coal forge

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saw a documentary on blacksmithing and i though it looked cool. so i decided to make one but i need help on every thing. i was just wondering if any here had pictures of theres or others or any plans or anything else that may help me
Reply:There are sites just for forging. Try google
Reply:MAny of the forges I have seen are gas. here are just a couple of sites that I have saved that deal with blacksmithing and or forges.http://www.anvilfire.com/http://www.abana.org/ronreil/Forge1.shtmlhttp://www.hobartwelders.com/weldtal...ad.php?t=29586http://www.anvilfire.com/iForge/http://metalcast.boorman.us/reil_1.htmlTheres a ton of info out there. One day I'd love to have the time to do forge work again and build my own.Hope some of these help you out a bit.
Reply:Where are you located?I am having a forge building get together at my place in a couple of weeks.Coal Forge The coal forge is one of the fading pieces of equipment for the knifemaker.  Propane forges are rapidly becoming the norm.  Coal is getting harder for the general population to obtain and sometimes it is required to buy it and have it shipped in.  This makes it costly.  However, if you can get it easily and in fairly large quantities, you may want to make a coal forge.  I used a coal forge since I started forging until I build my first propane forge about six years later.  I still have the coal forge and keep coal on hand because when you run out of propane on a Sunday evening, it is nice to not have to stop working but instead just fire up the coal forge and keep right on going.MaterialsLike most other tools I have, the base materials come from the scrap yard.  The pieces you would need to build a forge like mine are the following items.1-1/2” angle Iron1/8” steel sheetCar brake drum2” Piping from hardware storeElectric blower about 150CFMConstructionCut your 1/8” sheet to the size you want your forge to be.  Mine is about 3' square. You use the angle iron to build a table using the 1/8” sheet for a top.  Build a frame for the top to sit on but be sure that one side of the angle is pointing up, instead of down.  Build the rest of the frame of the table using your angle iron for the legs and the bracing.Take a straight edge and draw an “X” on the 1/8” plate to locate the center of the plate.  Get the car brake drum and measure the outside of the brake drum to determine the size of a hole to cut in the plate so that the brake drum can be recessed into the plate.  Cut the hole in the plate using whatever method you have.  DO NOT exceed your hole size or you will have trouble later.  The smoother and rounder this hole is the better.  Place the brake drum into the opening allowing it to rest on the flange.  Grind off as much as possible that is protruding above the plate without risking weakening the drum.  Remove the drum and turn over.  Weld the holes closed where the wheel studs used to pass through.  This will leave the center opening only.  Get a reducing bushing from the hardware store that is large enough to cover the center hole in the brake drum one end and as large as possible (but smaller) on the other end.  Weld the reducing bushing in place, wide end on the brake drum.  After welding the reducing bushing in place add a 6” pipe nipple to the opposite end of the reducer.  Then add a tee onto the pipe, add a 6” pipe nipple to the two open sides of the tee.  On the bottom pipe nipple, you need to add a cap.  There are a couple methods to doing this, I just screwed a pipe cap onto the end of the nipple.  If I were to build another coal forge I would do it differently.  I would get a piece of flat plate large enough to cover the end of the pipe.  I would weld two small pieces to that with a hole in it.  I would also a small piece of steel to the side of the pipe.  These three pieces, two on the plate and one on the nipple could receive a pin.  These would make a hinge.  I would also weld a ¼” rod to the plate under the hinge about 10” long and put a weight on it.  All I would have to do is lift the weight to open the end of the pipe.  On the open end of the horizontal pipe you would attach the output of your 150CFM blower and add an on and off switch.  Air flows from the fan up through the brake drum and through the coal.  The ashes fall through the holes in the grate and collect in the lower pipe nipple.  Just lift the weight at the end of the ash dump and the ashes will fall out, let go and the dump will close.Hope this helps,Bob Attached Images
Reply:thanks bob and i live a quit fair way away from you australia and my dad works at a coal mine nd there are allowed a certain amount of coal a year for workers only. so that i chose to go coal
Reply:That design is almost the exact same that my dad built and I use to this day.  Only difference is he used a old wheel that he had and lined it with a ceramic coating.  Thing has worked great for 10+ years now, granted it is only used a half dozen times a year.  We used to get our coal by walking the tracks in the local rail yard.  It is amazing how much coal you can find just laying on the ground around there.  They frown on it now though, so we pick it up from a metal working shop in town that keeps a bunch on hand.
Reply:Here's a good site...http://www.centaurforge.com/
Reply:here's a great site for what you want to do, and then some...http://www.beautifuliron.com/smithforge.htm