Beginer wood/charcoal forge plans

C

Cam Green

Joined
May 2, 2017
Messages
8
Hi all,
Im new here so sorry if this is already a thread. I bult a proof of concept wood buring forge out of a satelite dish and a hair dryer, i wont go into detail other than it might as well have been a fire on the ground. But againsed all odds it worked better than I expected and Im ready commit to building a better forge. I really like building them out of readily available materials but im not affraid to spend some money. Do any of you have plans from your first forges or have seen other forges I could steal ideas from. Thank you for your help, I have a very strong feeling about this forum.

CG
 
Solid fuel forges are only limited by ones ingenuity. If lacking, Plenty of examples on youtube to gain ideas from.
A 'sat-dish & blower is essentially the same as a panforge. Millions of those were produced over a hundred or so years.
You must have done something right.
 
Looking at them now. Thats exactly what I did. Thanks, I'll try youtube thanks for the advice.
 
Brake drum forge is a common first forge with more control than a trench or pan.

Give making a gas forge a thought. They are very simple and not expensive to make.

There are plans and info on forges and burners in the Stickys.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith

I just automatically assumed gas forges were for the pros and that they were expensive to heat, do you have any rough numbers on what the opperating costs would be? Im interested, thank you for your insight.
 
I started with a charcoal forge and switched to a propane. In both cases i bought rather than built. I lacked fabrication skills, tools, and time to build. The charcoal was a Whitlox mini and my propane is an Atlas Graham. Nothing wrong with the Whitlox, it's well made and functions just fine, but if I did it over again I would have just bought the Atlas Graham propane forge from the beginning. Just more convenient and I spend time forging rather than tending a fire. It runs on a standard 20lb tank and I get multiple sessions out of a tank. Compared to buying charcoal I don't think it is really any more expensive (maybe just slightly but well within the range of worth it). If you don't want to mess with making one check out the Atlas forges. The Graham I have I think is really reasonably priced for what all you get, and he makes a budget model now too I think.
 
lanternnate I looked them up and they look very good. They're a little pricey, but I'm sure they are great value. I can use their general design to build on for myself. Thank you for your help
 
You can build a small basic propane forge for less than $50.
You can build a nice gas forge for less than $100.
You can make a nice forge with a blown burner for between $150 and $200.
You can add PID control for another $100.
A 16"X10" PID controlled forge will do anything from HT to welding damascus.

A good forge will use between two and four pounds of propane an hour, depending on what you are doing in it. There are ways to make that even lower. In hours per 20# tank of propane, you get around 6-8 hours. In dollars, propane runs about a dollar a pound, so a gas forge uses $2.00 to $3.00 an hour in fuel. Around here, propane is about $0.83 a pound, or $3.40 a gallon.
 
Update: I got my hands on an old brake drum. Its pretty big so im assuming if was off a pickup. Anyway it cost me $2 at the local auto wrecker and got to choose from a pile of them. Ive built a stand and now I just have to rig a blower. Thank you for all of your help.
CG
 
The ash dump and tutere are going to be part of the blower system, as for fire clay. My last forge had clay in it but i didnt like how it worked so i broke it out and had way better results. It should be insulated with extra charcoal because the drum is pretty big. ( i know coal burns hotter but my parents wont let me burn coal because it would annoy the neighbours). I will moddify it as needed and keep those things in mind. Thanks
 
So I made a brake drum forge that suits my needs very well. Thanks to each and every one of you. Im not the smartest person ever and im having trouble attaching pictures, but i thought you guys might like to see...
 
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