I was thinking smaller, like the rears for an e450 van. Not to say heavy equipment drums couldn’t be used but we would have to make some type of castered base to roll it around.
My main idea with the classroom forge was to have the drum/bowl, legs, and air intake to be assembled and disassembled in between classes so we can store them more conveniently between uses.
Though I do wonder now if we could turn a set of heavy equipment drums into a foundry…
Coal forges will have to be 100% outdoors. I drew up a rough draft for a gas forge about 2 months ago and to keep up with the fire code we might have to make it mobile as well, at least if we use high preassure LP to fuel the burner.
This is for a single venturi burner using high preassure LP. I’m also toying with the idea of making a feature creeper 3 burner segmented forge that would let us do long/short pieces or work just depending on opening gates and igniting the number of burners needed. But that is an idea that will need some money and time donations to weld up.
Also for those of us going crazy about what fuel should be used, for the classroom style forge, it really doesn’t matter. We can get in the weeds about coals and coke and wood but all of them will get a basic forge to a decent working temperature if you know what you’re working with.
For an initial ‘novice’ forge having a setup that can take multiple different fuel types is a feature I like. Would I like cleaner fueled forges, you bet. But for starting out something that won’t care what we throw at it is nice.
I have seen gas forges made from feon bottles.
Anything thats big enough to support refractive material and the burner can be a gas forge. Its the gas supply equipment cost that makes it a bear to start with first.
This is from my Bible of Fire. We could probably go cheaper and get a 30psi max regulator since 60psi would be overkill for any forge for Make. After this is made then next step would be a burner.
Very satisfying fwoosh.
If you need fire bricks for the project, there are many in the boiler room…inside the furnace part.
It’ll probably come in handy at some point. Definitely when we start building a gas forge ( or foundry if we get crazy).
If you ever need a gallon of prop wash or a yard of flight line I know a guy…
As a institution, we hit crazy in 2012.
Just an FYI: the Central States Metal Artisans (Blacksmith group in Haysville) has coal for sale to members. Membership is $20/yr and coal is 200# for $60.
We keep that in the basement
So here is an alternative to using a break drum, since scrap automotive drums are like unicorns apparently.
1/4" steel should work. Think there is enough scrap in the metal shop to make our first forge for next to nothing cost-wise.
Just a crazy idea. If they are going to be used outside, leave them outside. It would take a 1000 years for them to rust away (if the semi brake drums would work)… Too heavy to throw through one of our windows and I doubt they are heavy enough to be worth stealing as scrap steel is priced by the ton. If you guys need materials make sure it is known what is needed so I can check to see if I have it and if I can donate it. I have a lot of oilfield pipe that is supposed to be unused. We end up with remnants that are up to 4-5ft, OD of 3”. This could be used to make stands or anything else you can dream of. I’ll look to see what I have in ¼” scrap to see if I have anything to contribute on the forge design I just saw.
Jeff Eck
If we could designate a section of the grounds for blacksmith/foundry I’d be thinking something more pleasing to the eye then whats currently rattling in my brain case. My current plan of action with the solid fuel forge(s) is to make it where it could be set up anywhere, even off site if we wanted to do some type of demo.
If possible set aside two of those drums (im assuming they are around the same size as bus brake drum) and a section of pipe and we might have a go at making a gas foundry. Maybe add casting molds to a list of Makes abilities.
Also if anyone has suggestions for solid forge designs I’m open to all suggestions. Collaboration on this would be awesome as I’m just throwing out what I see as viable based on just a few criteria, some searches on the googler, and the kernels of base knowledge in my head.
From what was talked about during our kick off the big take away for the first forge was 1) mobile, 2) solid fuel, and 3) next to nothing for budget.
My train of thought is since we want it mobile instead of making one small boy that we can move but classes would have to hunch around we should make multiple so any class we do for solid fuel blacksmithing can learn by doing every part of an operation start to finish 90-100% hands-on. The thought of a longer/wider single forge has also crossed my mind but that might be more difficult to support.
I have the metal casting stuff from when we were doing this before.
What all casting equipment do you have?
Casting sand (I think) case iron molds, some high temp shelving… tongs? I’ll look tonight.
Well if you want some fuel for crazy ideas. I have some steel panels that went through a roll former to make siding/roofing (somewhere around 16-20 gauge steel), donated and free… I could envision it being used to make a ‘temp’ structure that could be set up rather easily and give cover and make it less ugly, they are unpainted and would need to be painted.…
I’d donate a gallon sized crucible for casting. Brand new, just never had the time I thought I would have for it….
Jeff Eck
That might be something. Its got an idea rattling around now anyway. Let me sketch and see if whats rattling around makes sense on paper.
