forge help

[Peter_t]

im in the process of makeing a charcoal forge for knife makeing. i found some heavy cast iron frying pans at a car boot sale and was planning to weld them together but then my dad (welds for a living) told me its almost inposable to weld cast iron lol i could braze them or bolt some metal straps to the two pans to hold them together but then there will be a small gap for the air to escape so brazing would be better but would the join hold up to the heat of the forge?
any other surgestons would be great!

thanks
pete

 

[demographic]

There are specific rods to weld some cast irons with and you need to preheat the workpiece up before welding then let it cool slowly as well.
HERES some more info on it.
Basically he's right and you would be better off getting him to make you a forge if he welds for a living.

 

[Singeblister]

Peter take a look over on www.britishblades.com there is loads of info about making coke forges I seem to remember old wheel rims from cars make good ones, it sounds like your going to more trouble than you need to with the frying pans , you will have to drill holes for the air flow and mess about. I never use a coke forge ( have done in the past ) I find gas is much more convenient to use and making a gas forge is quite easy as well.

 

[Mike Ameling]

Brazing would not be a workable option, with brass - or even with nickle. The temps in the forge could easily get hot enough to melt out that "brazing".

If you are looking to create something of an "enclosed" chamber for your forge, you might want to look at a section of large diameter heavy pipe - like well casing or even old cast iron sewer pipe. With that sewer pipe, you can thread on end caps or plugs, even T's and reducers. With regular steel pipe, you can weld up whatever ends you need.

It all depends upon the "design" of the forge you want to build.

If you want to build a "trough" type forge, go to a vehicle scrap yard and look at an old engine oil pan, or the valve covers, or the housing from the transmission. Even the rear gear housing from the back drive axle would give you a pretty good "trough" for your fire.

But the simpler the design, the better. A section of heavy and wide angle iron would work. And so would a section of large I-beam. Just weld a piece of steel across to block the end.

Check out that British Blades for forge designs/options. Also check out www.anvilfire.com and do a search for the British Blacksmith Association. Also look for the Neo-Tribal Metalsmiths. Tai Goo does some pretty good knife making using a simple charcoal forge built on the ground.

Hope this helps.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

 

[mick miller]

Tai was featured in one of the Ron Hood Woodsmaster episodes on primitive knife making, it was a real eye opener to see the simple tools and forge with which he worked. Just goes to show you needn't spend bundles to achieve great results.

 

[Tadpole]

im in the process of makeing a charcoal forge for knife makeing. i found some heavy cast iron frying pans at a car boot sale and was planning to weld them together but then my dad (welds for a living) told me its almost inposable to weld cast iron lol i could braze them or bolt some metal straps to the two pans to hold them together but then there will be a small gap for the air to escape so brazing would be better but would the join hold up to the heat of the forge?
any other surgestons would be great!

thanks
pete

tin bucket forge

 

[NatG]

just get a sheet of steel and lay it over the top of the pan, it would do for a while until you can persuade your dad to make you a proper one