Blacksmithing Guide. Blacksmith Shop. Equipment.

 Blacksmithing Guide.

Blacksmith Shop. Equipment.

Today’s “economy of waste” presents craftsmen with an abundance of scrap steel from which to forge useful and beautiful things.

In the light of today’s renaissance of handicrafts the ancient art of blacksmithing takes on a new interest . The modern blacksmith must to perfect their forging skills and knowlenge, learn to do by himself what the old-time blacksmith and his helper did as a trade. Anyone who is dexterous by nature can become Experienced Blacksmith. Reveals secrets, How to use the basic techniques and tools to make “things” out of “nothing.” The equipment, tools and the procedure for work are described in this manual.

The Blacksmith Shop and its Equipment

Forge

A forge is the most important piece of blacksmith shop equipment. Forges are either portable or stationary.

Blacksmith forges, with hand-cranked air blowers, are still being made. However, a simple forge is not difficult to make from available salvaged material. You may very well invent your own setup, just as long as it accomplishes its basic function.

The basin holds in its center a sufficient mound of glowing coal in which to heat the steel. The flow of centrifugally fanned air entering from below can be controlled for a fire of less, or more, heat.

A hand-cranked centrifugal fan is good. One driven by an electric motor, controlled by a foot-pedal rheostat switch, functions well. Even an old hair-dryer fan, without the heating element, can be adapted to do the job.

It is here that the question comes up: which is preferred, a hand-cranked blower or a machine-driven one?

Preference has always been for the hand-cranked blower. It has the self-governing feature of the air flow stopping automatically when you stop cranking.

If you use an electric fan, make certain to install a foot-operated rheostat which shuts itself off once the foot is removed. Such a switch automatically stops the air flow, and the fire remains dormant while the smith is forging.

If you use machine-driven blowers without a foot-operated rheostat, use a damper in the air feed. It should have a spring action that automatically shuts off the air flow when the foot is removed from the damper pedal. A mechanically driven system without such a safety device requires remembering to shut off the air flow manually each time forging is to begin. To forget invites a dangerous situation: an ever-growing fire at your back while you forge. In your absence it may radiate so much heat that it could ignite nearby paper or cloth, or bum steel left unattended in the fire. Make certain your forge is of a type to prevent overheating of a temporarily unattended fire.

The modem improvement of a hinging smoke-catcher is an additional desirable feature for a forge. It is similar to the antipollutant device in some automobiles. In cars it catches oil smoke and leads it into the combustion chambers of the engine. In the forge, the smoke emission, mixed with surrounding oxygen when starting up the fire, is led by the catcher back into the fire by way of the air intake. Once the fire flames up, it consumes the smoke by itself and the smoke-catcher, no longer needed, is hinged out of the way. A relatively smokeless fire is maintained thereafter.

In arranging the shop, keep the forge, anvil, water trough and dipper, tong and hammer racks, etc. so spaced that simply by taking a single step you can pick up what you need while working between the forge and the anvil. No time is lost then, and forging can begin within one or two seconds after the hot steel has been pulled out of the fire.

The forge and tools should be located in the darkest part of the shop, so that the heat of the steel can be judged correctly, in a semi-dark space. In broad daylight too hot a steel can hardly be seen, and overheating may then ruin it structurally. 

Practical home-made forge

Smoke- catcher is hinged out of the way after first flame shows.

Fire brick or fire clay.

Outdoor riveting forge. Hood to shade against sunlight. Centrifugal blower. Poker.

a. Portable. — (1) A portable forge, the type used in mobile shops, is shown in figure 1. Its essential parts are a hearth, a tuyere and

Fig. 1.—Portable forge.

a blower. The hearth is a pan made from rolled-steel plate in which the fire is laid. The tuyere (fig. 2) directs an air blast into the fire. It is made of cast iron and consists of a fire pot, base, blast valve, and ash gate. The air blast enters the base, as shown in the illustration, and is

Fig. 2. — Tuyfere.

admitted to the fire through the valve. A popular blast valve is a hollow cylinder having a large opening at the bottom through which ashes can fall, and a slot at the top through which air enters the fire. The valve handle turns the valve to free it of ashes and also places it in three different positions which regulate the size and direction of the blast according to the kind of fire required.

(2) The portable forge usually has a hand-cranked blower (fig. 3). A fan in a housing is rotated by the crank through two pairs of step-up gears. The fan rotates at about 2,200 r. p. m. when the crank is turned at easy cranking speed, and produces an air-blast pressure of about 2 ounces per square inch.

Fig. 3.—Hand-operated blower.

(3) A hood is provided on the forge (fig. 1) for carrying away smoke and fumes from the fire. A water tank which hangs at the side of the hearth is also usually furnished. Portable forges are some times equipped with electric blowers. These are the same as hand blowers except that the fan is driven by an electric motor. When the fan is power-driven, a blast gate is provided in the pipe between the blower and tuyere to regulate the strength of the blast. Portable forges are sometimes provided with a downdraft hood so the blower intake can remove smoke and gases. Part of the unconsumed gases are returned to the fire for full combustion, which is said to save coal and keep the shop clean and healthful.

b. Stationary. —Stationary forges are essentially the same as the portable forge just described but are usually larger and have permanent air and exhaust connections. They may have individual blowers or there can be one large blower for a group of forges. The air-blast valve usually has three slots at the top, the positions of which can be controlled by turning the valve handle. One, two, or three slots can be opened to the fire, thus regulating the size of the blast. Like portable forges they are of two types, updraft and downdraft.

(1) In the updraft type the smoke and gases pass up through the hood and chimney by natural draft, as shown in figure 4. If the natural draft is not sufficient an exhaust fan can be built into the flue connection. 

Fig. 4.—Updraft stationary forge.

(2) In the downdraft forge (fig. 5) the smoke and gases are drawn under an adjustable hood and carried down through a duct by an exhaust fan which is entirely separate from the blower. Downdraft forges are usually considered more desirable than updraft forges since they ventilate the shop by positive removal of smoke and gases, and keep it cool by circulating the air. 

Fig. 5.—Downdraft stationary forge.