks for your time.
Dee
 
Don't use the bucket, use a brake drum from a pickup truck. Make a table about 2.5' square and recess the brake drum in the center. Pipe air up through the bottom. As you forge you rake fresh coal around the fire. I used a small squirrel cage blower and had a switch to turn it on and off. Turn it on when there is steel in there and off when you take the steel out and your coal will last longer. No refractory needed, I used one like this for over 10 years.
 

Attachments

  • coal_f5.jpg
    coal_f5.jpg
    25 KB · Views: 10
Dee, I'm even closer than you think. I'm in Atlanta this weekend, demoing at the Clinch River Blacksmith Guild next Sunday close to Oak Ridge. Call me next week, plan on driving over to my shop and riding with me to the meeting and meet a bunch of good guys. You can see my shop, forge and lots of other stuff. If you want to come over Saturday, I'll put you up for the night.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top