Forge - A workshop for the manual processing of metal blanks, mainly by heating and forging. The handicraft blacksmith workshops are maintained by passionate craftsmen of simple and artistic forging, who, thanks to their hobbies, preserve the tradition of the craft.
Forges are equipped with a hearth (forge) and an anvil. The smithy carries out a huge amount of metal processing work: melting, pouring molten metal into molds, forging, welding, brazing copper and brass, hardening, stamping, drawing, bending, twisting, chasing and others. Finished smelting furnaces in this shop.
In one of the previous articles, it was described by a talented craftsman. Here we will consider what kind of forge for the forge this master made with his own hands. Creating a homemade smithy at home, practically in the yard, he used, as one of the forums aptly put it, “a minimalist-primitivist approach”. However, it should be noted that this approach turned out to be very effective.
The basis of the forge was a portable forge made of a pipe 1 cm thick, weight about 60 kg, bottom 1.5 cm. On the bottom surface, cuts were made with a grinder. Under the bottom there is a hollow part, to the base of which a pipe for supplying pressurized air is welded. Air is supplied from a vacuum cleaner. A door is installed in the hearth to reduce heat loss.
An anvil is a piece of rail welded to the channels. On the side of the anvil, there are fasteners for a vice, which can be installed, if necessary, for torsion and other work. The distance between the rock and the anvil is approximately 1 m, which makes it convenient to work.
Checking the coal forge shows how effective the device is. The video shows that using a small amount of charcoal for testing, you can accelerate the furnace to 1200 degrees.
Short introduction:
About three years ago I decided to make a forge - I got tired of making handles, I wanted to forge it myself. I searched the literature, the Internet, and asked my old acquaintances, blacksmiths. In general, to be honest, everything is not clear. Fans even make (!) A smithy in the bathroom (!). Vacuum cleaners are recommended, pots ... But I need - that small, but really "not on the knee."
I already have experience, I make very good knives: I mainly use bearing steel, as it is cheap and affordable. Basic principles of building a forge:
As cheap as possible.
Maximum materials available.
It is as convenient as possible.
So, first - what is needed for the forge.
Materials.
1) Ordinary brick, even white, even red - about thirty, I took from landfills and from the ruins
2) The grill is metal. Best of all - metal pallets, preferably cast iron. I managed to buy in a rural (household) store - cast iron pallets for the stove. If you wish, you can just put the fittings, or weld the grate. Functionally - coals will burn on it, so the thicker the better. Holes - accordingly, so that no more than one and one and a half centimeters (otherwise the coals will fall through.
3) Anvil. Of course, a piece of rail will do too. But the anvil is better. This is not only one of the most "expensive" parts, but you can also find figs. But I was lucky, I found it again in a rural store. But if you sharpen your knives, then the rail will be enough.
4) Fan. The most important thing is blowing. I bought in the construction market for two and a half rubles - this is the second costly part, but quite lifting.
5) A sleeve made of aluminum foil - put it on the fan, stuck a pipe from the water supply into it.
6) Water pipe, one and a half meters, diameter - the size of a can of peas.
7) A can of canning peas - on one side a hole, cut and bent on the other, plays the role of a directing and reflecting the air stream of the structure - to blow in the right place.
8) Large stump for installing the anvil.
Everything. Total budgetary costs (for 2010):
Anvil - 900 rubles
Fan - 2.500 rubles
Flexible aluminum sleeve - 80 rubles
Pallets 2 pieces - 160 rubles
Bricks are free, everything else is free.
Total: we fit into 4000 rubles easily.
How the forge works.
The forge is simple.
It is necessary: to blow air from below, through the grate onto the coals. The workpiece lies on the coals and is heated. You can stick into the coals. Closed with bricks on the sides. Dot. Everything.
Therefore (see Photo 1.) - first we lay out a rectangle out of bricks. I have NOT worried about "cement, fire clay, etc." - just PUT the bricks. Move - I'll fix it. Burst - I will replace. I don't need to forge a gate, I need blades. Quite.
Two rows of bricks can be seen on the top photo ... then - we continue to spread
On the photo you can see that a rectangle of bricks is made up of different colors. True, it rests on an iron box - at the bottom left - but it was just a box, I also used it. In fact, these are two walls of bricks in two rows with the letter "P". Width - for pallets. You can clearly see how I foolishly burned one of the pallets - I was trying to achieve a "white glow". I got it. Is it necessary?
I put bigger blocks at the head of the bed - I just found them, you can just make it out of bricks. Here is the front view from where the blower pipe is inserted.
Two layers of bricks, pallets rest on them with their edges, an iron box at the bottom - do not pay attention - we believe it is on the ground. Then we continue the walls and the butt - just a few bricks up.
A pipe is a piece of a water supply pipe for blowing.
You can see how the blower pipe is inserted.
Top view: two more rows of bricks were laid. In fact, almost everything is ready. But experience has shown that - since all this is in the open air - it is better to bring the walls higher so that it does not cool from the breeze. Therefore, I raised it a little higher (there is no photo, I just added two rows of bricks. But this year, two years - that's exactly how in the photo, and forged.
Now - blowing.
The next photo shows a fan on a wooden pallet (whipped together) with an aluminum sleeve put on. The fan costs money - but here even though the vacuum cleaner is old, even though the furs are homemade, it is important that the air is supplied where it is needed and conveniently. The pipe does not heat up.
Fan, purchased at the construction market.
It is important that the air supply should be from the bottom up, I put a crumpled canning can on the end of the pipe, which turns the air flow from the horizontal upward - this is more than enough. Banks - free
The sleeve is put on and wrapped around the fan with wire. No tightness, everything is grabbed, just to hold on. I'm not worried. In the next photo on Sun. case - fan output. The crumpled end of the aluminum sleeve is clearly visible, I put the pipe there when I work.
Fan output.
As I said, further - we take a can of canned peas, tin. We put it on the pipe. The bent cover is a reflector, we direct it upwards - and we put the pipe under the pallets. We put the pipe into an aluminum sleeve, crumple it and tie it up with a wire. We cut in the blowing. You need a switch, step on with your foot - turn it off and on, so that it doesn't blow in vain, when it's not necessary - your hands are busy.
Further - the stump, placed in the disk from the wheel, is covered with sand. In principle - any such basis, the shobs are not staggering. On the stump - an anvil (a piece of rail or piece of iron is more massive) - and forward. Everything. Someone already has that - I managed to buy an anvil - together with a fan, these are two of the biggest expense items. There would be no money, I would take a piece of a thick channel or a rail. The main thing is that everything is working.
And here is a general view of the forge at work. If you need to shelter from the wind, I report a wall of bricks. I need a length (for example, I forged a one and a half meter spit from reinforcing bar) - I remove bricks from the end - etc. Everything can be rebuilt in a minute.
Forge at work.
Good luck, guys! The forge is great. I forged knives for myself - the main thing is that your hands are untied, and you can really not lick your lips at other people's records - but make your own gizmos. But this is a separate story!
I forgot to add about safety: sprinkle sand around, when forging ALWAYS let a bucket of water next to it (but do not drink during and after forging for about 20 minutes - teeth will crack, I’m serious) - because pieces of metal severed from a hot one can fly away and burn painfully. It is obligatory - closed clothes - I am in a wind jacket, in an apron - glasses also do not interfere. Shoes - boots, pants out, otherwise if a piece of metal flies in - you have to dance!
In artisanal conditions, it is able to give temperatures up to 1200 degrees, which is quite enough for forging steel. However, how difficult is it to manufacture and what do you need to know about the requirements for the hearth? How to make the simplest forge forge with your own hands and what types of furnaces can you assemble in your workshop? More on this later in the material of our article.
Even 100-120 years ago, the main type of fuel was coal; all the main production equipment, including forge forges, operated on it. Today, a variety of fuels makes it possible to make various types of stoves, up to almost "pocket" format, but quite effective and efficient.
For example, in the video presented, a homemade forging forge made from a tin can and a small gas burner.
Depending on the type of fuel used and the design features, the following types of forge hearths are distinguished.
- Gas, liquid and solid fuel.
- With open and closed hearth.
- Portable and stationary.
Which of these types to choose and make will depend on the planned work and the size of the workpieces being processed.
How to make a gas forge
Despite the time-tested solid fuel types of foci, gas counterparts have much more advantages.
The main positive points are economical fuel consumption, uniform heating of the workpiece, sulfur does not accumulate on the heated metal, and a higher beneficial effect.
How to make a gas forge forge with your own hands and what is needed for this?
Usually, each master makes any device for a home-made blacksmith's furnace for himself and his personal preferences. But the basic design concept is the same. The gas-fired forge device consists of two parts: a furnace and a gas burner.
A good device can be assembled following this video:
- For such a design, a metal container is required: a barrel, a bucket, or something similar.
- On the side with a crown, you need to make a hole for the gas supply system to the hearth.
- The burner itself can be assembled from elements of pipes and couplings.
- For the legs on which such a horn will stand, you need to drill holes in the bottom of the container and use fasteners made of long bolts and nuts.
- The lining of the hearth is made by filling alabaster with the addition of water and sand. In this case, it is necessary to form the inner walls. As a casing, you can use a ceramic tube (as in the video) or form a hearth using a bottle of a suitable size.
- When the liner is ready, you need to drill a hole for the gas supply.
The advantage of this design is its compactness, mobility, and, most importantly, it is possible to regulate the heating temperature of the billet (different steels have different forging temperatures).
Also, the gas-type forge can be assembled from bricks. To do this, you need to acquire a refractory look for this wall material. It is better to use clay to hold it together.
To supply gas in a brick structure, a hole is drilled for an existing burner.
Important! When using a gas furnace, there must be a powerful forced ventilation in the workshop to remove the combustion products!
As fuel, you can use ordinary household gas, which is sold in cylinders and is relatively cheap. And most importantly, its stock can be replenished at any gas station!
This homemade propane forge can heat many grades of steel to the required temperature.
Making a solid fuel forge
Combustion of solid fuel in itself cannot provide the required temperature, therefore, to increase it, such structures must additionally have an air supply system. The device of the furnace itself will also depend on personal preferences and the size of the workpieces being processed.
In old workshops, furs were previously used for this, shaking them to create a powerful stream of air supplied to the hearth.
How to assemble such a solid fuel forge?
The simplest design is an open-top oven installed outside. Its advantage is that you do not need to bother arranging powerful ventilation.
- Initially, a concrete base is poured, preferably with reinforcement.
- The base is initially assembled on it using ordinary wall bricks. This table can be of any convenient height. In this case, you need to leave a hole in one of the walls. The so-called blew. The result should be a square or rectangle.
- The next step is to assemble the actual bottom surface of the oven (underneath). It is assembled from refractory bricks, which are laid on bases, for example, from steel corners.
- A hole for the grate is left in the center of the future hearth. For the manufacture of this element, a heat-resistant material is used. A cast iron stove from an old stove is perfect. It is necessary to pre-drill holes in it.
- When the grate is installed, the walls are folded from the same refractory brick.
- A hole is made in one of the walls for the air supply system. It can be drilled out using a drill and diamond core bit. Or leave it in advance when laying.
- If the top is being assembled, then the chimney will have to be folded, otherwise there will be no draft in a closed oven, and even indoors.
When the work is over, the air supply system is mounted. Here you can install an electric fan in the pipe. Or construct, as shown in the video:
Such a simple device is quite suitable for do-it-yourself forging. Despite their primitive design, such ovens have been in use for hundreds of years, although there are drawbacks.
The main disadvantage is the difficulty in controlling the process and uneven heating of the workpieces. Also quite low efficiency compared to gas and higher fuel consumption.
Liquid devices
You can equip a forge forge and liquid fuel, using as the last mining, diesel fuel or fuel oil.
The difficulty lies in supplying the right amount of fuel to the combustion chamber.
Collecting such a furnace, a fuel tank and a system for supplying it to the hearth - a nozzle - are mounted. The main problem is that the fuel is sprayed into fine dust, then the system will be efficient.
For a higher temperature, you will also need to equip the air supply. It is best to use an electric fan.
However, the liquid fuel forging furnace is quite difficult to maintain and assemble. It is much easier to assemble a gas analogue, and the fuel will cost much less, and it will take less of it. But some craftsmen collect such furnaces and use them for their forge.
When deciding which type of forge to assemble with your own hands, you need to be guided by the needs and planned types of work. Forged knives do not require a large hearth and, if such small forgings are to be created, it is not worth assembling a large stationary structure. It is much easier to make a small portable type of oven, preferably gas.
Of course, with the planned production of more massive products, it is best to make a stationary brick forge with a powerful blower and hood.
The choice of fuel will also be an important point. Gas is a cheaper and simpler option, coal (wood or coal) is somewhat more difficult to use and a larger amount is needed in terms of the mass of the workpiece. What to choose depends on your preference and access to fuel supplies.
In order to take part in the discussion of this material, go to the comments of this article. Leave your comments based on experience in assembling and using various forge designs.
If you are one of those people who melt metal in their hands, and you dream of your own forge, then you need a forge. We suggest you use our example, and you can make a forge for yourself with your own hands, which will help you master the art of blacksmithing.
Carpentry or joinery is, of course, good. Wood processing is traditional for Russia. But we want to talk about metal. More precisely, about the forging of metal. What do you need to do forging? The first is the forge.
You might be surprised, but the forge is the easiest to set up a forge.
The task of the forge is to heat a piece of metal to a temperature that will allow it to be crumpled without destruction.
The forge is, of course, fire. You can burn gas, liquid fuel, fuel oil or crude oil, coal and firewood. Only now the firewood does not give much heat until it turns into coal. Firewood can only be considered as a raw material for producing charcoal, but charcoal is an excellent fuel for a furnace. Perhaps the best, but also the most expensive, albeit the most affordable. Charcoal for barbecues and barbecues is sold in any supermarket. So let's dwell on the coal option.
When it comes to a coal-fired furnace, there are two options: side-blowing and bottom-blowing. Side blowing is the best suited for charcoal, and it is also the easiest to implement. The simplest option is a hole in the ground, where air is supplied through a pipe. You can also lay out a forge made of bricks and heap it up with earth.
With the help of such a forge, novice blacksmiths try their hand. A hose is inserted into the pipe and connected to the blow-out hole of the vacuum cleaner.
The downside of this bugle is that you have to work while squatting, which is not very convenient. However, you can put together a box of the required height, fill it with earth and make a forge in it. But since going this way, then it is worth doing something more fundamental. There is one more thing. The side-blowing hearth is not very suitable for bituminous coal, while the bottom-blowing hearth through the grate is more versatile in this regard. That is, a bottom-blowing furnace can operate on both charcoal and stone. But the design will be more complicated.
We need:
- steel sheet with a thickness of five millimeters about 100x100 cm;
- sheet steel 2 mm thick;
- corner 30x30;
- six fireclay bricks ШБ-8;
- Angle grinder, popularly called "Bulgarian";
- cleaning wheel;
- cutting wheels for cutting steel and stone;
- welding machine and electrodes;
- two wing screws (eye nut).
The horn consists of a table with a horn socket. Below, under the forge nest, there is an ash chamber where air is supplied. The table is made of steel sheet five millimeters thick. The size of the table is arbitrary, but it is more convenient when you can freely place working pincers, a poker and a scoop on it so that they are at hand. We cut off a strip 125 mm wide from a five-millimeter sheet, it will still be useful to us, and from the remaining piece we make a table.
Diagram of a forge with a forge nest
In the middle we cut a square hole for the future forge nest. It is necessary to decide on the size of the nest. A large nest will require a lot of coal. A small one will not allow large workpieces to be heated. The depth of the nest to the grate is also important. Without going into details, let's say that a depth of ten centimeters will be optimal, regardless of the size of the nest in the plan.
To prevent the metal from burning out, it must be lined (overlaid) with fireclay bricks. We use brick ШБ-8. Its dimensions are 250x124x65 mm. These dimensions will determine the size of the hearth nest - 12.5 cm at the grate, 25 at the top, 10 cm deep. Given the thickness of the brick, the size of the hole in the table will be 38x38 cm.
From the cut out piece we cut out a square with a side of 25 cm.In the center of the square we cut out a square hole with a side of 12 cm.We also need four plates in the shape of an isosceles trapezoid with base lengths 38 and 25 cm, a height of 12.5 cm. So the previously cut strip came in handy ... Now you need to cook all this.
From two millimeter steel we roll up a square pipe with a side of 12 and a length of 20-25 cm. This will be an ash collector. In the middle of one of the walls we make a hole for the air duct. We weld a branch pipe into the hole. We use a piece of ordinary water pipe for 40.
The ash pan is closed from below with a lid. We make it on screws with thumbs.
The table is ready. It remains to place it on the base or weld the legs from the corner to it. You can make a base from foam concrete blocks.
Pay attention to the opening. An air duct will pass through it.
Using a grinder with a cutting disc, cut a lining out of a brick over the stone. It is imperative to use a respirator and safety goggles. And observe safety precautions when working with angle grinders.
You can plug in a vacuum cleaner and try to light the forge.
First, we put wood chips and finely chopped wood. We set them on fire with a weak blow, and when the wood fires up well, we fill in the coal. Now the blowing can be increased.
The vacuum cleaner can be connected not directly to the air duct of the furnace, but through a homemade air regulator. This device allows you to regulate the amount of air supplied to the furnace, that is, to decrease or increase the blowing.
Typically, a damper is installed to regulate the air supply to the duct. But blocking the flow increases the load on the vacuum cleaner motor. The vacuum cleaner is usually used old, and in order not to overload it, an air supply regulator is built. The air flow is not blocked, but is diverted to another duct. For this, a box with three nozzles was made. Two opposite each other - inlet from the pump and outlet to the forge. The third branch pipe, on the upper wall, is the discharge of excess air. The third branch pipe is shifted relative to the first two by the size of the hole diameter.
Inside, a plate curved at a right angle, half the length of the box. The plate can be moved from one extreme position to another using a wire rod. As far as the opening of the air supply to the furnace is blocked, the discharge opening will open as much.
The box is closed with a lid with a pull hole.
We now have a working furnace suitable for outdoor use. For protection from rain, a canopy is needed, which must be non-flammable. And the forge needs an umbrella and a pipe for collecting and removing smoke.
The umbrella is made of sheet iron two millimeters thick. Firstly, such an umbrella will last longer, and secondly, it is more difficult to cook thinner iron by manual arc welding.
For the umbrella to be as effective as possible, the slope of its walls must be at least sixty degrees to the horizon. The umbrella should be located above the hearth so that an imaginary ray directed from the point of the hearth closest to the edge, inclined outward at an angle of sixty degrees to the plane of the table, falls into the umbrella. This means that the higher the umbrella is above the hearth, the larger it should be. On the other hand, the lower the umbrella is above the table, the more inconvenient it is to work. Here we must proceed from the available material and our anthropometric data.
The umbrella is supported by steel corner posts. On top of the umbrella we put a pipe, which we also weld from a steel sheet of two. The pipe must be covered with a spark arrestor made of metal mesh.
If you direct the air discharged from the throttle through the air duct (the water pipe goes 1 inch) to the beginning of the chimney, you get an ejector that increases the efficiency of flue gas removal.
That's all. Your forge is ready. Forge to health, forge like us, forge better than us!
Hello humanity, today I will tell you how to make a forge with temperatures up to 1100 degrees Celsius. In the forge, the forge is used to heat metal before forging, cementing and other heat treatment operations. When working with metal, it is almost always necessary. The forge will be coal, so closer to nature. In addition, it is very reminiscent of the historical forge that our ancestors used. And most importantly, it will be simple, both in production and in use.
We need the following materials:
- Refractory bricks. The most common refractory bricks are red and fireclay. Even though I used red, I recommend using the second one. Since it can withstand high temperatures, and red can crack and break over time. Only 12 bricks are needed.
- Fireclay. Any refractory clay will do. But fireclay is the most common. I bought a 40 kg bag, but this is too much. Ten is enough. It is ideal to take twenty kg, so that if there is any clay to cover up cracks, make injection molds, etc.
- Construction sand. If yours is not new, like mine, it must be sifted through a special grate.
- Iron pipe with a diameter of 25-30 mm.
You will also need some tools and consumables (a bucket, gloves, a hacksaw for metal, etc.), I will talk about them later.
Horn chamber
First, let's figure out how the forge will look like. I clearly arranged all the bricks as they would be in the finished forge.The blowing will be lateral. Oxygen will be driven into the furnace chamber through an iron tube. On the one hand, it needs to be filed at 45 degrees, although I never did it. We insert it into the camera at an angle too. The photographs show how we will lay the bricks together with the clay.
Let's prepare the clay
I mixed it in a nine liter bucket. We mix clay and sand in a 1: 1 ratio. Next, add clean water. We knead the clay until the next state. You need to roll a small ball, put it on one palm, and start pressing it down with the other. Cracks should appear when squeezed in half. In consistency, it should resemble ... Well, it doesn't matter what.Next, we grease abundantly with clay all the joints of the bricks with each other, the entire inner and outer parts. This will keep the heat in the chamber for a long time. We lubricate well the junction of the iron pipe with bricks with clay. The brick that serves as the back wall can be left unattached. So it will be possible to move it away and work with long workpieces. Of the top bricks, I attached only the outer one with clay. This way the forge can be used both open and closed.
You can also improve the pipe to regulate the air supply. In the middle, it can be sawn and threaded on both sides. Now we screw a plumbing tee with a tap into the part in the forge, like this:
So, by opening the tap, we can regulate the air supply. But I gave it up too.
A few words about the air supply itself
Of course, something must be pumped into this pipe with delicious oxygen, which will heat the coals in the chamber to hellish temperatures. Blacksmith furs can be used. The kind that our ancestors used in the forges. But this is not the best option, you need at least a couple of bellows to get the required temperature, and it would be nice to have an assistant who will tirelessly press the bellows.It is much more productive to use electric blowers. For example, a turbine for inflating mattresses. I used an old Soviet vacuum cleaner. You can even twist the hose from blowing to blowing, but it broke. I had to tape the bag on the side where the air was blown out.
A little about using the forge
I used it for forging and casting. It melts aluminum and other non-ferrous metals in a matter of seconds. It turned out to cast some parts using foam molds in the sand and clay molds. Melted aluminum cans in a special crucible. Then the molten metal was cast into sand and plaster molds.
It is well suited for forging knives or small metal items. Making knives from files will be discussed in my next article.
One of the photos shows a heated forging, however, the color rendition is not at all the same. Due to the bright sun, it is impossible to determine the temperature of the workpiece from the color. Therefore, there used to be twilight in the forges. Here is a video of the forge working.
Firing up the forge
Everything is very simple here. The furnace runs on coals, so you just put coals in the inside and light them like in a charcoal grill - with the help of a flammable liquid. Next, supply air. In a few minutes, the forge will heat up to 1000 degrees, and this is not the limit, also the heat will remain in it for a long time.Blacksmithing can be both an unusual hobby and a highly paid profession. Professional blacksmiths get very good money for their hard work!
Well, to what we love wild abstruse definitions: special heating devices in order to increase the plastic characteristics of the metal. Let's try to translate all this disgrace into human language.
The forge is essentially a stove. It is clear that it has its own characteristics, varieties and technological nuances, but it is still a stove. It is needed to heat metal parts to a temperature so that they can be forged, that is, subject to deformation.
This is the main and general fact for all kinds of forge forges - from primitive country-house crafts on bricks to industrial furnaces with many technological features of application and purpose.
A blacksmith's stove requires two main and only properties: to give a very high temperature, up to 1200 - 1500 ° C and the ability to maintain the desired temperature for a certain time. In other words, we need a strong and even heat.
At what temperature do metals lend themselves to forging, that is, begin to be ductile? This is different for all metals and alloys. But a visual sign that the metal part has heated up to the desired temperature is also common - it is the orange color of the part.
All metals respond to heating with a color change from dark red to shrill white. So the orange color is a signal that you can start real blacksmithing work on metal.
Forge forge drawing.
The only metal that is pretty mean and doesn't change color when heated is aluminum. It is not the lightest metal for forging and welding in principle, with aluminum you need to know and apply many special requirements.
So, the absence of orange color while it is already warmed up for forging is a significant factor that makes it difficult to work with this capricious metal and its alloys. After all, you cannot overheat. Keeping warm is also no good.
Forge forge classification
There are several criteria by which all these stoves can be divided into neat types.
Most often, forges are divided according to the type of fuel on which they work:
Solid fuel forges
They run on coal. Their use is becoming less common, as coal is a fuel that does not give a stable and even fire, which is the most important requirement for a forge. Moreover, such stoves need not just coal, but high-quality coking wood or coal of the same quality.
There are fans of such exotic things, so below we will focus on a couple of three tips for arranging such a stove.
Gas forge forges
We will talk about this type of stove in detail: they are the most common both in home artisan workshops and in professionally equipped blacksmith centers. The gas forge is undoubtedly the favorite tool of domestic blacksmiths.
Liquid
Here the main type of fuel is fuel oil.
Coal forge.
According to the design decision, forges are divided into closed and open. They are small, medium and large in size. That is, in fact, the whole classification of forges. A home-made forge for forging is a very real thing and, most importantly, necessary in the economy.
The main thing is to decide which horn suits you. And for this you must clearly know what kind of blacksmith products you are going to make, for whom and in what quantity.
The basic design of a homemade forge
The first question is: which horn to make - open or closed? The answer will depend on your plans - what are you going to do in your blacksmith shop? If this is a hobby in the form of artistic blacksmithing in small quantities exclusively for home and gifts to relatives, then it will be quite enough for you to acquire an open hearth.
It is much simpler and will cost you less money and labor costs. It is also easier to heat massive or long parts on an open hearth.
If you are planning to work with metals seriously, in order, for example, to make money, then we would advise you to build a closed-type forge forge with your own hands.
Here are the details that make up a well-assembled forge:
- frame on racks for support, everything should be made of steel;
- under - the bottom or lower part of the hearth wall;
- gate-type damper with special holes to accelerate metal heating and save fuel;
- fan;
- smoke exhaust pipe
- lining - heat protection of the stove in the form of fireclay bricks;
- recuperator is a special device for returning the released heat in the form of furnace gases and, thus, efficient use of resources.
We build a solid fuel furnace
The main disadvantage of solid fuel furnaces is that coal by itself cannot produce the required temperature above 1000 ° C. Therefore, in such stoves, an air stream is always needed. Previously, these were furs, now more often air is supplied through a pipe with a welded end, also made of steel.
The easiest way to dig such a stove is right in the ground - just cover the hole with refractory bricks. A home-made forge can be made differently: from a steel plate with a decent thickness, build a table with a grate made of cast iron or steel.
Horn grate.
The plate for the table must be made from a workpiece with a thickness of at least 5 mm. If the open structure horn is installed outdoors, there will be no need for special ventilation.
Here are the main steps to building a homemade coal-fired furnace:
- Construct a base area with concrete and reinforced rods.
- Fold the bricks in the form of a rectangular base; the table surface can be of any height.
- In any wall of the base, make a hole for the blower.
- Assemble the base of special refractory bricks on the base.
- Install a grate with holes, which must also be made of refractory material, for which a cast-iron door from an old stove is perfect.
- After installing the grate, refit the walls from the same refractory brick.
- Do not forget to leave a hole in one wall for air supply, it is better to do this immediately when laying bricks.
- Mount a fan in the air supply pipe.
- If you are making a closed structure, be sure to build a chimney, which is absolutely essential for traction.
Such a bugle can be made mobile - it all depends on you. An old gas stove can serve as an excellent frame for a solid fuel furnace.
Building a gas forge
Before you start building a gas forge forge with your own hands, you need to determine the parameters of the hearth - its area.
There is a tricky formula for this:
N is the productivity of the hearth, which depends on the tension H and the area of the hearth F. It is calculated that the optimal maintenance of the required temperature in the hearth is sufficient for a gas flow rate in the range from 1 to 1.5 m / s.
Diagram of a gas burner for a furnace.
You know the area of your workshop and the approximate number of forging parts in kilograms that you plan to produce. With this data, you deduce the hearth tension with a maximum permissible upper limit of 150 kg / m².
Required materials that you need to have to get started:
- refractory bricks such as dinas or chamotte;
- plates with a thickness of at least 5 mm made of heat-resistant steel;
- steel profile for posts, frame and hearth flaps;
- steel chimney and ventilation duct;
- putty for filling gaps between bricks with heat-resistant properties;
- sheet metal or an additional layer of refractory bricks for lining from the outside;
- from high-power double-circuit boilers;
- fan;
Gas forges can also be open. With him, everything is much easier, it will be enough to arrange grates with air supply for greater heating efficiency. In this case, combustion substances are removed by a fan made of heat-resistant metal.
The support frame is best positioned against one of the walls in your workshop. The choice of the wall must be made taking into account the fact that a chimney and a ventilation pipe will be needed, so it is better not to use adjacent walls, if any.
The most important condition is strict adherence to fire safety rules, which consists in using only refractory and heat-resistant materials. It doesn't hurt to check what the walls of your workshop are made of. We are very careful about all kinds of plasterboard structures.
The posts and the frame itself are best welded from low-alloy steel according to drawings that can be downloaded on the Internet. Low-alloy steel is strong, lightweight and, most importantly, resistant to specific high-temperature corrosion. The outer lining must be thought out in advance in order to immediately make holes in the support frame for its attachment.
Now about refractory bricks and masonry. It is important to buy real certified fireclay bricks made in accordance with GOST 390-79. If you buy a brick that is not according to the standard, you run the risk that ordinary bricks will begin to melt at you already at a temperature of 1000 ° C.
Real cream-colored fireclay bricks with small pores in small quantities, they are much heavier than ordinary ceramic ones, the weight of one large fireclay brick reaches 5 kg. The most suitable brands of chamotte are ШБ, ША and ШПД.
Forge forge device.
The second type of refractory bricks is dinas. These bricks are more expensive, but more resistant to high temperatures: they can withstand a mode with a level of 1800 ° C. They are lighter than fireclay bricks due to the high proportion of silicon salts in their composition.
If you have the opportunity, it is better to lay out the forge with dinas bricks: forge forges made of refractory silica bricks are more durable and can withstand the most severe temperature conditions.
Lay bricks with a mortar of refractory clay with the addition of chamotte and dinas powder in a clear ratio of 60:40. Process the chimney and fan around the perimeter with metal corners.
The most important final stage is the drying of the entire structure. After that, you need to check how the fans for the forge's forge work. And only then it will be possible to perform a test switch-on.
How to make a gas furnace burner
In addition to general instructions on how to make a forge, there are rules for installing a gas burner. A gas furnace can be purchased from a store, or you can make your own.
A do-it-yourself gas furnace burner must be done with the obligatory consideration of the requirements for it:
- ignition of gas must be completely safe;
- combustion must be stable;
- resistance to moisture inside the furnace;
- safety in case of changes in thrust and the risk of explosion of a combustible substance.
The burner is installed through a previously prepared lining hole. The mouth of the burner is attached to a confuser, which is pulled through a steel gasket. Then pipes are installed for supplying gas and air.
Gas is supplied from or from the network under the control of regulators. A test run of gas is carried out to check the regulators and the pressure, and the smell is monitored.