Forge WIP

[Everything Mac]

Hi guys, it was mentioned on another forum that I'm building a new forge and I was asked to do a WIP thread for it. So I figured I might as well post it here too.

This is my 5th or 6th forge build now. It's rather more substantial than the last few.


Unfortunately I was already quite a way into the build by the time i was asked for the WIP so we'll be jumping right in.

This is a bottom blast design, all my previous attempts have been side blast.


I built the fire pot out of 10mm mild steel plate. Shoddy welding on my part made it slightly out of true. I only realised once all the welding on it was finished so its just going to be staying like that until I build another one in the future.

11x8" around the top 5x6 on the bottom.


I plan on lining it with the firebricks shown just to give it a bit of protection from the heat but it doesn't really need it.


Tuyere made from left over pipe and scrap plate steel. It slots into place so I can replace it as and when.






Now you need to cut a hole in your base plate for the fire pot.


This is the same 10mm steel plate. In hindsight 1/4" with a couple of supprting rods would have been much better and lighter.

On the underside of the table I decided to go for individual legs rather than one solid table. These can be adjusted so that the forge sits level.


Clean off the paint and weld in the strut for the leg to slide over

[/url]




Repeat this four times, then you can test the legs out.

If you're using scrap then don't do what I did at this point and realise that some of the pipe had a different wall thickness meaning it wouldn't slide over your supports!


A quick trip to the scrap yard yielded a piece of pipe to use as a sleeve. Though I'm not happy with this at all, I just know I'll knock it hard enough to snap the weld eventually so I will probably replace these front two legs with new pipe soon.


Weld a plate on two of the legs for mounting a castor wheel.

That should be plenty to get the forge mobile. Though you can go all out and use four wheels if you really want.




Now flip it over and try it out

I'm using a grub screw to hold the legs in place

Drop in your fire pot and make sure it fits. Mine is far from perfect but it will do fine

That's all for now chaps. I'll be doing more work on it tomorrow along with building my welder a cart to sit on.


Next steps will be to secure the ash dump assembly to the fire pot and rig up a way to secure my blower in place. As well as the air gate.


I need to weld a rim around the table to hold the fuel and rig up something to support a chimney.


Cheers
Andy

 

[crosslandkelly]

Good thread, I'll look forward to seeing how it goes.

 

[Albus Culter]

Very nice.

Keep it coming

 

[Everything Mac]

Well yesterday I killed my welder. It's barely 6 months old and thankfully still under warrantee, so I can get it fixed but its a minimum two week turn around. So this project among others is now on hold.

Annoyed to say the least, I've barely used the welder in the time I've had it and the clarke machines are supposed to be quite reliable compared to most other hobby welders.

 

[Everything Mac]

I was pretty close to finishing this WIP.


Right.
All that needed doing was to weld a rim around the edge if the forge

This doesn't need to be perfect, it's purely to stop the charcoal from falling out every where. Just 1" tack welds.


Then I cut a window into the rim on each side and made up a plate to cover the hole. This is so I can have longer stock resting across the fire.

Weld on a handle / rack to hold my tongs etc

Finally I needed a cover for the ash dump. This was just a temporary one and frankly it's quite naff but it does the job for now.

As you can see I've lined the firepot with bricks, this is both for insulation and to reduce its size slightly as the volume of charcoal I was burning was ridiculous. This still provides ample heat though.


I need to wire wheel the whole thing and then paint it. I'm also thinking the legs will need attention at some point as they're quite spindly. Fine for staying stationary all the time but not good enough for moving around a lot. My castors are going to need replacing with something a lot bigger too.


Hope some of ya'll find this useful.


Andy

 

[feralpig]

Tidy.
What i would say about the legs is, you have plenty of strength in the top and the leg pipes. Would it be possible to weld a lug under the table top, and half way up each leg. Then just have a bracing bar, it doesn't have to be very strong, and bolt it to the lugs.
Basically on a diagonal between the leg and the top. Obviously doing it on each side. That would make the legs much stronger.

 

[Everything Mac]

Tidy.
What i would say about the legs is, you have plenty of strength in the top and the leg pipes. Would it be possible to weld a lug under the table top, and half way up each leg. Then just have a bracing bar, it doesn't have to be very strong, and bolt it to the lugs.
Basically on a diagonal between the leg and the top. Obviously doing it on each side. That would make the legs much stronger.

Probably the way I will go to be honest bud. The legs are ok, but support would be good.

Andy