5 Attachment(s)
Okay I am going to get this thing built now !
Well I started working on the forge today. It has been awhile but I am hell bent on getting a forge up and running within the next few weeks. I shaped some fire brick today and even though it is not perfect(which I always shoot for) I think I can live with it.
I was almost done when I remembered to take pics. You can see all the things I tried and I will describe what worked. You can also see the mess it makes.
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I used a pencil to draw the round shape I wanted on one end and the some lines to make score marks on and for depth of cut guides. I used an old circ saw with a 6 1/2 masonry blade. I used 1 whole blade and wished I had bought 2. This is where the quality of the perfect inside diameter first started to deteriorate. On my 7" grinder is a 9" masonry blade. Once again I should have popped for a 7" wheel because that is the inside dimension I wanted. But this was all just a grab it and start thing today so, it is what it is. I am still under 7" but I design as I go so I think the refractory clay I line it with will hide my imperfect dia. You guys won't tell on me will ya ?
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Here is the finished score lines and cuts.
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And then I did some chiseling
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Now I couldn't get any real good pictures of me grinding out the radius because that old B&D 7" really twists a wrist when you pull the trigger. Not to mention the dust factor. I just started grinding away until I got the shape I was happy with. For the final shaping I put 2 bricks together and ground the mating edges at the same time. Drop 1 brick and pick up the next all the way around until all the seams matched. It went a lot faster than I thought it was going to and on the bench it doesn't look so bad.
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This is the hard firebrick and I am going to line the inside with a special clay made to withstand flux. I am going to lay everything out tomorrow and see what metal I have and maybe get started on some fabricating.
I had this wild idea of incorporating a heat treat oven on top of the forge but I decided against that for now. I thought maybe I could get more out of it if I heat treated one thing while a shaped another. Too much to handle at once for a beginner but maybe later I will add that option. I just hate to waste all that heat :<0) .