building a forge{pics added}

[B.Habermehl]

If you don't have a ready source of refractory matierial, good old crick bamk clay works just fine. Best of all it's free for the diggin. Just dig some , screen it to get the biggist pebbles. Mix with water till you get a nice stiff mud pie. Spread it as you need it. My first forge lasted 5 years untill I sold it due to my asthma. The lining was still fime.  BJH

[dannybb55]

If you want to build a simple forge then make a side draught forge with a champion blower. Mine is based on an 1/8 in 24in square plate with a 4 in high wall fore and aft and 6-7 in left and right, The air is from the left and I use a heavy freight wagon wheel bearing from an old hub. A 3 inch stove pipe fits right in. The pan is nailed with common nails to a pine table.
 The tools that you need to buy to start a forge are few and simple. An anvil, a fire, a blower, a leg vice, a slack tub, coal, a cross pein, and a ball pein- 32 oz and 32 oz. for steel you will need 1 in square or larger for hardies and swages. 1/2 square for making tong jaws, 3/8 round or square for reins. 1'4 round , 1/4 x 1/2, 3/4, 1 and 1/2 x 1 are good starters for steel. Buy 20 foot lengths for best prices. Get a heavy truck coil spring  for punches etc, A few chisels, a centre punch, files and a box of borax will round up your tool kit. When thst is no longer enough get a post drill and a swage block and a copy of bealer's book Practical Blacksmithing.
 Anything that can be done quicker with a welder can be done cheaper with a forge and you will learn something of value. If you want a photo of my 200 dollar set up, let me know.

[FG1]

danny , sure we want pics   

[ottawa]

when i first got started we used a Bar -B-Q grill filled with mud couple peices of pipe  hair dryer worked great to start out with now I have a rivett forge  with a hand pump  blower works ok going to get a crank blower one of theys day they work a lot better

[KNeilson]

Hi gents, new member here.  Blacksmithing and forging have been a focus for several years now. During this time I have built several forges. What I have learned is...If you want to build one, first consider your needs, as in how big of a piece of metal do you want to heat, also what do you plan to use for fuel. Propane is probably the most common fuel nowadays, easy to get, relatively cheap, and burned with air provides a flame hot enough to weld. Coal/ coke is great, hotter than propane, less scaling and more accuracy of heating. Charcoal is also used to a certain extent, less carbon loss in the fire with charcoal than others (specially propane). Plans and info are readily available on the blacksmithing sites such as
http://www.iforgeiron.com/   or      http://www.metalartistforum.com/forum/index.php
 A couple years ago I had a need for a small portable forge, and came up with this. Works great for heating ends and small parts. Takes very little time to warm up and lets me use some of my antique tools. I wouldnt reccomend this to everyone as older torches DO have their problems, But this can be accomplished with  more modern butane/propane torch too.  just fyi.... Kerry   

[RobertS]

That's cool!  I've accumulated a few of those old gasoline torches, but have been afraid to try firing one up.  Any tips or references on how to make one of those work?

[KNeilson]

RobertS hello, the first bit of advice would be not to do it with a gasoline torch, but use a small bottled gas type. But at your own risk with a gas torch, ...check this guys site out    http://www.blotorches.com/         He covers most of the dos and donts as well as lots of information on brands/types etc.. hope this helps..  Kerry

[RobertS]

Thanks so much for the link!

[KentSmith]

built my forge from an old cast iron kitchen sink, a 3" galvanized pipe T, water heater vent pipe and a Champion crank blower.  Main branch of the T goes to the blower.  Made an ash dump on one end of the T and attached the tuyere grate to the other end.  Have used it for 5 years now, make all my buttplates, triggerguards and other itmes with no problem.  Main cost was the blower.  Oh, built a large box out of cinder blocks and stone to sit the sink on.  Would take pics but the camera isn't working right now.  Most folks on this board are far more handy and ingenious than I am so I figure y'all could build about anything you want in the way of a forge.  I'm just glad I can make my gun hardware with it.