DIY portable forge. A simple DIY blacksmith's forge made from junk

Blacksmith masterpieces have always enjoyed special love and popularity. And if you have the strength, desire and opportunity, then you can always take up this profitable craft within the territory of your private home. Moreover, a homemade brick forge turns out to be very simple to make independently.

Purpose of the equipment

In any forge, the forge is used for a number of important operations - to heat the metal immediately before forging, to cement it, or to engage in other heat treatment operations. Even outside production workshop it allows you to get temperatures reaching up to 1200 degrees. The most amazing thing is that you can make such equipment yourself - in its simplified version it can be assembled in about thirty minutes, using only six fireclay bricks and a few pieces of steel. At the same time, both temperature and quality indicators of the heating process itself will meet the requirements for fine artistic forging and even swimming trunks.

Horns are divided into open and closed. In the first version, the source is heated in a special space-chamber.

For the second type, fuel will be poured directly onto the grate itself, and air will be supplied from below (it is convenient to work with large workpieces).

How will homemade equipment work? The operation of any (both industrial and domestic) similar equipment is based on the principle of the chemical reaction produced by the combustion of carbon. This element is capable of literally “greedily” wanting to reunite with oxygen (which was taken into account in metallurgy). Ores of iron and other metals are oxides and their compounds. When heated, oxygen goes to carbon, and the metal begins to be released in free form.

However, you need to make sure that the metal itself does not burn - if it is overexposed, it will simply become overdried (this is, for example, cast iron).

That is why it is important to regulate the flow of air into the furnace. And this cannot be done without a properly constructed structure.

How the forge works

The industrial apparatus has a slightly different homemade device. Before you start self-production such a product, you need to study its basis:

1. Through a nozzle (another name for a tuyere) air enters the chamber space.
2. Refractory bricks will maintain the required temperature power.
3. The grate bars will hold the fuel used above the air chamber.
4. The fuel source will be loaded into the forge socket.
5. More bricks will form the frame of the device.
6. A fan supplies air to the furnace.
7. The overall frame is usually made of metal.
8. Air chamber.
9. Ash pit.
10. Air duct pipe.
11. Casing.

Of course, in order to comply with all of the above, to an ordinary person there is not enough knowledge and funds. But a more simplified version can easily be installed on your own.

Brick forge: a simple closed version

A temporary forge is easily erected from available materials. For this you will need:

• six refractory bricks;
• blowtorch;
• homemade grate (grid) made of steel strips with a thickness of at least 3 mm.

All work must be carried out in a pre-designed fireproof place. The correct sequence of steps can be considered as follows:

1. The bottom “layer” of bricks (two pieces) is laid.
2. Then two cut pieces are placed on them drainpipes, on which the grating is placed so that a gap is still visible between it and the bricks below.
3. On the grill, you need to bend the transverse slats a little - this will help them capture the flame of a heated blowtorch and direct it straight up.
4. Two side bricks are laid (these will be the walls).
5. On them, similarly to the bottom ones, the remaining top pair will be located.
6. Coke (coal) is poured onto the grate and placed in front of the forge itself. blowtorch(already warmed up). Its flame ignites the coals and maintains further combustion. Now all that remains is to find the optimal direction of the flame so that the output temperature is very high.
7. For safety reasons, it is better to isolate the blowtorch from the hot forge with some kind of screen made of non-flammable material.

Manufacturing of parts

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The working surface will be a table - that is, the base of the forge, where the hearth with fuel will be placed. It is on it that metal workpieces are heated. This design usually turns out to be very heavy. It’s easy to make: for example, you can make a metal cover using a 4 mm sheet of steel.
How is the grating made? You can “adapt” an old cast-iron frying pan for this (just before doing this you need to drill several holes with a 10 mm diameter). Alternatively, a wheel rim will do.
After completing work with the grille, we adjust it by inserting it into the hole in the table. To make it “fit” better, the brick can even be slightly sawed down (after soaking it in water). The height of such a table can be chosen arbitrarily, but it is better to do it at the level of the master’s belt.

Gas options

Is it possible to replace coal (usually coke) and a blowtorch with some other analogues? For example, it could be a gas burner. In industry - yes, it’s easy for the simple reason that the monogases used there are specially designed for such purposes (they consist of a specially selected mixture). But household gas will not provide optimal air heating that can heat the metal. In addition, a household burner contains an admixture of sulfur, which can simply “kill” everything operational properties metal (for the reverse process everything will have to be melted again). Steel and sulfur from wood also “poison” it.
Of course, you can fight something like this. Only the methods are somewhat “exotic”:

1. Pass the gas from the cylinder through a container of mothballs before feeding it into the burner.
2. Use this gas to heat parts that are not too critical and subject to load (this could be some decorative artistic elements of forging).

How to use "homemade"

homemade brick forge

Additional air supply can be provided using a foot drive (usually mechanical). It can be replaced with both a fan and a vacuum cleaner. Regarding the latter, we can say that it is important here that there is a speed controller and that it makes little noise.
The brick forge is almost ready. Now it’s important to learn how to use it correctly:

1. The forging itself will begin with pouring fuel onto the grate area. Although many blacksmiths act according to this principle: the blanks are placed on the coals themselves, and another layer is added on top (this allows a roof to form inside the coal and create the necessary high temperature).
2. It is still allowed to use wood fuel, but to do this you will have to install one ring on the forge (height 15 cm and diameter 20 cm). A vertical cutout is made inside the ring and the same on the other side.
3. So as it burns wood waste will fall down, and at the very bottom the optimal temperature for working with a metal product will be set. If you plan to work with workpieces big size, then it is better to increase the working surface - for this it is enough to make a special removable table of the required size from the corners.
4. You will also need to install a hood above the mini-forge workshop - such a box can either be purchased or made independently.
5. The workpiece selected for forging must be buried in already hot coal, where it is kept until it turns approximately light orange (this is an indicator that the temperature has approached about a thousand degrees). You can’t keep the workpieces for too long - this will only worsen them mechanical properties, and will make the metal too brittle.
6. For forging, a hammer weighing up to one kilogram is used. You need to wear special safety glasses when working - this will prevent hot scale from getting into your eyes.
7. As an anvil, you can use any massive metal thing - a sledgehammer or even a piece of rail.

A homemade forge will even help you do welding- only in this case the parts need to be heated to white heat (and this is a temperature of at least 1300 degrees) and overlapped. But for this it is better to use low-carbon steel materials.
You can even solder on such equipment. For this, the parts are first tied with wire and covered with borax (or flux) and then sent to the forge to be heated to a temperature of 900° - this will be visible from orange color metal All that remains is to bring pieces of brass into the soldering areas and wait until they spread along the seam.
With the help of this homemade equipment you can make grates, fireplace tongs, decorative door and gate hinges, and even a candlestick. The assortment will depend only on the wishes of the master behind the mine.
For a more detailed discussion of the topic, we recommend watching a video on making a simple forge:

Do-it-yourself forging has not lost its relevance nowadays. To impart plastic properties to a metal, it must be heated. The blacksmith's forge successfully copes with this task. Its main function is to gradually increase the temperature at which the metal can be forged. The forging temperature is about 1200 0 C. There are several types of forges, each of which can be purchased at a specialized store, but in order to save money, you can make a forge with your own hands.

There are 3 classifications of forges for forging with your own hands:

• by design features;
• on the fuel used;
• depending on the surface size.

Depending on the design, closed or open forges. Depending on what fuel is used for the forge, there are furnaces running on fuel oil, coal and gas forges. The basis for dividing furnaces by surface size is small, medium, and large structures.

The use of coal-fired forges is an outdated procedure for forging. This is due to a number of disadvantages of this type of fuel.

Coal heats the forge unevenly and requires significant consumption. A coal-fired device has low efficiency.

Furnaces running on fuel oil are also becoming obsolete in terms of use. But this type even if it is not used in industrial quantities, it can be successfully used at home.

Making a gas forge does not take much time.

In this case, it is enough to take steel scraps and 6 fireclay bricks.

Forge structure

Any homemade forge for forging should include the following components:

• air duct;
• valve;
• crucible;
• firebox with grate;
• umbrella;
• chimney or gas outlet (depending on the type of furnace);
• window for feeding workpieces;
• air drainage;
• hardening bath;
• forge table;
• air chamber;
• forge tent;
• gas chamber.

Making a forge with your own hands

It is recommended to make forges closed type. They consist of these components: masonry (lining), support frame and racks, chimney, hearth, fan and damper. To create a homemade forge you will need the following materials:

• profiled rolled steel;
• coating;
• steel in the form of thick sheets;
• sheet steel for exterior finishing;
• chimneys made of steel;
• fire brick.

Profile rolled metal is used for manufacturing support posts, frames and dampers. The coating used must be strong enough to withstand fire. The same requirements apply to thick sheet steel. It must also be well protected from high temperatures and fire.

Manufacturing the forge support frame

At the first stage of arranging the forge, it is necessary to manufacture its supporting frame. First of all, the place where the forge itself will be located is selected. It is important that the structure itself is located near the wall of the room, not adjacent to other rooms. Otherwise, the master will have problems installing the chimney and fan.

According to safety requirements, the forge should be located 1 meter from the main wall. It is important that the wall itself does not consist of materials that can easily catch fire.

Installation of the support frame involves the use of drawings and diagrams. It is necessary to compare in advance the dimensions of the future forge and the dimensions of the workshop in which it is intended to be installed.

For the manufacture of racks, steel grade 09G2S is used, which contains less than 2.5% alloying elements (chrome, nitrogen). This steel is low-alloy, which is reflected in its strength and welding speed.

The support posts for the frame are welded. After the frame is ready, holes are made in it through which parts of the outer decoration of the forge will later be attached.

Making vaults and hearth hearths

The roof of the furnace, that is, its upper part, must be made of materials that can withstand very high temperatures. It is on the vaults that the entire load will fall. The most widely used materials for vaults are dinas and fireclay.

Dinas is one of the highly refractory materials. It can withstand temperatures of the order of 1790 0 C. Dinas contains a significant proportion of silicon dioxide. That's why this material It has milky color. Furnaces, which are based on dinas bricks, are particularly durable. For this reason, dinas is considered one of the most expensive materials for forges.

Fireclay is made taking into account the requirements of GOST 390-79. Fireclay that meets the requirements of the specified GOST and ordinary brick are quite similar in appearance. However, the brick wears out quickly and begins to collapse at a temperature of 1000 0 C. High-quality fireclay bricks should have low porosity. Such a brick should have a milky cream color, and its weight should be at least 5 kg. The most commonly used fireclay bricks are the ShA and ShPD brands.

The masonry for the forge must contain the following elements in proportions:

• crushed dinas or chamotte (40% of the total amount);
• refractory clay (60% of the total).

The chimney, like the fan, is lined with steel strips along their entire perimeter. The masonry (lining) together with the damper is made using a similar mechanism as the vaults. The masonry is additionally surrounded by sheets with rigid ribs, which allows it to retain heat. The oven itself will not give off too much a large number of heat to the outside, while increasing the rate of internal heating.

When all the work is done, the master needs to dry the forge. Then you need to check the fan, after which you can begin to test the operation of the forge. If the structure works properly, then you can start forging metal.

A forge is used to heat metal before forging, cement it, and perform other procedures related to heat treatment. It makes it possible to set the temperature to 1100-1200 degrees. To use a standard forge, you must have special skills and knowledge and be able to select fuel. A gas forge, although it cannot be used for forging, for example, Damascus swords, is structurally quite simple. It can be made in thirty minutes from six fireclay bricks and steel scraps.

Design

Here are the structural parts, the presence of which presupposes the construction of a forge:

• table made of fire-resistant material;
• hearth with grate;
• air chamber;
• air drainage;
• supply air duct;
• tent;
• a hole through which long parts are fed;
• umbrella;
• chimney;
• crucible (can be removed);
• tempering container;
• gas-air chamber.

Charcoal forge

How to make a blacksmith's forge? First of all, you need to understand the principle of its operation. The coal forge functions by burning carbon. When carbon burns, it releases a large amount of energy, which is used for heating.

Since carbon is a powerful reducing agent, it has long been used in the metallurgical field to smelt iron and other metals. Carbon takes away all the oxygen from the metal ore, leaving pure metal after smelting.

Carbon prevents the workpiece processed through the forge from oxidizing too quickly. Thanks to this, the part does not burn out. Blowing is carried out so that the fuel lacks air. If you keep the product in the furnace for too long, it will dry out and become brittle.

Gas horn

The design of the device becomes much simpler if purified monogas (propane, butane) is used as fuel. These gases contain carbon and hydrogen molecules (hydrogen is a good reducing agent; when interacting with air, it releases a lot of energy). The gas can be mixed with oxygen in the burner. A homemade gas forge is made quite quickly. The main thing is to install the burner.

The situation is different if you use natural gas. It is a compound of unsaturated/saturated hydrocarbons that require different quantity air. It will not be possible to optimally regulate the oxygen supply.

In addition, natural gas contains sulfur, silicon and phosphorus molecules. Sulfur is the “worst enemy” of steel parts. It makes them unusable. To restore the workpieces, you will need to completely melt them down.

In view of this, natural gas can be used as a fuel only after purification from sulfur. The easiest way is to pass the fuel through naphthalene before feeding it into the burner, which will absorb all the sulfur molecules. A homemade forge operating on household gas is intended primarily for processing workpieces that will not be heavily loaded in the future.

Purpose of structural elements

In production, the table is usually lined with quartz brick, which is fire resistant. It can last for decades even in harsh conditions. A homemade forge for forging is lined with fireclay stove brick. It's cheaper and more accessible. It will also last a long time if used infrequently.

The firebox with grates, air chamber and supply pipe form the main part of the device - the tuyere. Drainage is designed for precise and quick regulation of airflow. A weakly heated product cannot be forged; it will simply break.

The tent, umbrella, chimney are designed to remove smoke, which is harmful to the human body, from the furnace. Quite a lot of it is formed.

The hardening vessel and the gas-air chamber are optional elements. The hardening container will come in handy if you forge parts from damask steel. they need thermal shock hardening.

The gas-air chamber is used to:

• additionally dry and heat oxygen;
• purify oxygen from foreign particles and condensate;
• introduce special additives into the air for alloying.

The Crucible is a heat-resistant cap that maximizes permissible temperature. It is installed when a do-it-yourself forging device is used to melt precious metals and non-ferrous alloys.

Making a forge

The easiest way to make a forge with your own hands is from fireclay bricks. The grate shelves are made from cut metal pipes, and the grate bars themselves are made from a steel strip four to six millimeters thick. They must be tightened at an angle with a screw (to capture the blast flow). The fuel will be coal and coke. You can light the forge using a blowtorch. Don't forget to install an asbestos partition between the lamp and the forge. It is possible to use such a forge at home only outdoors, because an umbrella and a chimney are not provided.

You can also make a stationary forge with your own hands. To do this, you need to determine the dimensions of the table on which it will stand.

1. Stand straight with your feet shoulder-width apart. Lower your right arm, bend it at the elbow joint.
2. Have a partner measure the distance from the elbow to earth's surface. Add five to seven centimeters. This will be the height of the table.
3. Take pliers (preferably large) in your right hand. A partner must measure the distance from the stomach to the ends of the tool’s jaws.
4. Add 10 - 12 centimeters. This will be one half the length of the table diagonal.
5. The length of the table side should be 0.7 from the diagonal.

It is advisable to place the tuyere air vent with a vacuum cleaner at the bottom. The drain flap must be able to slide out to the front.

It is recommended to install a solid grate with grooves that intersect and divide the slab into squares. Carbon deposits accumulate in them. If you drill holes, you will need to clean them with a steel rod after each forging.

Why shouldn’t you make a forge with your own hands using a grate made of planks? This is due to the fact that fuel burns differently. In the cracks between the shelf slats, oxygen will flow where it is easier for it to escape. In that area, the temperature will rise, the entire part will dry out, and its fragility will increase.

How to make a forge if there is no special grate? A good option is a tuyere in which the holes are located concentrically and have a radius of 4-5 millimeters. This design gets dirty slowly and ensures uniform blowing.

Gas burners

The gas forge is ideal for artistic forging. There are models that are almost impossible to create without a category. The advantage of such devices is that they operate on any gas and have powerful supercharging.

Bicycle parts can be used to make a gas horn with your own hands. The only turning work you will need to do is turn the sprocket from the bicycle gearbox. This device can operate on propane, butane. However, it can only heat small brick furnaces that are closed. Under no circumstances should you light a burner with acetylene. The part will simply burn out and the device will explode.

Understanding how to make a gas forge is much easier than understanding, for example, electrical diagram. To make it, use the appropriate drawings and photos. Watch the DIY forge video and you will be able to create a device that is perfect for home use.

Nowadays, many men are inflamed with a passion for blacksmithing. The beauty of hot metal, transforming before our eyes into a beautiful forged product, is mesmerizing. Many of those who want to join this craft are frightened by the technical side of the issue: where to get or make a forge, what tools are needed, how to equip a forge to prevent a fire, etc. Here we will only consider the question of how to make a forge at home. All other issues can also be easily resolved if you have a strong desire.

Blacksmithing requires the presence of a forge and it is not so difficult to create even at home.

Varieties of forge

A forge is a special device for heating metal.

He might be the one different designs and use different kinds fuel. Single blacksmiths prefer to use a coke-fuelled forge. This type of fuel has a rather high price, but its ease of use, as well as its high combustion temperature and small amount of waste, compensates for any costs. One of the varieties of fine coke is called “koksik”; most craftsmen prefer to use it, since there is no need to chop the coal themselves. Other types of coal, as well as charcoal, can be used as fuel, but why take the worst if you want to do everything well? Petroleum products or natural gas are usually used in large plants.

The second characteristic by which a forge can be divided into varieties is its design feature, such as openness, that is, there are open and closed types of forge.

Scheme of the design of a mobile open-type forge.

A closed forge is a little more difficult to make than an open one. Its peculiarity is that the device has a special chamber in which the metal is heated. This type of forge is much more economical, but it imposes a limitation on the size of the workpiece outside its chamber.

The most common simple type of forge is the open one. It is extremely simply designed, as it consists of a certain container. A grate is installed on top, on which the coals will burn, and air is supplied from below. Such a forge has no restrictions on the size of the workpiece; it is placed directly on hot coals for heating.

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“Horn” is a word of Germanic origin horn, originally “horn”, then horn received many other meanings, as long as the object somehow resembled a horn or came from it; one of the highest peaks of the Alps is called Matterhorn. The ancient smelting forge, in which the forge was produced, looks like a signal pipe made of horn, placed with the bell downwards, and so it became a forge, and from it a blacksmith's forge, although it no longer resembles a horn.

In a forge, a forge is used to heat metal before forging, cementing and other heat treatment operations. A forge is a very necessary thing for everyone who works with metal: it allows you to get temperatures up to 1100 and even 1200 degrees in artisanal conditions, can be either a large stationary or a small tabletop one, and making a forge with your own hands is not difficult or difficult.

To use a traditional forge design, you need to be knowledgeable and a skilled craftsman, especially regarding the choice of fuel, which will be discussed in more detail below. The basis of the forge hearth - the tuyere - and the pressurization device also require considerable experience. Use for heating natural gas although it does not allow you to forge a Damascus blade or Indian damask steel Wootz in a home forge, like a classic coal forge, it significantly simplifies the design: a gas forge can be assembled in half an hour to an hour from 6 fireclay bricks and several scraps of steel, and the temperature and quality of heating will be sufficient for the now so popular small artistic forging or melting of non-ferrous metals and alloys for casting.

Horn device

A classic production forge is designed as follows, see figure on the right:

1. forge table made of refractory material;
2. firebox (hearth) with grate;
3. air chamber;
4. air drainage;
5. supply air duct;
6. air valve;
7. chamber (tent) forge;
8. window for feeding long workpieces;
9. bugle umbrella;
10. chimney (gas outlet);
11. removable furnace;
12. hardening bath (tub, tub);
13. gas-air chamber.

How the forge works

In order to make a forge yourself and use it successfully, let’s figure out how the forge works, what’s what in it, and what can be made cheaper and easier in conditions home use without compromising the quality of metal processing. The operation of the forge is based on chemical reaction combustion of carbon 2C + O2 = 2CO2 + 188.1 kcal. Based on its energy output (94.05 kcal/mol, i.e. 12 g of C, completely burned, will give 94.05 kcal of heat) it is clear that carbon is a very strong reducing agent, i.e. greedily combines with oxygen.

This property of carbon has been used since time immemorial in metallurgy for the smelting of iron and other metals: their ores are often the corresponding oxides or their derivative compounds. Carbon unceremoniously robs itself of oxygen, and the deprived metal has no choice but to be released in a free form.

In a forge, the reducing power of carbon is also used partly to prevent oxidation of the workpiece. Simply to prevent the metal from burning. But the high calorific value of carbon is no less important here: by blowing enough air into the fuel mass so that the carbon has enough of it, you can burn it quite quickly, and the large amount of heat released will develop a high temperature.

The blowing into the forge is adjusted so that the fuel is slightly lacking oxygen; this will completely prevent oxidation of the metal. However, if the workpiece is overexposed in the forge, then carburization will occur: the metal, especially steel, will become, as they say, overdried - excessively, disproportionate to the increase in hardness, brittle. An example of completely overdried iron is cast iron. In metallurgy, in order to obtain structural steel from it, molten cast iron is subjected to reprocessing: oxygen is introduced into it in a converter or in some other way, removing excess carbon.

On a different fuel

This is how the ancient coal forge works. Initially it was heated with charcoal, then with coke. Both are almost pure carbon. Basically the forge can also be heated with wood, allowing it to first burn down to coals, i.e. to charcoal; Let's see how further.

The design of the forge is greatly simplified if you use purified monogas, propane or butane as fuel. They consist of carbon and hydrogen, which is also an excellent reducing agent and, when combined with oxygen, produces even more heat. Moreover, the gas can be mixed with oxygen in advance, while still in the burner. How they work gas-burners for the forge, we will also figure it out further, but for now let’s state a fact: a brick gas forge can be assembled using a quick fix, as long as there is a burner, see fig. (You can also watch the video at the end of the section on how to make a gas forge yourself).

However, this applies only to pure monogases for industrial use. Household natural gas, firstly, consists of a mixture of saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons, which have different oxygen requirements and different heat release for complete combustion. That is, it is fundamentally impossible to set up the optimal air supply for heating the metal for high-quality hardening or cementation.

Secondly, natural gas contains sulfur, silicon, and phosphorus in negligible quantities. At least in the form of an “odorant” – mercaptan – artificially introduced into household gas for immediate leak detection. If phosphorus and silicon, with precise dosage, can still be useful (the first - for surface phosphating; the second - to improve magnetic properties), then sulfur - worst enemy steel, completely destroying its operational value, irreversibly; restoration requires complete melting.

Therefore, household gas can be used as fuel for the furnace, firstly, only after purification from sulfur-containing compounds. The simplest, but by no means free, method is to pass gas from a cylinder through a container with mothballs before feeding it into the burner. It desires sulfur no less than carbon desires oxygen. Secondly, heat in a gas furnace only parts that are not critical and will not be loaded in the future.; let's say decorative elements artistic metal products.

Note: There is also enough sulfur in wood to poison steel. But her and others, the so-called. alloying poisons can be burned out in advance, see below.

Video: DIY gas forge

Purpose of the forge parts

Now let's go back to the list at the beginning and see what's in the forge for what. And then we’ll get down to making the forge using the samples discussed below or independently, based on the available materials and capabilities.

In industry, tables are mostly lined with quartz refractory brick; it lasts for decades under intense workload. A homemade forge is usually lined with fireclay bricks, cheaper and more accessible. With irregular use, it will also last for years.

A firebox with a grate, an air chamber with drainage and a supply pipe with a valve form the heart of the forge - the tuyere. In industrial designs, replaceable tuyeres are used for different ways heating and heated workpieces. For an amateur or individual craftsman, most often it is enough to have one grate tightly mounted into the table with a solid grate perforated with round holes.

Air drainage is necessary to accurately and quickly, without taking your eyes off the workpiece, regulate the blast. It will not be possible to forge an underheated part and it will not accept hardening; overheated and overdried, it will tear under a hammer, and in a quenching bath it will at least fail, or even crack. And in any case it will turn out to be unacceptably fragile. How to determine its readiness for forging or hardening by the appearance of a red-hot workpiece is a separate matter. But experienced blacksmiths know that they need to be able to release excess air into the atmosphere in seconds.

The purpose of the chamber, or tent, of the forge together with its umbrella and chimney is to remove flue gases from working area. There are plenty of them released during the preparation of the coal mass (see below), and none of them are good for health. The draft in the chimney needs to be good, because... The front (working) window of the tent and openings for lengthy items (pipes, metal profiles) are constantly open.

As for the quenching bath and gas-air chamber, they may or may not be there, it’s at your discretion. A hardening bath is definitely needed if you are going to forge the so-called. Damascus, damask steel products. They need thermal shock hardening, i.e. from the forge - instantly into the bath.

Note: about the customs of the past. Damask blades, hardened in the living body of a captive strong enemy or, in extreme cases, a muscular slave, were once considered the best.

The gas-air chamber is used in industry:

• For additional drying and heating of air.
• To clean blast air from impurities and condensate.
• For introducing gaseous alloying additives into the air.

At home, super-super special spas are not obtained; the problem of condensation in production occurs when blowing from shared network compressed air. In a low-power furnace, the air heats up sufficiently when passing through the holes of the lance grate, and household gas can be purified from sulfur by passing it through a layer of naphthalene, as mentioned above. In general, make a gas vent, don’t do it, it’s up to you.

Finally, crucible. This is a heat-resistant cap that expands the area to the maximum high temperature . It is placed if colored or precious metals and alloys (melting point of gold 1060 degrees, silver 960, copper 1080, brass and bronze 900), cement parts in a muffle, etc. There is no point in looking for an expensive ready-made crucible; in a home forge, it can be completely replaced by a dozen fireclay bricks laid out on a dry surface, piece by piece. In this configuration, a homemade forge will replace an expensive one.

How do you heat a forge?

To finally take on your own forge, all that remains is to figure out how to light it? Then it will be easier to understand the designs.

The best fuel for the forge is fine coke. Blacksmiths call it koksik, the name was adopted by traders. If there is coke on sale, there is also coke in small packages. The cost of coke, depending on the region, is 3 times more expensive than coal, but it costs 4-5 times less per forging if handled skillfully.

Coke is almost pure amorphous carbon, carbon. Really clean: coke oven gas is a valuable chemical raw material, so metallurgists are not slacking. It ignites at 450-600 degrees, so double kindling is needed: coal is lit with wood, and a layer of 150-170 m of coke is placed on it and the blast is turned on to maximum. When the coal burns out (this can be seen from the flame), the mass of coke is raked, leaving a layer on the grate 1/3-1/4 of the height of the entire pile, the workpiece is introduced into the hearth and raked with burning fuel. The blowing is reduced to normal for this operation and the part is waited until it matures.

To work with Damascus you need charcoal , it ignites at a lower temperature and burns faster, because preserves the microporous structure of wood. And also how Activated carbon in a gas mask, additionally absorbs alloying poisons. The fact is that damask steel is forged from a bundle of wires or rods of different hardness. The product itself is obtained by their mutual diffusion during forging. The process is very delicate, and adjustment of the blast requires precision, and light porous charcoal responds instantly to manipulation of air drainage.

If you drown coal, it needs to be allowed to burn to carbon, i.e. volatile components, that same coke oven gas, must burn out. This again can be seen by the color of the flame. But such complete extraction of volatiles as in a coke oven cannot be achieved directly in the forge, so decorative or average-quality household products can be forged using coal. As a rule, one load of coal is not enough and it has to be burned out. The additional load for afterburning is placed on the side of the fireplace on the table and, as it burns, the resulting carbon is raked onto the workpiece.

Wood is heated in the same way as coal, but only with deciduous wood.. Just a pile of firewood is more likely to burn to ash than to completely release volatiles and form coal. In addition, there is no way to allow unburned wood chips to get on the part; there are too many impurities in the wood that are harmful to steel. Therefore, wood for carbon in the forge is burned in the shell, see fig. The additional load is burned by placing it close to it and, as it burns, the coals are transferred to the shell with tongs.

Let's take the forge

For a novice blacksmith to gain experience and flair, it is best to quickly make a mini-forge from 6 fireclay bricks, see fig. An ax blade so you can shave, or hunting knife You can’t heat it for hardening, but you can heat small items for artistic forging, the ends of long pieces for forging or bending, or melt precious colors in a crucible.

Grate shelves made from scraps steel pipes, and the grates themselves are made of steel strip 4-6 mm thick. The grate bars must be screwed at an angle to capture the air flow, as shown in Fig. Fuel - coke or coal. Ignition and blowing - with a blowtorch, gas or gas-air burner. If a blowtorch is used, an asbestos partition with a window under the nozzle must be placed between it and the forge: the forge intensely emits heat and the lamp reservoir may explode. This forge is used only for outdoors, because there is no umbrella with a chimney.

Note: more interesting option– a small quick-fire forge of minimal cost, see video:

Portable

The next design is a portable forge made from... goose horn. The design is clear from Fig. The lining is fireclay marl mixed with fireclay sand (ground fireclay bricks, commercially available). Firing the lining after drying - as work progresses.

Pressurization is not necessarily a fan from a manual siren, as in Fig. You can use any suitable one, see below, by attaching it with a metal clamp. This, by the way, will make working with long items more convenient. In this case, at the blind end of the air duct, air drainage is required, similar to that for a mobile forge, which will be discussed later.

The capabilities of a goose forge are wider than those of a 6-brick one, because The workspace is larger and open at the top. But there are also significant flaws:

1. Non-separable design: when cleaning the tuyere (see below about the stationary furnace), carbon deposits fall down and clog the perforation of the air duct, even if its holes are oriented sideways or downwards. To clean you have to break the lining.
2. Works only on coke or charcoal, because... There is no table with space for burning.
3. Expensive to operate: carbon consumption is comparable to that of coal in real furnaces.
4. Low operating temperature, up to 900 degrees, because A lining that is not properly fired will crack.

About cavalry and sewing machines

Once upon a time, every cavalry squadron of all the armies of the world had on its farm a portable forge with a foot drive from a crank mechanism for forging horseshoes and horseshoe nails. It was called cavalry, see fig. If we talk about non-volatile horns, then this is much more convenient than a fan from a siren: both hands are free. Moreover, savvy horsemen taught horses to press the pedal with their hoofs.

Nowadays the cavalry bugle can only be seen in the Red Army Museum. But let’s be smart and we are old Sewing machines with foot drive are still in use and sold. And this is the same crank with a drive pulley suitable diameter and a durable table base. Plus wheels on which you can roll the forge.

What kind of fan is needed?

Below we will move on to designs that are already quite functional, which require full blowing. And electricity for the fan can be found everywhere. But what kind of fan is needed for a forge? Once upon a time, forges were blown with bellows; For those who are curious about how blacksmith's bellows work, see Fig. on right.

Note: It was from the remains of blacksmith bellows of ancient times that archaeologists established that metallurgy among primitive peoples had a mystical and sexual meaning - from Scandinavia to South Africa, the clay fitting of the forge was made in the form of male genitalia, and the nest for it in the forge was female.

As for productivity, 200-250 l/min is quite enough for a stationary coke furnace. That is, the fan motor power is sufficient from 80-100 W.

Much more important is that we need to push air through a fairly dense mass of sintered fuel. Therefore, when choosing a fan, first of all you need to pay attention to the pressure it creates at zero performance, the so-called. maximum pressure. The meaning of this parameter is simple: the fan will create the maximum pressure by forcing air into a closed cavity.

For the forge you need a maximum pressure of 220-230 mm. rt. Art., which corresponds to approximately 0.3 ati. Axial fans (impellers) of this type are created only by industrial ones, such as VN-2 or its analogues. Household exhaust and industrial cooling systems are not standardized in terms of maximum pressure at all and, as a rule, do not create what is needed.

In addition, they bring the air up to maximum pressure slowly, in minutes, and during delicate forging work, the blast needs to be changed in seconds. It is useless to install a receiver: when the valve is opened, the air in it will expand adiabatically, which at 0.3 ati will only produce zilch.

Total conclusion: for supercharging the forge is needed centrifugal fan-snail. You don’t need to look at the specification; any centrifugal fan will provide the required maximum pressure based on the very principle of its operation. It is best to take snails from radiation protection systems of military equipment; they also have high productivity. True, the power supply is 12, 24 or 27 V direct current, so you will need a transformer and a rectifier of appropriate power.

Any old one will work great household vacuum cleaner, but here you need to take into account that its power will almost always be excessive. You should not reduce it with an LATR or a thyristor regulator: the motor will work in a difficult mode of excessive rotor slip and the service life of an already worn-out old man will be short. It is best to make a wide air drainage in the tuyere, as in the stationary forge described below.

Mobile

Here in Fig. - drawings of a deservedly popular design: a fully functional mobile forge intended for outdoor use. This is the kind of device that was in mind when thinking about cavalry and sewing machines.

Pay attention to the node marked with number 1. This is a drainage for fine adjustment of the blowing. The drainage tube extends and retracts, and at the bottom there is a longitudinal row of small holes, 1-2 mm in diameter, drilled into it. By bypassing air into the drainage, the boost can be very precisely controlled.

Stationary

Stationary forges are made by experienced craftsmen according to their anthropometric data. A piece of orange-hot iron weighing several kilos in pincers is an extremely traumatic object, so the ergonomics of a stationary forge must be ideal.

Note: In A. N. Tolstoy’s novel “Peter the Great,” a case is colorfully described in which the still young tsar-craftsman received a fair beating from a forced blacksmith for clumsiness when welding an anchor’s claw. Only Peter’s enormous physical strength prevented a production emergency at that time.

Take the sizes

The approximate dimensions of a stationary forge are shown in Fig.

These are approximate, but the height of the table and its dimensions must be determined precisely:

• We stand straight, feet shoulder-width apart. Bend the right freely lowered arm at the elbow.
• An assistant measures the distance from the elbow to the floor. Add 5-7 cm to it, this will be the height of the table.
• Now we take the largest pliers in the same hand, the assistant measures the distance from the stomach to the ends of their lips.
• We add 10-12 cm to it, we get half the length of the table diagonal.
• We take the length of the side of a square table equal to 1.4 of the length of the half-diagonal (0.707 of the full diagonal).

Note: There is no need to make the table round, because... You will have to take different parts with pliers. But rectangular is possible if you work together with a helper.

Design

The sequence of manufacturing a stationary forge is visible from Fig. It is better to lower the tuyere vent with supercharging from a vacuum cleaner or car stove snail lower, and at the same time make the air drainage flap (points 4 and 5) retractable forward. The result is an air receiver with a sufficiently large capacity, and the damper can be pulled out and pushed in with the toe of your shoe.

Also pay attention to the solid grate, pos. 2. In this case, it is special for forges. The secret is in the intersecting hollows that divide the slab into squares. Soot accumulates in them. If you drill holes in smooth slab, then after each forging they will have to be cleaned with a steel rod.

But why can’t the grate be made from slats, like in a stove? Because the mass of fuel is not sintered uniformly. In the cracks between the slats, the air flow will jump to where it is more free for it to exit. In that place the temperature will be higher, and the entire workpiece may be overdried in spots. An amateur craftsman will not notice this by eye, but under load the local fragility will affect it. And passing air through a two-dimensional regular structure (the stove grate is one-dimensional) reduces the unevenness of air distribution by an order of magnitude. If the grate is three-dimensional, as shown in Fig. with the installation of the forge at the beginning, the uneven distribution of air has practically no effect.

But what if there is nowhere to get a special grate? Then an acceptable solution is a completely homemade lance with a concentric arrangement of holes with a diameter of 8-10 mm, see fig. on the right, such a system does not clog so quickly and the blowing over the area ensures more or less uniformity. The principle of operation is similar to a shower diffuser.

You cannot inflate the air shower with a vacuum cleaner; it will blow out the fuel. You need to take a snail from a car stove or something similar. In this case, it is also undesirable to regulate the blowing by drainage; the optimal boost for uniform blowing is rather weak. It is necessary to build a throttle valve into the air duct, and make the lower cover of the lance removable only for cleaning.

Gas-burners

And finally, we will give drawings of several burners for gas forges. They are quite suitable for artistic forging, and, whatever you say, it is the most in demand among blacksmith works. All these burners are direct-flow injection burners. The much more efficient and versatile vortex ones are too complex to make on your own.

The first one, in the figure, is the most difficult. To make it, you need to be a turner-miller of at least 5 real rank. But it works on any gas (except acetylene, see below!), gasoline-air mixture and produces a very powerful boost: it can also blow out a large stationary forge, described above.

The next one (see figure) is simpler and contains less details, although even here it is necessary to accurately sharpen shallow cones. It blows great too, but only runs on propane. For butane, a very narrow nozzle is required, and butane is rarely used.

You need to grind the outer surface of the D1 injector clean and drill the nozzle in one installation. The nozzle is drilled with a carbide drill and goes through cleanly with a reamer. This is the main drawback of the design: it requires small precision tools, which are not available everywhere or always.

Below in Fig. two burners are simpler. On the left is a machined universal one for household gas or propane. At most, a small mobile forge can blow the air, but an average turner can turn out the parts. You just need to master the technology of fitting parts into hot tension. Which, however, is not difficult.

On the right is a homemade burner. Most of the parts, including the nipple, are from a bicycle. Using a lathe, you only need to turn the smallest sprocket from a bicycle gearbox to size. This burner is omnivorous: propane, butane, household gas cocktail, gas air. But it can only be used to heat small brick closed furnaces, shown at the beginning.

Note: Do not feed these burners with acetylene under any circumstances! You will burn metal in a forge and it won’t be long before it explodes!

Finally

Well, now we know how to make a forge. And what to do with the metal in it is a separate big topic. Blacksmithing is just beginning with a forge.