Do-it-yourself forge from a pipe. A simple homemade forge

Updated:

2016-09-12

Making a blacksmith's forge with your own hands is far from the most difficult task. At the same time, you will get the opportunity to create metal masterpieces at home. Of course, making a forge with your own hands makes sense only if you are going to work with metal, forge some products.

Photo of a forge

Forged elements are actively used in industry and everyday life. It can be both huge complex designs, and the simplest small crafts.

To be able to forge metal, it is necessary to have a forge and a device that will heat the metal to the required temperature of 1000-1300 degrees. How to achieve this at home? That's right, you need to build a forge with your own hands.

The device of the forge is just designed to heat metal blanks to high temperatures.

Forges have the same principle of operation, and the devices differ only in the type of fuel used. This affects the type of construction.

Modern blacksmiths who prefer to work at home use coke as fuel. This is due to the fact that coke provides a high temperature at low consumption, emits a minimum of waste.

The nuances of self-production

How can you make a homemade blacksmith forge? To do this, you will need drawings of the model of the heating device that suits you and the room where the equipment will be located.

Horns differ in the types of heating chambers.

Closed heating chambers. They are the most efficient, as they minimize fuel costs, providing excellent heating of the workpieces. But the blanks themselves are limited in size, since they depend on the dimensions of the chamber.
Open chambers of a warming up. This design provides that fuel is poured onto the grate, and air is supplied from below. The metal blank is placed on the fuel. Although the fuel consumption is somewhat higher, larger blanks can be used.

How to make a blacksmith's forge in order to be able to forge iron at home? Consider each stage of the construction of the structure.

Photo of a blacksmith's forge made by hand

Table. The table is the basis of a homemade forge. The drawings show that it is quite simple to build this element. Usually the height of the table is up to 80 centimeters, and 5 millimeters thick metal is used for the cover. The working surface has become can have different sizes. It all depends on what kind of metal blanks you are going to work with. Another option for building a table is to use the corners to create a frame. A brick and a grate are laid inside it. The grid should be centered.
The grid is mounted in a hole made in the table. Then refractory bricks are closed on all sides. Select the height of the table directly to your height so that the structure is at waist level.
Blowing. In order for the forge device to work effectively, it needs high-quality air blowing. Due to oxygen, the temperature rises, the metal begins to melt. Traditional horn designs used a foot-operated blower. But now everyone has the opportunity to use electricity, so the best solution is an electric fan or an old vacuum cleaner. The vacuum cleaner delivers the right amount of air. With a speed controller, you get a chic homemade bugle.
Now all structural elements are assembled into a single system - a home-made metalworking forge.
Pour the required amount of fuel onto the grate. First, use wood chips and medium wood, after which it is the turn of coke. Turn on the blower, place your workpiece over the fuel. A small amount of coke may be sprinkled on top of the iron. If there is no coke or there are large stocks of wood taps, you can use them.

This is a model of a simple blacksmith's forge. If there is a desire or opportunity, you can significantly improve your own blacksmithing equipment, bringing it closer to the features of an industrial forge.

What has an industrial forge

Professional blacksmiths use industrial forges, which are characterized by increased efficiency and high reliability. It is almost impossible to make an industrial forge on your own. But somehow it is quite possible to bring a home-made model closer to the ideal.

What is the difference between an industrial forge, and what components are included in its design?

Air nozzle. Homemade forges use the hose of an old vacuum cleaner to supply air instead of a nozzle;
Refractory brick. There is a complete analogy between home and industrial devices;
Grate. Most homemade forges involve the use of a grate. Many people make it from old thick-walled pans;
Nest for solid fuel. This socket allows you to conveniently load the required amount of solid fuel. To equip a homemade horn with a similar element will not be a problem;
Frame bricks. These are already stationary devices that are laid with bricks. For a simple forge, such elements are already superfluous;
Air supply fan. We considered an example with a conventional vacuum cleaner, which does a good job of pumping air. If you like, you can use fans or other similar devices;
Metal carcass. On its basis, the table is held;
Air chamber. Homemade forges do not have it, but if you need professional equipment, it will not be superfluous to equip the device with a camera;
Ash pan. If you intend to regularly use your forge at home, we advise you to equip it with an ash pan. So it will be easier to take care of the device;
Horn casing.

What exactly to complement your blacksmith device - decide for yourself. At the same time, we advise you to follow a few recommendations in order to increase the efficiency of the device.

The fuel can be coal, wood and coke. Although coke is more expensive, it consumes 5 times less than coal, emits less soot and waste. Fine coke is the most efficient type of furnace fuel.
An alternative type of fuel for the forge is gas. And from cylinders or lines. When using gas, you do not need a grate. The advantage of gas is the ability to control the heating temperature and its availability.
An exhaust hood should be installed above the mountain, consisting of metal 4-5 millimeters thick.
If the horn runs on gas, holes for the burner must be made on the sides.
Forging devices need smoke removal systems. This is a pipe with a height of 5 millimeters, the cross section of which is 30 by 30 centimeters.
A good replacement for a vacuum cleaner is a stove fan that is installed on cars.
If you make a hole in the back wall, ventilation will be much more efficient.

After looking at the photo of the furnaces and having studied the video of the manual for their self-production, we can conclude that there is nothing complicated in the construction of such units. Another question - do you need it?

The word "bugle" comes from the German horn. In fact, it is a "horn". They made an ancient forge with their own hands to obtain bloom iron. Its appearance resembles an inverted horn pipe, which was the basis for calling it a horn. From him came the blacksmith's forge.

Note: In the forge, the device is used as a tool for heating the metal before it is processed. Therefore, blacksmith forges are items that are needed by everyone who deals with metal. With it, you can achieve high temperatures - over 1000 degrees. Therefore, he can allow himself to manufacture various metal structures. In our case, these can be boilers, pipes, decorative elements of fireplaces and other metal products.

There are two main types of equipment:

stationary;
desktop.

An important feature that blacksmith forges have is that they can be made by hand. Of course, if you build a unit that runs on natural gas, you will not be able to get a serious product, like a Damascus blade, but you can make a structure in just a few minutes. This will require some refractory bricks and steel pieces. Such a device will be enough for melting or forging.

Homemade portable desktop blacksmith forge

Compound

Consider the arrangement of traditional forge equipment:

refractory table;
hearth;
lattice;
air drainage and chamber;
umbrella;
valve;
duct;
hardening bath;
removable crucible;
window for long products;
chimney.

Operating principle

Let's figure out how to make a bugle with your own hands. After all, the traditional design for home use can be simplified without compromising the quality of the process.

The basis of functioning is the chemical reaction of carbon combustion, which is effectively used to work with metal. It combines with oxygen, and the metal is released in free form. The forge also uses the calorific value of carbon. By adding air to the fuel, combustion will be much faster given enough carbon. As a result, the temperature will increase, more heat will be received.

The flame of the blacksmith's forge, made by hand

The air supply to the forges is organized in such a way as to provide a slight lack of oxygen in order to prevent oxidation of the metal. If the workpiece is in the device for longer than the recommended period, the properties of the metal will be violated. For example, steel sheets can become brittle with increased hardness. This means that its properties will be closer to those of cast iron.

Fuel

Note: A conventional blacksmith's forge runs on coal. However, wood can also be used. To do this, they warm up to coals. You can simplify the device if you use, for example, butane or propane.

Their composition includes hydrogen and carbon, which, when combined with oxygen, release a lot of heat. Moreover, such mixing can occur beforehand, for example, in the burner.

However, it must be understood that it will be almost impossible to manage natural gas for such purposes, since it consists of different hydrocarbons that require different amounts of oxygen. Therefore, it will not be possible to organize an optimal air supply. In addition, natural gas contains sulfur, which adversely affects the properties of the metal. Therefore, the mixture requires pre-cleaning or can be used to process non-critical parts.

Kinds

Let's consider what blacksmith forges can be. They are the main tool of the forge. Thanks to the development and improvement, many varieties have appeared:

electric or fuel;

Portable electric blacksmith forge blue

on liquid, gaseous or solid fuel;

Blacksmith's forge on coals in action

closed or open type;

with central lance or side nozzle;

Homemade blacksmith forge of simple design with a side nozzle

Open forge with central lance in action

stationary or portable.

Stationary forge in action

Consider the most popular types.

Gas

Making such a forge with your own hands is quite difficult, but possible. The homemade version, like the purchased one, traditionally has a camera and furs. Operates on propane-butane. Gas is supplied to the mixing reducer, after which it enters the gas burner. The latter in some cases may be located on the side. This format is quite often used in homemade versions used in forges.

You can make a gas horn yourself to warm up the ends of small-sized products. It can be used to create decorative solutions in artistic forging.

portable

These forges are easy to use. The design uses a steel frame, on top of which there is a recess from. At its bottom there is a lance, with the help of which the air supply is organized (a compressor or a fan is used). The tuyere has small slots through which air is forced in, but coal or slag is not passed through.

Portable gas models of forges

Such a forge is used for processing small products. It can be carried or transported, so the place of work may be ad hoc.

Stationary

They can be open or closed type.

The device of an open version is a frame with a table in the form of a trough about 70 cm high. The hearth is lined with fireclay bricks, inside it there is a tuyere. For cooling the device, a water tank is provided, located in front. The fan creates pressure to supply air through the channel.

Stationary desktop forge in action

The lever allows you to adjust the volume, which makes it possible to change the temperature in the hearth. The shutter protects the tuyere from falling into it pieces of ash and coal. Flue gases are removed through an umbrella and a chimney. The fuel can be charcoal or coke.

The closed device has the following advantages:

quickly reaching the maximum temperature;
high efficiency;
increased fire safety.

The only problem if you make such a forge with your own hands is that it is difficult to work with large or long products, especially if you need to warm up their middle part.

The chamber is made of fireclay bricks in a metal frame. It has a lance, a grate, a window and a furnace hatch.

Create a stationary device

Consider how to make a bugle with your own hands of a simple design. To do this, you need six refractory bricks. Of course, a very high temperature cannot be obtained under such conditions, but it is quite possible to heat the metal, say, for forging or bending.

For the manufacture of grates, you can take steel strips with a thickness of about 5 mm. Shelves can be made from pipe scraps. Charcoal or coke can be used as fuel. A blowtorch is used for ignition. However, when exposed to heat from a forge, it may not withstand, so an asbestos partition must be placed between them. You can also use a burner (petrol or gas). Since there is no umbrella with a chimney, a homemade device is used outdoors.

Simple DIY outdoor blacksmith mount

Create a portable device

For greater versatility, you can do it yourself and a portable version. It can be built from a goose. Pressurization can be made homemade using a fan from a manual siren, a corrugated pipe.

Self-creation of a blacksmith's forge

Of course, such a home-made design has more features than the described stationary version, but there are also disadvantages:

the temperature is not very high - up to 900 degrees;
expensive operation, given the cost of carbon;
since there is no space for burning in such a home-made device, it functions on charcoal or coke.

Blacksmith's forge made from pipe

Summary

Forges are a fairly common sight today, despite the consumer attitude towards things that are easier to buy than to make. However, if you are not too lazy, make a device with your own hands, build a small forge, you can create original metal products that can be used to decorate private estates, create devices for providing space heating, etc. Therefore, making a forge with your own hands is the right decision .

DIY Forge Tips

If you are one of those people who melt metal in their hands, and you dream of your forge, then you need a blacksmith's forge. We invite you to use our example, and you can make a forge for yourself with your own hands, which will help you master the art of blacksmithing.

Carpentry or carpentry is, of course, good. Wood processing is traditional for Russia. But we want to talk about metal. More precisely, about the forging of metal. What do you need to do forging? The first is the blacksmith's forge.

You may be surprised, but the forge is the easiest forge to organize.

The task of the forge is to heat a piece of metal to a temperature that will allow it to be crushed without destruction.

The horn is, of course, fire. You can burn gas, liquid fuel, fuel oil or crude oil, coal and firewood. Only now firewood gives little heat until it turns into coal. Firewood can only be considered as a raw material for producing charcoal, but already charcoal is an excellent fuel for a furnace. Perhaps the best, but also the most expensive, although the most affordable. Charcoal for barbecues and barbecues is sold in any supermarket. So let's stop at the coal version.

If we talk about a forge that runs on coal, then there are two options: with a side blast and with a lower one. Side blowing is the best suited for charcoal, and also the easiest to implement. The simplest option is a hole in the ground where air is supplied through a pipe. You can also lay out a hearth of bricks and roll it with earth.

With the help of such a forge, novice blacksmiths try their hand. A hose is inserted into the pipe, connected to the blowing hole of the vacuum cleaner.

The disadvantage of this forge is that you have to work while squatting, and this is not very convenient. However, you can put together a box of the required height, fill it with earth and make a forge in it. But if you go this way, then you should do something more capital. There is one more thing. A side blast hearth is not very suitable for hard coal, while a bottom blast hearth through a grate is more versatile in this regard. That is, a forge with a lower blast can work on both charcoal and stone. But the design will be more complicated.

We will need:

steel sheet five millimeters thick about 100x100 cm;
sheet steel 2 mm thick;
corner 30x30;
six fireclay bricks ShB-8;
angle grinder, popularly called "Bulgarian";
sweep circle;
cutting wheels for cutting steel and stone;
welding machine and electrodes;
two wing screws (eye nut).

The horn consists of a table with a horn nest. Below, under the forge nest, there is an ash chamber where air is supplied. The table is made of steel sheet with a thickness of five millimeters. The size of the table is arbitrary, but it is more convenient when you can freely place work pliers, a poker and a scoop on it so that they are at hand. We cut off a strip 125 mm wide from a five-millimeter sheet, it will still be useful to us, and we make a table from the remaining piece.

Diagram of a horn with a horn nest

In the middle we cut a square hole for the future mountain nest. Here you need to decide on the size of the nest. A large nest will require a lot of coal. A small one will not allow heating large workpieces. The depth of the nest to the grate also matters. Without going into details, let's say that a depth of ten centimeters will be optimal, regardless of the size of the nest in the plan.

To prevent the metal from burning out, it must be lined (overlaid) with fireclay bricks. We use brick ShB-8. Its dimensions are 250x124x65 mm. These dimensions will determine the size of the forge nest - 12.5 cm at the grate, 25 at the top, 10 cm deep. Given the thickness of the brick, the size of the hole in the table will be 38x38 cm.

From the cut piece we cut out a square with a side of 25 cm. In the center of the square we cut a square hole with a side of 12 cm. We also need four plates in the form of an isosceles trapezoid with base lengths of 38 and 25 cm, a height of 12.5 cm. So the strip cut off earlier came in handy . Now we need to weld it all.

From two millimeter steel, we roll a square pipe with a side of 12 and a length of 20-25 cm. This will be an ash collector. In the middle of one of the walls we make a hole for the duct. We weld a pipe into the hole. We use a piece of ordinary water pipe for 40.

The bottom of the ash receptacle is closed with a lid. We do it on the screws with the lamb.

The table is ready. It remains to place it on the base or weld legs to it from the corner. You can make a base of foam concrete blocks.

We pay attention to the opening. An air duct will pass through it.

Using a grinder with a cutting disc on a stone, we cut out a lining from a brick. Be sure to use a respirator and goggles. And follow the safety precautions when working with angle grinders.

You can connect a vacuum cleaner and try to kindle a forge.

First, we lay the chips and finely chopped firewood. We set fire to them with a weak blast, and when the firewood flares up well, we fill it with coal. Now you can increase the blow.

The vacuum cleaner can be connected not directly to the air duct of the forge, but through a homemade air supply regulator. This device allows you to adjust the amount of air supplied to the hearth, that is, to reduce or increase the blast.

Usually, a damper is installed to regulate the air supply to the duct. But blocking the flow increases the load on the vacuum cleaner motor. The vacuum cleaner is usually used old, and in order not to overload it, an air supply regulator is built. The air flow is not blocked, but diverted to another duct. For this, a box with three pipes was made. Two opposite each other - the entrance from the pump and the exit to the furnace. The third branch pipe, on the upper wall, is the discharge of excess air. The third branch pipe is shifted relative to the first two by the value of the diameter of the holes.

Inside is a plate bent at a right angle, half the length of the box wide. The plate can be moved from one extreme position to another by means of a wire rod. As far as the hole for supplying air to the horn is blocked, the discharge hole will open just as much.

The box is closed with a lid with a hole for traction.

Now we have a working forge suitable for outdoor use. To protect from rain, you need a canopy, which must be non-flammable. A forge needs an umbrella and a pipe to collect and remove smoke.

We make an umbrella from sheet iron two millimeters thick. Firstly, such an umbrella will last longer, and secondly, it is more difficult to cook thinner iron by manual arc welding.

For the umbrella to be as effective as possible, the slope of its walls must be at least sixty degrees to the horizon. The umbrella should be located above the hearth so that an imaginary beam directed from the hearth point closest to the edge, tilted outward at an angle of sixty degrees to the plane of the table, falls inside the umbrella. This means that the higher the umbrella above the hearth, the larger it should be. On the other hand, the lower the umbrella above the table, the more inconvenient it is to work. Here we must proceed from the available material and our anthropometric data.

The umbrella is supported by angle steel posts. We put a pipe on top of the umbrella, which we also weld from a steel sheet of two. The pipe must be covered with a spark arrester, which is made of a metal mesh.

If you direct the air discharged from the throttle through the air duct (the water pipe will go 1 inch) to the beginning of the chimney, you will get an ejector that increases the efficiency of flue gas removal.

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

Design

Here are the structural parts, the presence of which implies the device of the hearth:

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);
capacity for hardening;
gas chamber.

Horn on the corner

How to make a blacksmith's forge? First of all, you need to understand the principle of its action. The coal furnace functions due to the burning of carbon. Burning, carbon releases a large amount of energy, which is used for heating.

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

The carbon prevents the forge-cut workpiece from oxidizing too quickly. Due 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 a purified monogas (propane, butane) is used as a fuel. These gases contain carbon and hydrogen molecules (hydrogen is a good reducing agent, interacting with air, it releases a lot of energy). The gas can be mixed with oxygen in the burner. Homemade gas forge is done quickly enough. The main thing is to install the burner.

The situation is different if natural gas is used. It is a combination of unsaturated/saturated hydrocarbons that require varying amounts of air to burn completely. Optimally adjust the supply of oxygen will not work.

In addition, sulfur, silicon and phosphorus molecules are present in natural gas. Sulfur is the "worst enemy" of steel parts. It makes them unusable. To restore the blanks, you will need to completely melt them.

In view of this, natural gas can be used as a fuel only after purification from sulfur. The easiest way is to pass fuel through naphthalene before supplying fuel to the burner, which will absorb all the sulfur molecules. A homemade forge, powered by 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 resistant to fire. It is able to serve for decades even in harsh conditions. A home-made forging hearth is lined with fireclay oven bricks. It's cheaper, more accessible. With infrequent use, it will also last a long time.

A firebox with grates, an air chamber and a supply pipe form the main part of the device - the lance. Drainage is intended for accurate and fast regulation of the blast. A weakly heated product cannot be forged, it will simply break.

A tent, an umbrella, a chimney are designed to remove smoke that is harmful to the human body from the forge. It is formed quite a lot.

The tempering vessel and the air-gas chamber are optional items. The hardening container is useful if you forge parts from damask steel. they need thermal shock hardening.

The gas chamber is used to:

additionally dry and heat oxygen;
purify oxygen from foreign particles and condensate;
to introduce into the air special filler substances for alloying.

The crucible is a heat-resistant cap that increases the maximum allowable temperature. It is installed when a do-it-yourself forging device is used to melt precious metals, non-ferrous alloys.

Making a forge

The easiest way to make a forge forge with your own hands from fireclay bricks. The shelves of the grates are made of cut metal pipes, and the grates themselves are made of a steel strip four to six millimeters thick. They must be screwed in at an angle (to capture the blast flow). The fuel will be coal, coke. You can kindle the forge with a blowtorch. Do not 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 set the dimensions of the table on which it will stand.

Stand straight, feet shoulder width apart. Lower your right arm, bend it at the elbow joint.
Let the partner measure the distance from the elbow to the earth's surface. Add five to seven centimeters. This will be the height of the table.
Take pliers (preferably large) in your right hand. The partner should measure the distance from the abdomen to the ends of the jaws of the instrument.
Add 10 - 12 centimeters. This will be one second of the length of the diagonal of the table.
The length of the side of the table should be 0.7 from the diagonal.

The blower of the lance with a vacuum cleaner is preferably located at the bottom. The drain flap must be able to slide forward.

It is recommended to install a one-piece grate with grooves that intersect and divide the slab into squares. They accumulate carbon deposits. If you drill holes, then after each forging they will need to be cleaned with a steel twig.

Why you should not make a horn with your own hands using a grate made of planks? This is due to the fact that the fuel burns unequally. In the gaps between the slats of the shelves, oxygen will flow to where it is easier for it to exit. In that area, the temperature will rise, the entire part will dry out, and its fragility will increase.

How to make a horn if there is no special grate? A good option is a lance, in which the holes are located concentrically, have a radius of 4-5 millimeters. Such a design is slowly contaminated, ensures uniformity of the blast.

Gas burners

The gas forge is optimally suited for artistic forging. There are models that are almost impossible to create without a discharge. The advantage of such devices is that they operate on any gas, have a powerful pressurization.

Bicycle parts can be used to make a gas horn with your own hands. Of the turning work, it will only be necessary to turn the sprocket from the bicycle gearbox. This device can run on propane, butane. However, only small furnaces made of bricks, which are closed, can be heated with it. Do not, under any circumstances, light the burner with acetylene. The part will simply burn out, the device will explode.

Understanding how to make a gas forge is much easier than understanding, for example, an electrical circuit. For its manufacture, use the appropriate drawings, photos. Watch the DIY horn video and you will be able to create a device that is great for home use.