Gas forge build.

[Nortonscustom]

My dad bought the shell and burners from a fellow named Jay Hayes back in 2003 but never did anything with it. I came across it while cleaning out one of the barns and decided to finish it. Been wanting to try my hand at forging some things so the timing was perfect.

Made the backside as a removable cap. Will make installing the Kaowool easier.

Doors are made out of 1/8" plate and will have 1" thick ceramic fiber board. Used a couple of cheap chipping hammers for the handles. The hings have a pull pin for easy removal.

A buddy of mine gave me a couple K-type thermocuples, controller and related bits so I should be able to keep track of the temps.

Waiting on some fittings and misc parts to come in, so I started tacking together a stand/cart for it. Hope to have everything and be finished in the next week or so.

 

[bgarrett]

Educate us, Please. What can you do with this?

 

[Seppala]

Educate us, Please. What can you do with this?

It's used mostly but not exclusively to heat ferrous metals to a plastic or malleable state in order to shape said metals with percussive force, i.e., a hammer and anvil.

 

[countryroad82]

Boy that's a lot nicer than my cobbled up brake drum forge!

 

[xtremek]

Not to jack your thread, but countryrd. let's see yours. The next door neighbor has some old semi drums. It might be worth a few bucks for me to go drag them home. Anyway, I'm curious how this is going to turn out and what you're going to make with it, so I'm tagging along for the rest of this. FWIW, I love the door handles

 

[Nortonscustom]

It's used mostly but not exclusively to heat ferrous metals to a plastic or malleable state in order to shape said metals with percussive force, i.e., a hammer and anvil.

Yep what he said. Will use it to heat up steel for blacksmithing projects. Also hope to use it for heat treating if I can monitor and control the heat well enough.

Counrtyroad82, I too would like to see your brake drum forge. Sounds interesting.

 

[zkling]

What are the chamber dimensions going to be with the 3 venturi burners?

 

[countryroad82]

I'll dig it out and take some pics tomorrow if I remember lol. It's made out of a car brake drum, I would throw some coal/charcoal/whatever that keeps heat in, I plumbed a blower in through the bottom, and would use it to make knives. Haven't done that in quite some time but it was fun while it lasted.

 

[dogdog]

..... in for the updates.

 

[Youngguns]

Also, how about some pics of that anvil tree?

 

[csp]

It's not an anvil tree, it's one anvil keeping another one from blowing away in a strong wind!

This forge is cool....

 

[RivennHewn]

Looks like a great set up.

With the controls, should be very versatile.

Are you going to have brick in the bottom too?

 

[Nortonscustom]

Zkling, the interior dimensions are 24" deep, 10" wide and 5" tall using three 3/4" burners.

RivennHewn Yes the floor will have bricks to help protect the kaowool from flux and damage. The interior will also be coated with ITC-100.

 

[Amitygravel]

Nc

That is slick as all hell. I love that stand setup !
Keep us up to date on this !

 

[Junebuggy]

I've seen a lot of propane dragons in my life and that one ranks as one of the sweetest. Very nice work on that. With three venturi's...that one will cook some steel.

 

[pepi]

I agree very nice build, well planed.

 

[countryroad82]

Welp, I got home this evening and looked in the last corner I had seen my 'forge', and I've looked around back, plus dug around the shop. Either I have parted it out for something else, which is entirely possible. I could have been on one of my cleaning frenzies and threw it in the scrap pile to be picked up, another possibility. Or it's covered up under a bunch of junk in the back, I looked in it, I dug around...... I really don't think it's there though. And then it could have been parted out by my brother for something stupid back when he had free reign in my shop. I'm leaning towards I've probably scrapped it while cleaning out junk in the shop. Sorry about that xtremek! Look up brake drum forge on google mine wasn't anything spectacular just an old brake drum with 2" pipe welded to it about 6" then had diagonal cuts so I could make a 90 degree bend where it came out about 4' at the end I rigged up an opening large enough so I could stick a blower fan at the end to stoke up the fire. I would set it up on blocks and have at it. Hopefully that is a good enough description of what I was doing. The big truck drums would be excellent because of the size and thickness. I just used what I had laying around at the time as I was making knives out of railroad spikes for Christmas presents one year for some friends so I really didn't put much thought into it other than talking with some people, looking at a couple pics, and working with what I had. Oh and before I get crucified for having railroad spikes, I got them fair. I stopped at the railroad yard and asked one of the head guys, which it didn't hurt that I knew the guy lol.

 

[Nortonscustom]

Thanks everyone.

Junebuggy, thank you. It was actually your backsmithing thread that re-inspired me to dust off this project and get it finished.


Here's a small update. Finished the cart today. Also added an adjustable material support. It adjusts in/out-up/down, should come in handy while heating longer parts.

 

[gibbon_guy]

Fricken sweet!

 

[Boost Creep]

man, i need to stop looking at this site. i didn't know i wanted a cart for mine until i saw this thread. lol

this is my set up so far to tinker with until i decide if i want to invest further into playing with stuff like this. still gotta find a good stump for my anvil

 

[Amitygravel]

Very nice Boost Creep !

Did you make the forge as well ?

 

[Boost Creep]

i did not. i found it on ebay. if i go for something bigger ever i think i'll try my hand at making one

 

[Nortonscustom]

Well it's done for now. Going to tweak a few things later.

The controller side.

The thing is a beast! Crazy how much heat it puts out. Made a false wall that I can side in when running just one or two burners. Should help save on gas.

Exactly one minute burn time from cold. Gets warm pretty quick.

 

[Heavymetalmechanic]

That looks great!

 

[HMCFab9]

Very Cool! I'm interested to see what you build with it.
I am in the middle of building a forge right now also.

 

[Amitygravel]

What a beautiful setup !

So is this running off of the tank pressure alone ?
I'm used to my buddies forge that runs a fan setup to force air along with the gas regulator.
Just a really well thought up and fabricated design NC.
Thanks for showing us and look forward to seeing the items coming from this !

Craig.

 

[Nortonscustom]

Yep, they are a venturi style burner and work off the gas presure alone. I take no credit for them, they are Jay Hayes design.

Here is a pdf with drawings and explains how Jay's burners work.

paaba.net/Projects/HSBurner.pdf

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...p-h8Bm8s1sqSgfpLbr7yGhQ&bvm=bv.93564037,d.eXY

 

[Woodtick]

Nice looking rig...well done. How much burn time are you going to get with that size tank?

 

[Junebuggy]

I'm very impressed with that forge. I'm kind of what folks would call OCD on the things I make/build and I think you need to do your best when creating something you intend to put your name on. You certainly have something there worthy of doing just that.

Well done NortonCustom.

 

[Nortonscustom]

Nice looking rig...well done. How much burn time are you going to get with that size tank?

I'm not sure yet. With all 3 burners running full on I can't imagine very long. Once up to temp and dialed back to maintain I've gotten about 6 hours run time so far and I'm guessing it's maybe 3/4 full still.


Junebuggy, thank you. Will say I never imagined how wildly frustrating it is not being able to physically hold your work piece. I see a lot of bar stock and a pile of mangled tongs attempts in my future.

 

[rshadd]

Nicely done. Your Dad should be proud.

 

[Nortonscustom]

Been practicing with the forge every chance I get. But having my anvil sitting loose on the welding table was driving me nuts. So I built a stand for it today.


4"x4" post held together with 3/8" all-thread.

Made the top and bottom out of 1/2" plate. Night and day difference from sitting on the table. Pretty happy so far.

 

[1953mercury]

Very nice job on the forge and the anvil stand. Mike

 

[wmrra13]

Beautiful stuff!

What's that weight chained to the anvil stand?

Thanks,
Tyler

 

[Nortonscustom]

Beautiful stuff!

What's that weight chained to the anvil stand?

Thanks,
Tyler

I throw the chain over the top of the anvil and use it to hold down the part when punching holes and such.

 

[Bob Warner]

Nice work on the forge. I did not see if it was cast or if you used ceramic on the interior. I would suggest you get a 100lb propane tank soon, the little tank will freeze up with all three burners running.

I have a how to I can put up on how the brake drum forge works since you don't have yours any more. I just have to find it.

Good job on it and the anvil stand.

 

[Nortonscustom]

Nice work on the forge. I did not see if it was cast or if you used ceramic on the interior. I would suggest you get a 100lb propane tank soon, the little tank will freeze up with all three burners running.

I have a how to I can put up on how the brake drum forge works since you don't have yours any more. I just have to find it.

Good job on it and the anvil stand.

Bob, it has 3" of Kaowool insulation coated with ITC100. Also put 1.5" thick fire bricks on the floor to help protect the Kaowool. I was worried about freezing the tank as well but so far it hasn't been a problem. Once up to temp I turn the manifold pressure down to 2-3psi and it just cooks away without issue.