Looking for opinions?

[Chris_Zacharias 8]

Hello everyone, new to the board but not new to metals. I have made a lot of knives from flat steel and files etc....also I am a auto mechanic and have some experience in body fender trade. but now I ended up with a forge and dug out an old Vulcan anvil my dad had forever. just looking for thoughts and insight on the way my equipment will perform for a beginner using a forge.

 

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Edited May 21, 2015 by Chris_Zacharias

[Doug Lester 280]

The anvil looks good. The forge is set up for coal or coke. It's too shallow for charcoal. Blacksmiths coal is getting a little hard to find but, if you can get it, that set up should do you fine. Now you need some tongs and a hammer or two.

 

Doug

[Chris_Zacharias 8]

I have a lot of hammers of various lengths and weight, also have some tongs. played with the forge a little bit by just throwing some wood on and letting it burn down, managed to melt a few pop cans and a 3/4 drill bit in half. really looking for opinions on how well a forge like this would work on doing Damascus or longer blades around the same length as a machete

[Emiliano Carrillo 244]

You'll want to set up a blower for getting it hot enough to weld together the steels for pattern welding, but aside from that I've seen some guys do some pretty awesome stuff forge welding in a coal forge, I just happen to have bad luck with it

 

It'll work just fine, but just know that there is gonna be a lot of cursing and a lot of failure, but when you get it, it will absolutely be sweet!

[Chris_Zacharias 8]

it has an old hand crank blower, it was froze up, but some new oil and a little work and it works like a charm

[Russ Carswell 1]

This anvil is great, had not seen it from a very long time.

[Alan Longmire 2,734]

I used a forge much like that for the first few years I was smithing. It'll be fine, but for longer blades you'll need to practice stroking it back and forth through the hot spot to get an even heat.

 

Oh, and don't let anyone tell you a hand-crank blower isn't good enough. That's all I use. Keep a light oil in it and it'll turn easier. I use 0W-5 synthetic motor oil in mine.

[Chris_Zacharias 8]

To get it broke loose and turn again i used a combination of pbblaster and mineral oil, i was thinking a syn motor oil would work, thanks for confirming

[LOKI VINK 4]

My first forge was bricks on the ground with a crappy fan. I personally prefer using man power, this way you can control the heat. Nice anvil you got there too

[Jim P 0]

Chris where in Oregon are you? There used to be a farrier supply in Monroe where I got my coal.

[Chris_Zacharias 8]

Im north east, by pendleton,OR. I was told in la grande there is supposed to be a coal supply. About 45mins away.

[Wayne C 1]

Hey man, welcome to the forums. If you can get ahold of blacksmithing coke, you should do it. It burns INSANELY hot and is great for forge welding. I've never done damascus, but I've done a good bit of cable welding and coke works excellent for that. Plus, you don't have to wait for all the sulfur to burn out before you forge ( like you do with coal ). If you can get coke, invest in at least 2,000 pounds of it and try to get it crushed to roughly the size of the end joint of your thumb. You can always buy it bigger but if it's too big then you have to crush it yourself and you'll lose alot to dust, which is pretty well useless in bladesmithing.

 

Again, welcome to the forum, the water is fiiiiiiiine