So been thinking a lot about what it takes to forge steel. I remembered I had an old cast iron pot and spent $11 on black pipe and fittings.

Used compressed air as the blower. I need more charcoal and will try again Monday. Maybe make a little more charcoal so I can get the flame burning hotter and have more embers underneath the workpiece.

Found a piece of railway line for sale and will pickup tomorrow. Seller called it a "poor man's anvil" so suits what I am doing just fine. Now if only I had another two weeks of holidays!



If anything at least I can get a few parts hot enough for heat treat when needed.

Thanks for reading.

Pedro

Nice Pedrog, and very creative!
Thanks for sharing,
Jeff

Today I got a little charcoal made in the morning. This evening I was able to try again and got the heat high enough for a 7/8 shaft to get turn red.

Least now I know I can heat treat parts in the future if required.



Pedro

Pedro,

A small, cheap, multispeed handheld hair dryer seems to be standard for these setups for supplying air. Hundreds of design ideas on YouTube.

Lon

Pedro
Looks like a working heating apparatus to me . I have a friends kid who made one with a metal folding chair. He cut a hole in in and dropped a pan in like you did . He also used a hair dryer to force oxygen onto the fire . It's amazing how you can figure out so much with so little.

Thanks
Kurt

Hi Kurt,

There are many designs out there. I am leaning towards going to propane instead. That way I can burn in the garage and not worry about smoke. Just need to add a CO2 detector to ensure safe operation. Could easily build a small unit and larger. Refractory materials are easy to get in the city.

Thanks for the comments.

Pedro

I'd be careful when you sneak that pan back into the kitchen, Pedro. Whoooh ...,

I burnt through several coal fired forges before I went to propane. Gas works well. More forging, less fire tending.

In 1980, I could Coke up a bunch of soft coal with choking yellow sulphur smoke up my shop chimney. But the town changed. Where it seemed like I was on the edge of a field in 1980, by 1991, it was much more urban. Kept going with all the trappings til we thought it was time to go.

I need to fire up my Forge here. Waiting for a nice warm day ....

Gary

Hi Pedro
I've got a torch set with a rose bud for as much heat treating I do . It would be nice to have a nice gas forge and I've got the stuff to make it AND started it just never finished assembly yet .

Thanks
Kurt