Forge project

[julianf]

just get the fire bricks out of nightstorage heaters free. i chucked 30 in a skip last month

I got a load of night storage heater bricks off freecycle - just put up a note there, and got about 3 or 4 people wanting to give me them.

What i really want is insulating bricks though (the light weight ones) - i think ill have to pay for them in the end.


As a side note, ive still got a load of night storage bricks. Theyll go in the hardcore when i get around to it, but, if anyone wants them before then, then they are welcome to them.

location: devon - about 25mins from j27 / m5

 

[outofthefire]

The lightweight fire bricks are really soft and wont last two minutes in a coke forge they're what you'd use in a gas forge, what you've got are far better.

 

[Spark plug]

The lightweight fire bricks are really soft and wont last two minutes in a coke forge they're what you'd use in a gas forge, what you've got are far better.

I realised this so got the right bricks for the job.

I have no real forging experience appart from heating metal with O/A and beating it about. I want to make life as easy as possible to make the learning curve as easy as possible.

 

[outofthefire]

I have no real forging experience appart from heating metal with O/A and beating it about. I want to make life as easy as possible to make the learning curve as easy as possible.

Go on a course, I can recommend Pete Oberon's school of blacksmiting at Preston Hall Museum, its well worth the money. I went on his tool making course and you come away with a decent collection of tools, and its a damn site easier than trying to teach yourself.

 

[Spark plug]

Go on a course, I can recommend Pete Oberon's school of blacksmiting at Preston Hall Museum, its well worth the money. I went on his tool making course and you come away with a decent collection of tools, and its a damn site easier than trying to teach yourself.

Ile look Into that.

 

[outofthefire]

Ile look Into that.

The only downside is you get to use his power hammer once you've done that your life will never seem complete without one of your own :-)

 

[Spark plug]

The only downside is you get to use his power hammer once you've done that your life will never seem complete without one of your own :-)

That would be a problem witch would inevertivly lead to another project.

 

[Windy Miller]

Go on a course, I can recommend Pete Oberon's school of blacksmiting at Preston Hall Museum, its well worth the money. I went on his tool making course and you come away with a decent collection of tools, and its a damn site easier than trying to teach yourself.

I've done a couple of Peat's courses now, and I have to say they're well worth the money.

But yeah the power hammer thing is a problem!

 

[DAPPH]

The only downside is you get to use his power hammer once you've done that your life will never seem complete without one of your own :-)

As a 14 yr old lad ( 1924 ) my dad used to be one of the top steam driven trip hammer drivers in a big blacksmith shop in Sheffield. Forging things like railway wagon axles and gun barrels . God help him if he got his timing wrong as the guys manipulating the hot metals would have been torn to bits in a fraction of a second.

 

[lotus 30]

I took some ali down the scrappy and got nowt for it as it was off the lathe so he said it was iron as there were some other material in it got me thinking about smelting it to bar material so i had a look on u tube.
I have been thinking about a forge since. How about an old wood burner fire as a starter for making one ideas please.
andy b

 

[DAPPH]

In the mid 1990's I used our old cottager multi fuel stove with coke on full air wash & a fully opened main damper for melting aluminium off cuts & swarf of aluminium ( once I'd got it going with coal ) and cast iron oxygen gas cylinder tops as the crucibles . The stove was raised up to just over 900 mm from the floor to make it easier for me to work .
I screwed self tappers in the vent holes from the inside after kissing the holes with a 12 mm twist drill to give a good seal surface. , used a set of home made tongs to pick the cap of molten aluminium up . . Putting the cap in the fire via the doors which I had put 1/4 inch plate in to replace the glass , not in the flue out pipe . It didn't take very long to get the melt going .
I used some SIF powder brazing flux to clean it up to bring the slag to the surface so I suppose plain old Borax might also suffice for the same purpose.

I don't think melting swarf alone would be much good as it will tend to burn easily , you will need some sort of puddle of molten metal to put it in.

 

[lotus 30]

Great so it will work i bought the fire for £20 thinking it may come in handy it is a big one an old villager i have siff brazing flux also did you put a fan on it to blow through the coals. it has a water tank in it can i fill that with vermiculite to insulate it or is it not worth the trouble.
I have some old mag wheels and scrap cylinder blocks LM 25 heat treated to use as a start the lathe scrap is mostly LM 25.

 

[julianthegypsy]

Almost forty years ago, when I was bashing out horseshoes every day, we used anthracite beans rather than coke. It was beautiful stuff to work with, but when I was building a forge again a few years ago was unobtainable, so I used forge breeze instead, which works but is nowhere near as good in my book. Recently however, I went down to the coal merchants and was amazed to see lovely little anthracite beans. Apparently they are back in fashion for the new generation of pellet heaters so are now becoming available again. If you can find some I'd recommend buying a bag and having a go. It's quite different to work than coke, you will need a bean tin with some small holes punched in the bottom to use as a water dipper for damping down the edge of the fire to contain it, otherwise it spreads!

 

[DAPPH]

Great so it will work i bought the fire for £20 thinking it may come in handy it is a big one an old villager i have siff brazing flux also did you put a fan on it to blow through the coals. it has a water tank in it can i fill that with vermiculite to insulate it or is it not worth the trouble.
I have some old mag wheels and scrap cylinder blocks LM 25 heat treated to use as a start the lathe scrap is mostly LM 25.

If the forge is indoors of fixed close to a work place why not use the back boiler to heat water ??? Whatever you do don't cap/seal it off or it will go bang with a bloody big "B" especialy if there is a trace of water ini it & like as not injuring someone as well.

I didn't need any fans , the stove i had drew like wildfire once it got going .

 

[lotus 30]

I would think the boiler has rusted through hence scraping the fire but i will leave it open as i could do without the bang. It will be in the w/shop so if it is ok i will use the boiler. Thank you for the help.

 

[Spark plug]

Almost forty years ago, when I was bashing out horseshoes every day, we used anthracite beans rather than coke. It was beautiful stuff to work with, but when I was building a forge again a few years ago was unobtainable, so I used forge breeze instead, which works but is nowhere near as good in my book. Recently however, I went down to the coal merchants and was amazed to see lovely little anthracite beans. Apparently they are back in fashion for the new generation of pellet heaters so are now becoming available again. If you can find some I'd recommend buying a bag and having a go. It's quite different to work than coke, you will need a bean tin with some small holes punched in the bottom to use as a water dipper for damping down the edge of the fire to contain it, otherwise it spreads!

So far I've only found anthracite in "doubles" form but in still on the hunt some ware has to sell it near me.

 

[Maker]

Just read it's smokeless, is this true? Would it be safe to use this without peeing off the neighbours? What would be a good price to pay and how long would it last?

 

[julianthegypsy]

Just read it's smokeless, is this true? Would it be safe to use this without peeing off the neighbours? What would be a good price to pay and how long would it last?

Yes, anthracite is smokeless. It's basically very high quality, high carbon content coal. Costs around £10-12 a 20kg bag. Incidentally, a 20kg bag will last you months.

 

[lotus 30]

The knowledge on this forum is amazing thanks for the help.

 

[Maker]

Yes, anthracite is smokeless. It's basically very high quality, high carbon content coal. Costs around £10-12 a 20kg bag. Incidentally, a 20kg bag will last you months.

I take it you get smoke when you light it? Does it only last months if you use it once a month. It definitely sounds cheaper than using propane (not to mention more fun playing with a real fire).

Is this a good deal? How big are the so called beans?