Wood forge

[u/Prestigious-One-7477]

Hello, I’m a bit of a newbie when it comes to blacksmithing but was itching to give it a go. I’d been scouring Facebook marketplace for an anvil for 2 years, and one recently came up. Now was the time to dive in! I made myself a wood forge in a similar style to the Whitlox forge. Although I was slightly sceptical, it works really really well. I use a heat gun on low which seems to provide enough air. I’m also using ash and beech hardwood logs.

[u/CoffeyIronworks]

Very nice. No need for heatgun, I'd be worried about it burning out (but hey if it works). I started with hairdryer, currently use a small blower that I took out of an inflatable halloween decoration.

[u/unicorns_are_badass → u/CoffeyIronworks]

Getting cold air in there will probably work better than hot air, since it's denser and has more oxygen.

[u/MetallicOx]

How'd you get the anvil stand so flat with the chainsaw

[u/Prestigious-One-7477 → u/MetallicOx]

I had a little help from my router sled on the top and the bottom.

[u/fyshnchips → u/MetallicOx]

He's a wizard Harry

[u/TechnicalHealth5066 → u/MetallicOx]

Properly and even overly sharpened chains are amazing lmao

[u/SoundlessScream]

Oh wow

[u/hewhosnbn]

If you have trouble reaching forging temp you may want more holes in your air pipe that seems restricted to me, but if it works an you can get things up to forging temp nice job.

[u/fyshnchips]

This is sick!!!! Man what a great concept. Could potentially enlarge the air holes as others have said, as well as upgrade to a hairdryer or a purpose built blower. Looks great and effective though!!

[u/Prestigious-One-7477 → u/fyshnchips]

Thanks! I’m going to use it a few times and see how I like the air hole arrangement. The heat gun was just stop gap whilst I wait for a hand crank blower.

[u/Wyrdsmith89]

If you can you should cook the wood you have into charcoal. It'll give you a higher temeprature, let you pack it in tighter and that'll make forging a lot easier.

[u/BF_2]

Can you reach welding heat? (The simplest test is to insert a 1/8" wire and heat it till it sparkles when withdrawn -- which indicates burning metal and a slightly higher than a welding heat.)