Charcoal Forge

[Big T]

Hiya,

Im pretty new to this Bushcraft stuff but I am a keen recycler and I work in both Wood and Metal. Since watching various videos on Knife making I have decided to give it a go! I will prob go with using an old file to begin with as this seems the best method of giving fair results. First thing to sort out is a Forge so i`m going to make one out of the bottom half of a 55kg gas bottle, as I have a supply of these due to my Chiminea making hobby! It will have an air inlet built into the bottom and will run on charcoal. Im unsure yet if i`m going to use a hairdryer, reverse vaccum cleaner or my compressor to supply the airflow. Most people seem to go with a hairdryer but im thinking that the compressor will have a more controllable supply of air, any comments?

I will post pics asap and any feedback/comments are more than welcome!

Cheers,

Anthony.

[RobbC]

Hey Anthony,

Scroll down to the forge on this page http://www.naturalbushcraft.co.uk/kit/reviews/making-a-bushcraft-knife-with-a-homemade-forge.html In the video there using an adjustable plug witha hair dryer.

Hope this helps, Robb

[Big T]

Yeah, that is a good video! I was thinking of just having the air inlet in the bottom of the forge and covering it with a steel mesh, the one in the video might have issues with ash falling through the holes and eventually blocking it all up!

[RobbC]

I never really thought of the problems the ash may cause, although it would probably take ages to get to a stage when it was a problem.#

Robb

[Big T]

Fair point! Im just a bit of a perfectionist! lol!

[RobbC]

I guess if you get it right in the first place less you have to do after.

Robb

[Big T]

Thats my way of thinkin! Prob comes from being an Engineer, I do tend to over engineer stuff but i recon "belt n braces" is the way to go!

[Big T]

Im thinking of just using one of my home made chimineas and adding an air inlet at the bottom. If I do this then I will make the opening in the front wider, this will let me get better access to the inside when forging. Also it might get hotter due to being slightly enclosed and having a chimney that will produce "pull" om the air?!?

[Big T]

Couldnt work out how to upload a pic of the chiminea so put it as my avatar instead!

[Big T]

http://www.naturalbushcraft.co.uk/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=1476&d=1306149182

Hurrah! Am i a Bill Gates or wot! lol!

[Ben Casey]

cool :)

[Big T]

Cheers:)
The chimineas are a little hobby of mine, I do sell them on to cover costs and make some beer money!

That aint sposed to sound like a plug by the way!

[Adam Savage]

Just a thought of the ash problem. I wouldn't have thought you would get much if any ash build up. the force of the air moving through would blow any ash upward, and with these types of forge, you don't tend to get much in the way of un-burnt material. I could be wrong though, never actually made a foge myself. :)

[CanadianMike]

I made a forge out of a camp wood stove (thread is around here somewhere) and it works great. I use an electric air mattress inflator run off a VARIAC, so that allows me to adjust air intake on the fly, but the reason I am posting is I have the bottom of it lined with 1" thick 2000F firebricks, with a couple dozen 1/4" or so holes drilled in it to disipate airflow, and yes, ash does plug up the holes, so I have to remove the brick floor every couple usages to unplug the holes, isn't a big deal as I like to clean it out anyways and sometimes need to reposition the bricks and pluck out charcoal that went over the rear brick.

Here it is:

http://www.naturalbushcraft.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?867-And-now-for-my-next-project......-making-a-forge-out-of-a-small-woodstove!&highlight=woodstove

[Adam Savage]

I made a forge out of a camp wood stove (thread is around here somewhere) and it works great. I use an electric air mattress inflator run off a VARIAC, so that allows me to adjust air intake on the fly, but the reason I am posting is I have the bottom of it lined with 1" thick 2000F firebricks, with a couple dozen 1/4" or so holes drilled in it to disipate airflow, and yes, ash does plug up the holes, so I have to remove the brick floor every couple usages to unplug the holes, isn't a big deal as I like to clean it out anyways and sometimes need to reposition the bricks and pluck out charcoal that went over the rear brick.

Here it is:

http://www.naturalbushcraft.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?867-And-now-for-my-next-project......-making-a-forge-out-of-a-small-woodstove!&highlight=woodstove

Thanks for clearing that up Mike. In future, pay no attention to me..LOL

[CanadianMike]

No worries, you had a good idea too. In mine I've done that, blown the holes clear (VARIAC set to KILL, as in 130VAC, mostly for forging I run it at 40-80VAC, because it works, gets hot enough for what I need, and extends the use of my charcoal, but my inflator actually shuts off after 10mins of use when run at 120VAC, to let it cool off), but it only works on the ones that are partially filled with loose ash, most of the other ones it doesn't work for, hence my having to poke them out, but the ash also falls in below my brick floor and has to be cleaned out once in a while.

[Big T]

Thats ok then, i spose as long as you have access to clean the holes or a removeable plate with the holes in it then it shouldnt be a prob:)

[CanadianMike]

Exactly, all part of the fun. :)

[Big T]

:)

[Adam Savage]

Having a go at a wok, pan and hairdryer forge at some point in the near future. Will report back with results.