Print PDF
Favorite
Email
If for some reason, you've needed some sort of tool, or some heavy object made of steel or iron...and you've gone online, searched for that tool, and realized how expensive it was?
Forging steel and iron isn't actually all that hard, you only need a few things to do it properly.
1. A vice of some sort. My granddad happened to have one he doesn't use. You need to make sure it's properly anchored in some way, otherwise you won't be able to bend the steel very well. I just put some heavy bricks next to it to prevent it from moving around.
2. Leather gloves. The thicker, the better. I used some welding ones I had, and boy, do they help prevent burns a lot!
3. Safety Glasses - These's protect your eyes from flying embers from your forge.
4. Bricks of some kind -- We had some fire pit bricks lying around, so I decided to use those.
5. Charcoal -- Any type of charcoal will do, but briquettes are not the best. Try to get lump charcoal if you can. YOU can also use wood pieces as well, you just need to have a fire going already for it to work properly. I tried it today, and it worked great.
6. An air blower -- You can use a hairdryer, an air mattress pump, basically anything that'll blow air pretty decently. A leafblower will not work.
7. (optional) A Face shield- - - I found that this isn't really NEEDED, but, it'll protect your face from little singes from embers, and also protects a bit from radiant heat from the fire.
8. An Anvil, if you are blessed with having one. You'll need this if you need to flatten out your workpiece.
9. A hammer/sledgehammer. A small one will work just fine.
Also as a word of warning, I'M not responsible for anything bad you may do with this information. Don't burn down your house...don't be stupid, and learn, before you go outside. You'll messing with temperatures above 1500 degrees Fahrenheit. BE CAREFUL.
Forging steel and iron isn't actually all that hard, you only need a few things to do it properly.
1. A vice of some sort. My granddad happened to have one he doesn't use. You need to make sure it's properly anchored in some way, otherwise you won't be able to bend the steel very well. I just put some heavy bricks next to it to prevent it from moving around.
2. Leather gloves. The thicker, the better. I used some welding ones I had, and boy, do they help prevent burns a lot!
3. Safety Glasses - These's protect your eyes from flying embers from your forge.
4. Bricks of some kind -- We had some fire pit bricks lying around, so I decided to use those.
5. Charcoal -- Any type of charcoal will do, but briquettes are not the best. Try to get lump charcoal if you can. YOU can also use wood pieces as well, you just need to have a fire going already for it to work properly. I tried it today, and it worked great.
6. An air blower -- You can use a hairdryer, an air mattress pump, basically anything that'll blow air pretty decently. A leafblower will not work.
7. (optional) A Face shield- - - I found that this isn't really NEEDED, but, it'll protect your face from little singes from embers, and also protects a bit from radiant heat from the fire.
8. An Anvil, if you are blessed with having one. You'll need this if you need to flatten out your workpiece.
9. A hammer/sledgehammer. A small one will work just fine.
Also as a word of warning, I'M not responsible for anything bad you may do with this information. Don't burn down your house...don't be stupid, and learn, before you go outside. You'll messing with temperatures above 1500 degrees Fahrenheit. BE CAREFUL.
Remove these ads by
Signing UpStep 1Making the forge
This step is rather easy. All it involves is taking your bricks, and making some sort of half circle out of it. You'll want to fill in any cracks with dirt, otherwise you'll lose heat to the outside air. I didn't, and I think my forge efficiency suffered a bit.
Once you have your forge shell built, you'll need to add charcoal to the center. Put some paper somewhere in there, underneath some of the charcoal. Lighting the actual charcoal is surprisingly easy.
For this next step, make sure you've got your safety stuff on. Glasses, shield, gloves, that stuff.
After you've got your charcoal in a nice pile, grab your air source, and point it right at the area you want to be hottest. Stick your material to be forged in the center, light the paper on fire with a match or whatever your favorite fire starting equipment is, and turn on the air!
You may need to be patient, but once the charcoal gets going, it spreads throughout and pretty soon your entire bed of charcoal should be lit. Once lit, wait around 5-6 minutes until your object is a nice red-orange color. Then, pull it out!
Once you have your forge shell built, you'll need to add charcoal to the center. Put some paper somewhere in there, underneath some of the charcoal. Lighting the actual charcoal is surprisingly easy.
For this next step, make sure you've got your safety stuff on. Glasses, shield, gloves, that stuff.
After you've got your charcoal in a nice pile, grab your air source, and point it right at the area you want to be hottest. Stick your material to be forged in the center, light the paper on fire with a match or whatever your favorite fire starting equipment is, and turn on the air!
You may need to be patient, but once the charcoal gets going, it spreads throughout and pretty soon your entire bed of charcoal should be lit. Once lit, wait around 5-6 minutes until your object is a nice red-orange color. Then, pull it out!
| « Previous Step | Download PDFView All Steps | Next Step » |
I would not forge REBAR...Rebar is usually a "NO SPEC" STEEL...that means it has a broad range of chemistry...that includes LEAD, it can have lead in the mix and the lead will come out in the forging process...and it will be inhaled by you...
the same goes steel that is galvanized....
But this is awesome and super simple. I'll probably make this in my backyard today!
Kickin' job man, hope you keep making more tutorials on this kinda stuff.
BTW did you ever make a tutorial that was a little more in depth on making the tongs?
You'll never look at jewelry instructables again :-)
Unless you're making camping stakes, avoid rebar.
Most of that stuff is LITERALLY junk steel. They take a random mix of steels and irons, that aren't used for anything else, mix it all up, turn it into bars, and roll it out with the ridge pattern.
There ARE different grades of the stuff, some of which are very nice, but the normal stuff used in concrete construction... leave it for construction industry.
"2. Leather gloves. The thicker, the better. I used some welding ones I had, and boy, do they help prevent burns a lot!"
I use Gas Tungsten Arc(aka TIG) welding gloves for most smithing.
The leather is thick enough to protect from sparks, and most sharp steel, but thin enough to give you a good feel for what you're doing.
Yes, leather gloves are NICE to have. But don't rely on them for protecting you from burns. All they really do is DELAY the burn. If the metal is too hot to hold with your bare hand, either leave it attacked to the longer stock, and cut off LAST, or, use tongs.
These safer practices, combined WITH gloves should make for many years of Happy Hammering.