Make a Small Blacksmith's Forge

Step 6 Odd Stuff I Probably Left Out

OK then, don't be stupid, etc.
You'll want to get a poker or something to move the fire about with, i used my tongs. I'll probably have an instructable on making/finding a cheap and effective anvil soon enough.
Have Fun Forging!

Comments

[Zipmiestermag#56]

What about a length of steel H-beam? Would that make a good anvil?

[jemtallon]

My grandpa used to make anvils from old railroad rails. I'm not sure how/where he got the rails cut down to size but I have one of his old anvils still and it works fine. If you can find a way to buy some old track off of someone and get it cut, it might be a cheap anvil for you too. The thing I like about it is that it's light enough to be portable but it's still pretty heavy duty. If you'd like a picture, let me know.

[Vendigroth]

sure, send it actually, i've been planning to get a bit of track, but it's tricky to find it and get it wthout the hazard of being hit by a train, so now, i'm going to weld some small steel stakes onto a sledgehammer head and try that.

[kcfreeloader]

I've seen lot of people use a foot long piece of hard steel sticking up a few inches out of a five gallon bucket with concrete poured around it. You could do the same thing with the sledge hammer head. Just leave a few inches sticking above the concrete.

[Vendigroth]

Yeah, i made one like that, it's set into a gallon of concrete. Thing is, the concrete's starting to crumble now, so ima need something more permanent.

[acoleman3]

make another one and reinforce it with a rebar cage. it'll reduce the interior shock stress and wont crumble as easily. this is what tim lively uses and hes had it for years now.

[thoraxe]

I heard u can get arrested if u get caught with railroad track without written permission from the station or company.

[ElmoRoyD]

I think it depends on the country, here in Mexico is illegal to have railroads tracks, without a permission. thats becouse The government own the railroad tracks, and a lot of people steals it.

It may also depend on the size of it.

[jemtallon]

That may be - I'm not sure. I got mine from my grandpa who supposedly bought it from the railroad many years ago (I think in the 60s). I imagine a quick call to them would solve the issue if you're interested in making one. You'd want to contact them anyway if you wanted to buy one :)

[n0ukf]

I went to the local railroad maintenance shop and asked about spikes in their scrap bin. They said take what I want. I got some short pices of rail (even some 1/8" to 1" slices) and a couple pieces of rail 3' long... man that's heavy to move without help. If you see numbers on the side, that's likely the weight per yard, so if you see 139 on the side, it's a 139 pound per yard rail. No telling what you might find if you ask for their junk. And there was no written permission. It's a hunk of steel, not some illegal substance.

[Wroger-Wroger]

Should all be Kg per meter by now.

[facilitator476]

I think that the problem is that parts for the railroad are either state or government property. It's some level of illegal to take them off the track, for obvious reasons. I just wish that the scrap yard down the street would take the spikes they leave on the side of the tracks. They have to way a couple pounds apiece

[thoraxe]

Well, ask the guy from PurgatoryIronWorks on youtube. he's the one who told me.

[Vendigroth]

Maybe he meant a huge bit, rather than an offcut. 'Cos a 3-inch offcut's going to be of no use to anyone. ;]

[JuCo]

now, this is just a guess... but it could possibly be a law that's on the books to deter people from taking lengths of rail from active lines. (for use or to sell for scrap)

this way the police just have to prove you're in possession rather than having to try to prove that you took that length of rail from that line.

[the walking stick]

I'm sure thats what it is. they don't want people taking lengths out of an active line. There's that scene in October sky where they take a section out to sell for money and the train comes along behind them. So I can see the logic there. but our country does have a large amount of not in use lines, so scrap can be found. lots of scrap yards I've visited have had sections as well

[JuCo]

oh, absolutely... now that you reminded me of "october sky", that scene is a perfect example of an area that is littered with now-dead train lines. the mine shuts down, the line goes dead, and half the time (especially back when that movie was set) they leave the tracks.

my mom was showing me where she used to work once and right over the fence from the parking lot was about 30 yards of track and 2 train cars. just sitting there. no other track anywhere in the area. it made me wish i had the money to buy those cars. they were 2 passenger cars. i don't know too much about the different train styles, but the accents and trim suggested that they were probably built somewhere between the 60's and the 80's.

[the walking stick]

well that'd be a great place to get track from, granted I got no idea how you're going to chop off a small section. feel like it'd kill a reciprocating saw....

[JuCo]

maybe chew on it a while? :o)

[the walking stick]

oh and i've been using it length wise, rather then vertical. its fairly flat on top, great for knifemaking

[Wooginator]

 I was wondering if you knew about how hot this actually gets, and also what metal you worked with it?  I assume iron or steel?

[matthewtyler1]

i was wondering that too. it seems very ineffeicent because there isnt much as far as in sulation. insulation would also save your hands from the scorching heat, i have seen forges made from propane tanks those have lids.

[x z i t]

I THINK IRON WILL BE TOO HARD, STEEL ESPECIALLY.
TRY SODA CANS, ONE MELTS IN ABOUT 5 SECS, AND ITS CHEAP, I MADE KNUCKLE DUSTERS WIT EM

[snowluck2345]

This is a forge, meant for FORGING metal, not casting. You probably couldn't CAST iron or steel with this, but you could get it up to FORGING temperatures for steel.

[Pyro the maniac]

You can buy anvils at princess auto for 17 bucks!

[Zetheros]

The anvils that cost $17($19 now) are cast iron, which is a terrible metal to make anvils out of. Steel anvils are what you want.

[JohnMichael]

If you can find someone who works on the railroads, a short section of rail makes a good anvil.

[alex-sharetskiy]

juts saw off a little piece of railroad at night : )

[superballistix]

It's easy to make it hot enough, but as Vendigroth said, the glass will be nasty and messy. You can make the tin higher and bury the glass under the coals, make more ventillation holes in the the sides at the bottom(not too big then it don't get hot, not too small or it won't get enough air) and put a chimney on top to suck more air into the holes to create a natural airflow, but I think at the end it would not be so compact anymore.

[Moonrabbit]

So the idea is pretty much maximum hearth with minimal sized forge? Pretty sweet. My forge was one of those portable deallys which was pretty much just a glorified cast iron BBQ, it would be easy to set up in my back yard. Over here the problem is that there are bylaws against working with a forge in residential areas. I love the work you do with this refractory stuff though. Great ideas.

[crashbash]

im about to go on a 3 week hunting trip and need a forge and anvil to sharpen build camp ect. can you make an instructable on making a complete camp with a forge anvil stick tent etc?

[blademaker]

I use a 75 pound farriers anvil on knives, but I have used railroad rails and they do work but I should mention they need to be secured because they bounce and use hearing protection because they will ring your bell. Nice forge by the way I have been looking for some kind of small portable forge.

[jemtallon]

I'm afraid I only had a webcam for these shots of the anvil. I'll try to get some better shots from a decent camera later and send those along too. Basically it's about a foot long piece of train rail. The one end is cut flat and the other has a tip that extends out from it. It's a pretty simple design, really. I'm sure a few calls to the railroad asking if they have any old track they're willing to sell might turn up something. I know around here they have a few small abandoned tracks that they have been digging up in recent years. I'm not sure what they do with the track itself but I doubt they can reuse it. It might be worth asking, in any case.

[Vendigroth]

one of them looks like it'll do quite nicely :) will i need to heat-treat it, or does it work well enough on its own?

[jemtallon]

Sorry I disappeared there for a while. Got busy at work and gapped out. I don't think he ever did anything special to it other than cut it to shape. I imagine you could try to harden it but it really takes a beating as it is.

[static]

I would think rail would be pretty well work hardened by the time it's taken out of service.

[by-tor the snow dog]

will this get hot enough to do glasswork?

[Vendigroth]

ooh, hmm...well, i've tried glassblowing a few times, tho not in this, and it needs fairly high temperatures, in the orange range. I think it will, but as it burns, the glass'll get sticky and stick to the coals. In short, i'm fairly sure it will, but your glass'll be all nasty at the end. why not try it and get back to me? i've still got another pot od refractoy, so perhaps a small gas furnace next...