Building a Simple Forge

by cjdun123

19K18814

Intro: Building a Simple Forge

In this tutorial I am going to show you how to build a simple and effective forge.Using this forge I was able to heat steel hot enough to easily shape it and I was also able to melt aluminum.

STEP 1: Materials

For building this forge you'll need some rocks,I used granite,a bucket of mud,and a iron or steel pipe and yes I do know that the pipe in this tutorial is galvanized and that heating galvanized metal is bad,but to counter this I coated the pipe in a layer of mud and I use this forge outside so it is well ventilated.

STEP 2: Construction

Put the rocks in a ring.You can make it any size you want but I would keep it small to get maximum heat.

STEP 3: Construction Part 2

Next you want to coat the inside of the forge with a thick layer of mud.Coating it with mud will insulate the heat from the ground so the ground doesn't absorb it and the mud also insulates the rocks so they don't crack.

STEP 4: First Fireing

Here is the lit forge.To get the fire hot enough i connected the metal pipe to a vacuum cleaner on blow.I am heating up some steel to test how hot it gets ,and in the can I am melting some aluminum.

STEP 5: It Gets Hot!

As you can see the forge reaches forging temperatures it was also able to melt aluminum .

STEP 6: Conclusion

As you can see I have upgraded the forge a bit and made it bigger.but anyways thanks for viewing and since this is my first instructable please comment and tell me how I did.

13 Comments

cj4639 5 years ago

can it forge steel

Marco_Hawk 7 years ago

What did you use as canister? nice project btw, making it this summer!

AlexN97 7 years ago

Thank you. Most "easy" forge tutorials include welding or even worse a forge. It also bothers me that they use a drill press because many people do not have access to these tools. Your tutorial is simple and easy for anyone trying to get into blacksmithing without a ton of tools.

Ghost365 9 years ago

Great :D thank you very much bro!

EmcySquare 10 years ago

nice "primitive" method that works well in a pich

KorpseGrinder 10 years ago

what did you use to fire the crucible? charcoal?