Show me your forge!

[Alan DuBoff]

Am curious to see any pics of forges that folks have at home, and what you've done to either forge components for your woodwork, or that you've incorporated with your projects.

Would like to see some door straps if anyone has done.

I have an interest in forging, in the sense of being able to incorporate or use the product with woodworking. I don't have a forge, but will be getting an anvil soon. (like Mon or Tues).

I don't want to get side tracked from my woodworking in the sense that I want to focus on wood. But there are things I might be able to create with a forge, even tools, to use for working wood or incorporating into a project.

I'll be curious to see if anyone posts besides Jr., I know he'll be able to toss a few pics my way...(or at least I hope! :) ).

[harry strasil]

You better specify Alan, a forge can be something to heat metal or it can mean the place where its used. such as Dubof's Valley Forge.

[harry strasil]

My old demo smithing set up.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/irnsrgn/smithing/1800sshop.jpg

My shop forges, coal on the left, gasser on the right for plow lays.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/irnsrgn/forges.jpg

My smithing corner.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/irnsrgn/smithing/forge.jpg

A view from the working side of my shop anvil.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/irnsrgn/smithing/viewfromanvil.jpg

Small propane forge I built.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/irnsrgn/smithing/gasser13.jpg

using another smiths forge in Oklahoma

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/irnsrgn/jrcookie.jpg


http://www.iforgeiron.com/Blueprints01/BP0133_55forge/BP0133.shtml

http://www.iforgeiron.com/Blueprints_200-300/p2_articleid/52

http://www.iforgeiron.com/Blueprints_200-300/p2_articleid/57

[Alan DuBoff]

You better specify Alan, a forge can be something to heat metal or it can mean the place where its used. such as Dubof's Valley Forge.Yeah, I meant the ones to heat metal.;-)

So, I was curious about brick and noticed in your previous post and these that you have brick forges. Seems I could build one with brick in the backyard, but would need to incorporate a blower and/or cast iron section for the bottom section.

Is there anywhere that makes such a connection to incorporate into a forge that one would build?

(I notice 2 threads got posted, not sure how that happened, I thought the system prevented duplicates. It won't let me delete the other one though, maybe Dave will see it).

[Pam Niedermayer]

You might want to check out this web site:
http://www.twinoaksforge.com/BLADSMITHING/FORGE%20BUILDING.HTM

Pam

[harry strasil]

http://www.centaurforge.com/products.asp?dept=168

http://www.piehtoolco.com/en-us/dept_649.html

[Dave Burnard]

Alan,

Since you're just getting started I'd recommend putting together a simple "brickpile" propane forge. Get yourself a nice propane burner (need a regulator too) from Rex's burners (http://www.hybridburners.com) and a stack of firebricks. I have a 3/4" T-Rex and a 1/2" Shorty - these burners are WAY better than what you can cobble together from plumbing parts and they work right out of the box. In an unsealed brick only forge (lossy) I'd go for the T-Rex. You can then experiment with chamber sizes, etc and not have to get into serious forgebuilding until you've got an idea of what you really want/need. I use my brickpile forge for punching eyes in hammer heads, tongmaking and other projects where I don't want to burn up my nice charcoal. It's also handy for those 5 minute projects where I just need to heat something up to bend or anneal it.

[Joe Fisher]

My latest acquisition. I had had a brick pile propane forge, but this deal was too good to pass up. $40 for the forge, and 2 ashcans of metallurgical coke. $90 for the giant pile of tongs, hardie tools, hammers, punches, and chisels. How does one say no?

Here's getting it into the shop. It easily weighs 300+ lbs. A friend and myself couldn't budge it off the ground. Apparently he built it from the base of a huge propane tank, so the whole pan is 1/4" or thicker steel.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b162/nostalgia75/Forge/coalforge1.jpg

Also in the shot is my Peter Wright 145# anvil. Another *very* lucky Craigslist find. Paid $300 for that anvil plus another 151# PW. This one is in such good shape, I would have prolly paid $300 for it alone.

Here's the Centaur forge firepot:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b162/nostalgia75/Forge/coalforge2.jpg

Here's a shot of me goofing around, melting steel:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b162/nostalgia75/Forge/coalforge3.jpg

And me making a hot cut:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b162/nostalgia75/Forge/hot_nut.jpg

And finally, here's the tool haul:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b162/nostalgia75/Forge/tools.jpg


Fun! :) I haven't done much with it lately, but I've got some steel lying around waiting to be made into scrapers for the lathe. I'm going to forge the tangs down and grind the cutting edges.

-Joe

[Joe Fisher]

Here's my block forge with my Reil-style burner made from plumbing fittings. If this is inefficient, the burners described by another poster must be awesome. This little chamber could heat a 3/8" bar to orange in very short order.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b162/nostalgia75/Forge/forge2.jpg

-Joe

[Alan DuBoff]

Whoa, lots of good info...

Pam, that Japanese forge is most interesting, I'm intrigued with that.

Joe, great setup, and I don't know if this is a gloat or not, but I just nab'd this Peter Wright 131#, but it's in need of some TLC.

It looks pretty tired, but for the price I don't think I could have found a better anvil, I've been looking for quite some time. Nice green paint job on it, with matching painted hardy cut-off. Comments from any of you knowledgable folks?

She's going for a bath...

(linky image)

http://www.SoftOrchestra.com/woodworking/tools/anvil/right.jpg (http://www.softorchestra.com/woodworking/tools/anvil/)

[Joe Fisher]

Looks about like the other one I got from CL. The chipping of the front edge is pretty typical, from what I've been told.

Taking another look, is the face dished? I've been told that you can have the face machined to get a fresh, flat surface. Another option is welding a new hardened plate on, if the old surface is too thin or too badly beaten to salvage.

Make sure you grind that cutoff so the flat part sits flush on the anvil face when you drop it into the hardie hole. If you don't, it can act like a wedge and actually pop the tail right off the anvil!

Good luck with it! Looks like a nice find. I'm always on the lookout for anvils ;) I'm not quite sure why...it's just one of those things. Like handplanes. And lathe tools :D

-Joe

[Alan DuBoff]

Taking another look, is the face dished? kinda sorta not really...there's the chips out of both side, and it seems as though there could be slight dip, but it's hard for me to say entirely before cleaning.

I've been told that you can have the face machined to get a fresh, flat surface. Another option is welding a new hardened plate on, if the old surface is too thin or too badly beaten to salvage.Jr. has a blueprint on restoring a Peter Wright anvil, over on iforgeiron (along with a massive amount of other blueprints).

Make sure you grind that cutoff so the flat part sits flush on the anvil face when you drop it into the hardie hole. If you don't, it can act like a wedge and actually pop the tail right off the anvil!Yikes! Don't want that...I have been looking for an anvil for a while, and the good ones seem to always go for $3-$5/lb which is more than I would like to spend. I didn't think I would win this, picked it up for $155. That might be gloatable in itlself, I'm not absolutely sure. It looks tired, for certain, but I want to see what it looks like after it gets a bath in electrolyte...I think it'll get a real charge outta that! :eek:

Certainly not as flat as yours. I honestly don't know if I got a good deal or not yet. I need to clean it up and see what I've got.

[Joe Fisher]

$155 for that anvil doesn't sound bad to me. Like you say, I see most anvils going from $2-$3 a pound. How did you determine the weight? You are familiar with the hundredweight system they used to rate their anvils?

That one should give you plenty of good use, especially if the face is flat. You've still got sharp edges around the tail you can still use if you need to make a shoulder on a piece.

-Joe

Edit: Looks like your anvil is stamped "1 0 22". That's a hundredweight + 22lbs = 112 + 22 = 134. You got 3# for free! :D

[Joe Fisher]

Oh, you asked for pictures of what I've done with forging in my work.

Here's my first combined piece, a sycamore coat rack with forged hooks (links to pix to keep the thread dial-up capable ;) ):

http://www.fisherwoodcraft.com/images/coat_rack1.jpg
http://www.fisherwoodcraft.com/images/coat_rack2.jpg

And here's a scabbard I made for my sword. The sword was a gift, made by my blacksmith friends from Oak and Acorn Ancient Metalcrafts. The part I forged is the belt buckle. I also did all the leatherwork.

http://www.fisherwoodcraft.com/images/scabbard.jpg

-Joe

[Alan DuBoff]

$155 for that anvil doesn't sound bad to me. Like you say, I see most anvils going from $2-$3 a pound. How did you determine the weight? You are familiar with the hundredweight system they used to rate their anvils?I think that's what they said it was, I thought those numbers were the patent date or something.

That one should give you plenty of good use, especially if the face is flat. You've still got sharp edges around the tail you can still use if you need to make a shoulder on a piece.That sounds encouraging...I wasn't sure if it's plumb tucker'd out or not. Aside from the area where the chips are taken out, it seems fairly flat I think...after I give it a bath and clean behinds it's ears I'll have a better idea.

Looks like your anvil is stamped "1 0 22". That's a hundredweight + 22lbs = 112 + 22 = 134. You got 3# for free! :DOk, I didn't realize that's how they do that.

Your coat hat hooks are almost exactly what I have been thinking about to hold my hand tools on the wall of my shop area I'm creating for handtools. Jr. had a blueprint on making some hooks but they had a small forged spike to hammer in the wall, I think screws to hold them on would be easier for this purpose (I don't want to split the t&g).

This is where I'll be attaching them: Space Awaiting a Workbench (http://www.softorchestra.com/woodworking/office/50.html)

Any tips on how much work that is to do a single hook, or what is involved?

[Joe Fisher]

The hooks are surprisingly easy, once you get the hang of it. It's much easier to see in pictures than it would be for me to explain it to you. It's the first project I learned.

Have you been to AnvilFire? Tremendous amount of blacksmithing resources:

http://www.anvilfire.com/

Projects here:

http://www.anvilfire.com/iForge/index.htm

-Joe

[Alan DuBoff]

Thanks Joe, yes I've been there but not posted over there, but hadn't found that page (thanks!). Have exchanged some PM with Jr., he's very helpful and certainly knows forging.

I just posted a message in the introduction fora over on iforgeiron. I need to get to work so I can buy tools...no $$$s, no tools...:o