Well chap's it has been a long day so far. I've rebuilt a hand cranked blower which now works pretty well but isn't a patch on using a hair drier. We shall see how long I use it for, before I go back to using the lazy mans hair drier. lol.
Right then. This is just a basic forge to get me up and running. I built it this afternoon and was forging by 3pm.
Get your aerated breeze blocks and carve out a recess for your brake drum to sit in. I drilled holes and 'had at it' with a chisel for a while.
Slot in your brake drum. There is no real reason for doing it this way but it gives you a little extra space and insulation around the drum. And it requires zero welding and zero faff.
One of the main reasons I'm doing it like this is because I have limited space in the garden and it will need to be dismantled quite regularly. (once the rain stops
)
Now you want to effectively bracket your drum with blocks. -
Cut a hole in one of the blocks to accept a pipe of some sort. Scaffolding pipe is ideal but PLEASE beware of galvanised pipe - the fumes from the zinc burning will KILL. be sure to burn it off in a well ventilated area. Or better yet find something else. it doesn't have to be round pipe either.
I've used a piece of mild steel pipe in the picture above. Its about 1.5" across. ...ish. You don't have to go for a side blown design either. There are numerous designs out there online for a bottom blown design. But this one is simply easier.
The pipe extends behind the block to my air source which is as said a hand cranked blower. Though a hair drier is much easier and quicker to forge with.
once your brake drum is bracketed, start a fire in there and chuck on some charcoal/coal/coke. I do it like this just to focus the heat and provide a back stop for any flying bits of charcoal.
Give it a wee while to really get going then start forging
I finished this at about 3pm today and got an hours forging in before the rain stopped play.
Now as I said this is just a very basic forge. It's very simple to build and really rather cheap.
The brake drum was a fiver from the scrap yard.
The aerated breeze blocks were from wickes and were £1.34 each.
Cheapo hair drier from tesco is around a tenner. - boom you're forging for £20
At some point I'll learn how to weld and really invest some money in building something really nice and solid, but for now this will get me forging.
Hope this inspires some one out there.
All the best
Andy
