Humble (yet very proud) beginnings!
Hey all, im new to blacksmithing, but its been a long time dream since i was a kid.
I made a portable little forge a few months back finally after running into a project trouble only solvable by forging.
Now ive finally upgraded the forge and its actually looking a little nice, and now i wanted to share it <3
-the base is an old 200nok (21 USD roughly) portable grill of thing steel.
-i (roughly) welded the joints and plates as the spotweld had rusted away and it all fell apart rather comically. a nightmare since the steel was so thin and im a beginner at welding, but blowing air on the weld as i was welding cooled the steel enough to not melt.
-once that was done, i put a hole in the side for a steel pipe with some cuts in so that air could flow (i didnt manage to block the end though, but that was solved in the upgrade of the forge)
-then i did NOT do as all the online video tutorials recommend to get plaster to coat it with, but i did a lil googling and settled on fire-resistant mortar, the type that goes into chimneys and fireplaces.
it worked quite ok, check final image to see the un-upgraded forge in action. it worked enough to forge what i needed, and teach me about how a forge works in basics.
then i wanted to improve it and the heat capacity a little, make it nicer, fix the air flow trouble and give it all a better "chute" into the middle.
upgrade:
i bought myself some firebricks, and finally got around to put them in, check the position, cut them a bit and finally, tada, the finished product as seen in the images.
its rough, but for a first portable coal mini-forge, i dare say it looks quite allright c:
next up im probably going to use more of that fire-proof mortar and put the bricks in place permanently, as they are just kinda loose in there right now.
but im super hyped about crafting stuff, and i finally wanted to share with someone.
kid-me would be HYPED we finally get to do blacksmithing <3
-Gata