How To Make A Bladesmiths Forge

In this Instructable I will be explaining how to convert that old barbecue grill sitting in your yard next to all that junk into a furnace capable of heating up steel to forge long items such as knives,daggers,and small swords. Before we begin I would like to say I am not responsible for any injury or damage caused by reading and/or following the instructions in this Instructable and working with hot items will always have associated risks. I would like to give credit to Tim Lively as I watched his movie called Knifemaking Unplugged and have based 1 of my refractory mixtures and the design of the forge off of what he uses. Great movie. I ordered it off of Amazon Unbox.

Step 1 Clean that crap up!

First we will want remove all the internal components such as the rack and burners. Strip it down to the bare grill body. Remove all knobs and such so that all you have is the metal grill. Remove and throw out the handle, if it is plastic. Now we will use a blowtorch to heat up the grease that has accumulated from you chowing down. We will heat up a section of the grill with the torch and scrape the the heated section with a metal scraper. Now we will heat it again and this time we will wipe it down with a paper tower. Once your satisfied that it is nice and clean proceed to spray it with oven cleaner, just to make sure. Let this sit for a while and then spray off with a hose. Let the grill dry.

Comments

[Shadow13!]

I know their would be more to disassemble, but could you do this with a broken gas grill instead of a charcoal one?

[kpurse]

your livelyknives.com link doesn't work

[greenfreak]

hey, what might u be using to blow air into this thing?.... ive had many attempts at building a forge but none have worked because i cant get the right device! :/ and and all help will be thanked!

[harmsc12]

I've been reading up to build my own forge. Maybe you should look up clinkers.

[Gator1070_]

i just used an old dirt devil vacume , it sucks from the front and "BLOWS" into the bag just rerig the bag to a hose and you got it......the olny thing is you really need a way to control the amount of air comming into the system, so what i did is got a dimmer switch , and a standerd plugin-outlet, hact up an extintion cord, and. the male end of the cord goes in the wall then, it goes into the outlet box through the dimmer switch and into the plugin.. now i have not built a forge yet still working on that, however i do use it as the air intake on my blast-furnace. works really well..!!!!!!!!!!

[trf]

Well optimally somethin with a good airflow. The BEST thing you can get is an old hand cranked blacksmiths blower. Other things that work are "squirrel cage" blowers. You may have seen one drying the floor to your local walmart at the enterance. Its round with a small outlet hole usually wide on the floor models. Other ideas i can think of are old ELECTRIC leaf blowers! Sorry for taking so long to respond!

[Mrcheese15]

do you think this would work with a propane bbq?

[skimmo]

could you use a 44 gallon drum

[jetboy]

wouldn't ashes (fine and free of debris) work ive used it before, i mixed it with water and let it set and it hardened up nicely

[trf]

Perhaps it would..sounds like a great recipe and on the cheap side...i would love that. Maybe send me the proportions and ill give it a good trial run with some fire and maybe a blow torch and stuff. Thanks!

[TimmyMiller]

why is it red???

[trf]

My camera sucked at the time....plus the window behind me was dirty lol

[Gksarmy]

so, to get that straight, you could just line the inside with cat litter? instead of paying $100 a bag?

[Dark Solar]

Be cautious--not all cat litters are created equal. I had a very bad experience with cat litter involving evolution of chlorine gas upon heating. For safety's sake, heat-test a small sample first.

[trf]

In theory yes... i have heard of clay cat litter mixed with water to form a slurry which is then evaporated to leave u with a regular consistency clay which is then placed in there. In practice..i would not...the work of making a slurry and drying it and then placing it in there to have it crack after a few uses and then buy a new bag is the downside. id imagine with the labor and and price of litter eventualy ull add up to the same price at the stuff that basically never needs repair.

[Gator1070_]

i've been pondering for a wile..... could u use dirt turnd into varry thin mud almost like slip so theres no dry spots and then boil it down to a really really thick mud and then use that?

[Gksarmy]

ahh, well, i really only want to make one thing with the forge: a straight edge knife/razor for hair shaving. do you think i'd be able to make it after just one attempt? or...not? haha

[trf]

Well all i can say is you can try. The tough part wont be shaping it. The toughest part will be making it go from looks to function. You would need a very fine edge and would need great sharpening equipment ranging from course to honing gear... out of the 5-10 ive made i havent acheived that sharpness...but ive acheived decent blades that dont dull easily..all im lacking is handle making. lol

[Gksarmy]

I've got a bench grinder (don't remember the specs right now :/ ) and a dremel, do you think i'll be able to make it work? because i can get the railroad spike(s) i plan to use for free, and the forge i could make easily i believe. (the strop too i can make) and the sharpening stone(s) i believe my dad might have ATM would probably work...
do you think i could take it to a local sharpening store and have them put an edge on it? because even if they charge $20-$50 to put an edge on it, i still think that it would be at least equal or even better to/than what i could buy with the same amount of money.

[trf]

well its possible... but its gonna be pretty difficult...i would not reccomend starting with a rail spike. Some of the spikes MAY be high carbon steel but getting it to the thickness is alot of work especialy if you have never forged before.  My advice would be to either get some basic stock like round stock and hammer it flat (dont get it very thick) OR get flat stock the thickness you desire and cut it out with a hacksaw or other tool. Straight razors are one of the finest edged tools that a common person would use on a daily basis. They require a great first sharpening and then great maintence following it.  I have taken a qoute from another article on this to share with you.

'Sharpening is the final stage in the process. At first the blade is sharpened on a grinding wheel. Following that the blade can be honed by holding the blades against the flat side of rotating round stones, or by drawing the blade across stationary flat stones. The cutting edge is finished using a strop."

So the idea behind it would be to go from a quick edge using a somewhat fine grinding wheel on your grinder or a stationary stone. Be carefule in doing this cause excessive heat that can turn the steel colors is bad for the integrity of the blade. The you would move up to different courseness of arkansas stones until you get it pretty fine. Then from there you would use a strop possibly with polishing compound on it to finish the edge. You may be able to get a shop to do it for you but make sure to discuss the use of the blade with them before having them do it so you know what they are able to make the blade do. I have a railroad spike knife myself and let me tell ya..with a good amount of work its still pretty thick..id call it more of a chopping knife due to the thickness.

[Gksarmy]

hmmm ok, sounds like i might have to put out a little more money than i was expecting. oh well. so: to clarify, i'll need a piece of: high carbon flat stock, and then forge it? or just use a hacksaw on it? (i'll be making my own strop btw haha)

sorry to repeat but i'll need to buy:
1 piece of high carbon flat stock STEEL? or IRON?
and then: FORGE it, or just CUT it out?

also, there's a barber that uses a straight razor on campus. he's been there for 50+ years. im betting he'd be able to hone a fairly dull razor.

btw, how much do you think a piece of stock will run me? (in USD)

[trf]

Basically...you can get thin round stock and hammer it flat and to shape OR get a sheet of flat stock and cut it out in shape...then you would want to sharpen it to the best of your abilities...these razors come sharp and they r only maintained sharp..they are not really resharpened by a barber..he keeps them sharp with the strop. If you get it to a pretty good edge he may be able to do it for you OR tell you how to sharpen as you want it. Ive never really bought steel...all my stuff is recycled. You want a flat stock as thick as the BACK UNSHARPENED edge of your razor will be and from there u grind the edge you want and do all the sharpening tricks to it.

You either want 1 peice flat STEEL stock or 1 peice round steel stock and forge it flat and work with it

[Gksarmy]

i think i'll just get a sheet of thin flat stock. I'll let you know how this all works out in a couple of weeks when i get back home to my tools! 

oh, and i saw on youtube a video of a guy making wedges from wood for a straight razor...do you know what those are? just curious haha

[trf]

sunds good! you will have to post a pic! and i have no clue on that 1 lol

[Gksarmy]

Oh, i'll DEFINITELY be posting a picture :)

but, i might be using a differant forge :S sorry! i don't have this readily available...probably going to bury a piece of pipe in the ground and then drill holes in it, dig out the dirt around it, then line the sides around it with red brick.

;D

[trf]

ive seen that done but it is unsighly...my last design was a large steel cake tin lined with clay with a pipe drilled into the side and just blowing it in from a hair dryer..no holes.... just straight out the end... it was able to heat up a peice of rail spike..not the most efficent for a large knife so i made that new 1.... ive also seen small steel utility tubs u can buy em at homedepot..its just basically a rubbermade container but its steel instead... line em with clay and put a pipe through

[Gksarmy]

haha, im just not wanting to pay the $100+ for the razor :P
i still LOVE the idea of smithing, but i just don't have the time/space to get into it as much as i want to right now :/

[big trav]

Honestly I am a bladesmith and there is no way you will get it at the first attempt it is not just about the grinding or forging to shape there is hardening and tempering and honestly with a bench grinder and a dremel you will be pushing pooh up hill right from the start. You would be better off buying a good quality straight razor. Usually these are ICE hardened and are made in such a fashion that they work!!!

[Gksarmy]

good thing this site's not about trying to do stuff yourself or anything....

[trf]

I doubt it would be that much... if u just wanna start off... fine a peice of scrap steel,a cake tin at walmart for a few bucks,a regular hammer which im sure u have acess to,a hard peice of steel (in my case it was a railroad plate on a tree stump),a small peice of pipe,a hair dryer,a pair of good pliars to grip the metal,some work gloves...drill a hole through the tin and put the pipe through,clay around the bowl and pipe to make a clay liner,put the blow dryer on the outside end of the pipe and duct tape it on and duct tape it to cold. add charcoal and light it and turn on the hair dryer. let it get hot. drop steel in. pick out with pliars. hammer on tree stump steel. reheat. its a very simple and cheap set up..it works on SMALL stuff

[Gksarmy]

A good dovo razor introductory price is $99.99 :S
and i think im going to find a good picture of a razor online and cut it out, then spray paint that onto my piece of steel. then bench grind it down.

[ajn142]

Scrap steel from saw blades or files is best. It's high carbon and made for cutting and what not. You would probably be best off using a file, grinding off the teeth as otherwise they will hold dirt and rust and other things that will keep you from properly forging it, then heating it up and drawing it out (making it thinner). If it is going to be heated up between marking and grinding it, then you will have to use soapstone and not spraypaint. This should be availiable at any welding supply store, and you can probably find one where you buy your metal or at the local hardware store.

[jtobako]

A few practical hints : ) Have a way to cut down on the amount of air going in or you are going to go threw WAY to much charcoal and get way to hot. Don't restrict the outlet of the vacuum or you can burn out the motor (the air going threw the vacuum cools the motor-no air, no cooling and the motor overheats). A hairdryer has plenty (to much) of airflow for charcoal : ) Have a way to cut down on how much of the tuyere is open. Tim Lively uses mud to make the fire smaller-one of the few times you will need a fire that long is when you are hardening or tempering a blade. The rest of the time, you are wasting charcoal : ) I would recommend using the center area rather than the end so you can heat longer pieces in stages. Tim Lively may be able to work a knife up from one end, but that takes lots of practice : ) I've found a fire pit that deep can be difficult to use-I keep burning my hand trying to get iron in and out and readjusted in the tongs... How about a shot down inside the forge so we can see how much of the tuyere you left out of the refractory? Looks good. Try and post pics of first fire : )

[trf]

Ahhh i see...a fellow knifemaker =) Despite the fact the hair dryer is just perfect...i can hear that jet noise in the fire which is recomended. But yes i will post more pics as i am finishing up a practice knife today. And on the fact of air regulator i have an adjustable speed blow dryer...a very nice amenity...at least until i aqcuire 1 of the hand crank blowers.

[ajn142]

If you have an air compressor you could use that as well, you would just use the 1.5 inch pipe for the whole length of rather than using it for part of the length with a piece of 2 inch at the end. You then put an air pressure regulator (usually are a thumbscrew like cap on top of a glass bulb) on, followed by a ball valve (emergency shut-off), and then a male quick connect to attatch your hose to. I'm hopefully building one in a week or 2, i'll post an ible with the details and how it works. Obviously yours is great if you don't have the fancier stuff, but if you do then you may as well use it. I'm fortunate enough to, so I will. Great ible by the way, it will make putting one of these together alot easier.

[trf]

Great idea! Im workin on upping the air flow. im thinking of adding a shopvac instead of the hair dryer...that is until my oil furnace is up and urnning..still looking for a body,body insulation,and a fuel tank to attach... lol

[winman2000]

One quick thing; I have looked at a lot of tutorials, and have seen little in the way of what to blow air into the fire with. I am just getting into knifemaking, so anybody with good tips please pm me!

[trf]

I use an old hair dryer on low for small objects and high for large objects =) If u have any specific questions dont be afraid to ask

[winman2000]

Here's one other question. Do I have to use charcoal or gas? Could I get by with plain old wood and newspaper?

[Firebang]

Charcoal is essentially wood, but I'm sure it would take longer to get the heat that you'd need for proper forging. Charcoal bricks are not expensive, so you could just stop by any store like Home Hardware, Home Depot, Costco, and I'm sure grocery stores would have them as well. They may not, but it wouldn't make sense for them not to have it.