Begginings of a coal fired forge

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Here is the brake drum that I got to build my forge out of. I will also build a stand for it. No welding in the first pic but more to come.I am going to use a 3/8 plate on the bottom with 2" piping for my air intake and ash dump.Making as much progress as a one legged duck in the middle of a pond, just going in circles.
Reply:Keep em comin, I want to see how you do it. cause I've got several old drums I could make one out of.There are no problems. There are only solutions. It's your duty to determine the right one.Hobart Handler 210Airco 225 Amp MSM Stinger
Reply:I'll be curious to see how you do this. Your design looks quite different than most brake drum forges I've seen done.A few notes on what I see.#1, from the look it doesn't look like you can pass long items thru your forge. You will be limited to heating just what will fit inside the drum.#2: you don't have anywhere to "coke" your forge. If you look at designs like Brian (app-ironworksllc) has, the forge has a flat table around the fire pot. You pile raw coal around your fire and it cokes from the heat. You then take your coke and rake it into the fire as needed to maintain it and replenish the green coal on the outside. This has been the disadvantage of most brake drum forges I've read about. Most lack a table, and the 2nd down side is that if they do have a table, the fire pot ends up being huge unless someone lines it with fire clay to reduce the volume of the pot. That means you end up with a huge fire even if you onlty want to forge small things.#3 You will want to keep your material on "top" of the fire. "Top" usually means the top of the fire pot or just above the table, even if coke is piled up high above the table. All the clinker and impurities will settle to the bottom of the pot and if you jam your iron down into the lower part of the fire, you will contaminate your material and make it harder to work with. With your design this looks to be very tough. You probably need to raise the open side at least 2-3" minimum to form your pot, or build one underneath the whole drum. That sort of defeats the purpose of using the iron drum then. I copied Brian's forge picts and added them here so you can see what I'm talking about.http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=193481Also here's the link to my coal forge build that is based on a commercially available forge as well as several antique forges that were at the school where I took my blacksmithing class this past summer. I looked at doing a drum type forge and the instructor suggested I stay away from that design for the reasons stated above.http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=146321.No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:I plan to make an opening on the opposite side of the big opening that will have a hinged cover that can be opened to pass through longer stuff. The inside base of the drum is wide enough to have a fire in the center with some extra coal piled to the sides. Not as much as with the open table. If it doesnt work out I will build something different. I have watched a good many videos on this kind of build and how it is used. thats why I decided to go with this kind of build. DSW, thanks for the input.Making as much progress as a one legged duck in the middle of a pond, just going in circles.
Reply:I am interested as well, I also have a brake drum waiting to be converted into a forge...Lincoln pro mig 180Lincoln Square Wave Tig 300/wp 20/home built water cooler Victor, Purox, Harris, O/A welding/cutting setupsVintage Craftsman drill pressVintage Craftsman/Atlas 12"x 36'' lathe7''x 12'' w/c band saw Everlast 140 st
Reply:Got a little done today. Dont have the stuff yet to work on the piping for the air inlet and ash dump. I had this old mitre saw stand. Was about to toss it a few weeks ago but hung on to it. I had some old 3/16 plate I used to make the table top portion. I also burned a hole in the back side of the drum and got the cover plate bent to go on it. Hopefully get some of the parts for the forge itself next week.Making as much progress as a one legged duck in the middle of a pond, just going in circles.
Reply:The cover plate will be hinged on the outside of the drum. I just set it on the inside to keep up with it.Making as much progress as a one legged duck in the middle of a pond, just going in circles.
Reply:That pict makes the cut out look higher than the 1st ones did so now the forge makes more sense. Take a look at my thread as far as an idea as far as the ash dump goes..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:There should be plenty of room to have the fire in the center and green coal around the edges to rake in as needed. DSW, thanks for the input. This is a learning experience in progress. I will look through your thread for information.Making as much progress as a one legged duck in the middle of a pond, just going in circles.
Reply:I got to do a little more work on the forge today. Got the base welded in and the tuyre (not sure of spelling) put together. I made the grate for the bottom of the forge. I still have to design a clinker buster to go under the grate. I had just enough time to get the base welded on and then the monsoons set in. didnt have time to get the slag chipped and brushed out. Making as much progress as a one legged duck in the middle of a pond, just going in circles.
Reply:You may find your grate material is too small and that it will burn up in the fire. Bar grates are usually made of iron rather than steel because iron won't burn up. Steel grates are typically a series of holes in a heavy plate to hold up to the intense heat. Those that usually use a grate, generally don't use a clinker breaker. Usually you use one, or the other, from what I'd seen doing research on my forge..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Cool, I had worried about the grate being to small. I may back up and rebuild it. I had looked for a cast iron grate but the one I found that was 8" round was almost $100.Making as much progress as a one legged duck in the middle of a pond, just going in circles.
Reply:When I was looking for options, one thing I looked at was iron floor drains. I can't tell you how many of them I scrapped when we were redoing concrete floors. They aren't inexpensive however. Most of the inexpensive designs I found were simply a chunk of 3/8" or 1/2" steel plate cut in a circle with a bunch of 1/2" holes drilled in it.If you want to go the clinker breaker route, you will need to redesign your tuyer. The picts in the 1st and 2nd post of my build thread shows pretty well how I built mine. Only thing I'd do different now is to use 3 pieces of bar stock to form the breaker rather than try top work with angle. I don't know what I was thinking that day when I was trying to build it that way. I knew I needed an isosceles triangle and I know I couldn't get that with a 90 deg corner... Probably too wrapped up in trying to figure out all the rest of it. My tuyer is made from 4" pipe approximately, and I'd need 1 1/4" or 1"  wide x 3/8" for the flat bar to fit my opening. My side feed pipe from the blower is 2" for reference..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Mine is made from 2" pipe. I was looking at the floor grates for drains. i could find 3" or 4" ones for around $20 but one that is 8" was getting up close to $100. I may see how much 1/2 plate I have left from the bottom  and build one from it. I can machine the slots  in it.Making as much progress as a one legged duck in the middle of a pond, just going in circles.
Reply:nice project heres a pic of one i got last weekend paid a $ 100 for it a bit of wd 40 and away it went been told its 80 +yrs old Creative metal Creative metal Facebook
Reply:Very cool, post pics of it in operation. How wide is the tray on top?Making as much progress as a one legged duck in the middle of a pond, just going in circles.
Reply:Hey, Bill.Great project. I'm learning as you go. Keep posting pictures of your progress.And Merry Christmas!Burt _____________________Miller Syncrowave 250Millermatic 211Miller 375 Plasma Cutter Hobart Handler 12010FtDrillBit.com
Reply:LOL, well I dont know how much someone could learn from me. I am learning as I go with this also. When I get it done you are welcome to ride down and help test it out.Making as much progress as a one legged duck in the middle of a pond, just going in circles.