The topic of toolmaking came up on the musical instruments forum, and I mentioned the "two brick forge" I had made a while ago. John Jordan asked for pictures and details, so here they are:
The forge was made from two soft fire bricks (the kind used to line ceramic kilns), some angle stock, 1/4" rod stock and some nuts and washers from Home Depot. I sawed the bricks in half with a ryoba to make four 4 1/2" square pieces, and drilled a 2 1/2" diameter hole in the center of each of the halves with a hole saw. If you do it that way, save the "plugs" that wind up in the hole saw - they come in handy.
The way the frame was made is obvious from the pictures. I used rod instead of all-thread because it came out cheaper that way, and you only really have to thread about an inch on each end.
I painted the inside of the chamber, all the joints, and any cracks with refractory cement. Total cost was somewhere between $30 and $50 (don't remember - it was a while ago...).
Drilled a hole in the front section for the torch, and cut one of the "plugs" in half to partially block up the back. You could drill another hole further back for another torch if you need to, but I found that using the TS-8000 torch head with MAP gas gets it plenty hot for hardening blades. Other guys have built similar designs and used propane as the fuel.
The forge takes about a minute or two to heat up, and then it's good to go for hardening. I've never used it for "forging" blades, only to harden things I'd already made. But I think it would get hard enough for forging as well, at least for the small stuff that would fit into it.
Unfortunately, I didn't take any "in progress" pics, but here's the finished forge:
IMG_1362.jpg
IMG_1363.jpg
IMG_1364.jpg
And with the torch inserted:
IMG_1365.jpg
In action:
IMG_0536.jpg
And the first thing I hardened in it, a kiridashi made from an old file:
IMG_0537.jpg
This knife was really useful in my last instrument build. The really nice thing about this little forge is that I can use it indoors all year round - it makes no more fumes than the gas stove in my kitchen.
Reply With Quote