Dirt Cheap Blacksmithing - Forging with a hair dryer
Money can be tight for many people making it hard to start blacksmithing. But it can be dirt cheap to get started with some very simple forging. Using a hair dryer for a forge blower, old pallets for fuel and a sledge hammer as an anvil, lets start forging.
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Below you will find useful links that will help you in your journey as a blacksmith.
To find more information in blacksmithing in the US or to search for your local ABANA affiliate group visit.
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Blacksmithing tools and supplies
Self contained air hammers - www.saymakhammers.com/
General blacksmithing supplies - www.oleoacresfarriersupply.com/
General blacksmithing supplies - www.piehtoolco.com/
General blacksmithing supplies - www.centaurforge.com/
General blacksmithing supplies - www.blacksmithsdepot.com/
General blacksmithing supplies - www.blacksmithsupply.com/
Square head bolts and lags - www.blacksmithbolt.com/
New anvils - www.oldworldanvils.com/
New anvils - www.nimbaanvils.com/
New anvils -
Industrial supplier - www.mcmaster.com
Tong blanks and tools - kensironstore.com/
Fire brick and refractory - refwest.com
Blacksmithing and related activities can be hazardous. These videos are not a substitute for competent professional instruction. Your safety is your sole responsibility. Always use appropriate safety equipment including eye and ear protection when working in the shop. Follow manufactures safety guidelines for the use of all equipment. In the event something shown in one of these videos seems unsafe, it is up to you to make the appropriate changes to protect yourself.t yourself.
In today's technological world, we have access to so many options. The tools might not be immediately obvious, but we're entirely surrounded by potential. Just takes a little bit of thinking to recognize!
Just visit local scrap yard! ❤
Too right mate, innovation. Teaching the young lad gets him thinking aswell. He actually is the inspiration for my chipping hammer. Cut the tip off* an old picaxe.
Not just that a black smith back in the day had that fire burning constantly to be hotter and hotter if they had to do it this way a couple days worth of coals she will be rolling heat
Thinking and experience. Someone who knows little about smithing or tools would never reach this conclusion, but someone who knows a thing or two stands a fair shake at striking genius every now and again.
Too many options lead to selection paralysis
John is going from the most advanced blacksmithing shop with presses and powerhammers to a forge on the ground, becoming more primitive. At the same time, John Plant of Primitive Technology is working on his smelting and working his way into the iron age. At this rate they are going to meet right in the middle.
😂😂😂
👌
This would be an amazing crossover.
I gues they will eventually join their homemade rails and drive a homemade vapor locomotive to visit.
🏆 winning comment ha ha ha
I started out with a similar setup about 4 years ago spurred on by your videos. I had £20 im my account and had just moved back to the UK. I used plaster of Paris and a baking tray with charcoal and a sledge as an anvil. Today I have a forge and am slowly starting to make it pay the bills. Thank you so much for continuing to make this craft accessible.
That is awesome!
When I started blacksmithing 18 years ago, my first forge was a rusty old charcoal grill connected to a hair dryer. A piece of railroad track was my first anvil. It worked fine and allowed me to try enough blacksmithing before deciding if I wanted to get more invested. Also, looking back at my first setup today really makes me appreciate having a proper forge and anvil.
Same, I've been forging for 2 years and I've still got a railroad anvil cause I am not spending £900 on an anvil
I'm also a railroad anvil guy. I've got a leafblower and blackpipe for my air
I made my forge out of a break drum i got from the salvage yard and an old bathroom fan i frankensteined together (with a dimmer switch!) And i got a 100 anvil from the hardware store that was about the sixe of a football. It was fun, but ATE through the charcoal....
Just startest forging this year, with poor quality steel, a piece of traintrack and a Hammer. Even without fire it can Work.
Damn. How common is using a piece of railroads for an anvil? Haha. I've been thinking of doing it myself if I ever start blacksmithing. Had this small piece for years sitting at home.
This legitimately gives every standard household blacksmithing capabilities. You have literally increased productive potential of humanity a percentage point and I'm favoriting and downloading this video.
C'mon man, show some enthusiasm
it saddens me to think that some people wont even use this absolutely world changing technique
@@thecoolbyzantine24 be that *one* who entices a neighbor 🤘⚒️
Every standard household has an area to do this? Doubtful
@@karara5532 apartments you need to use a blowtorch and ideally when everyone's at a festival or something.
That's how I started, hammer, charcoal grill, coal, hairdryer, metal block
Mine was the top of a pressure tank, a shop vac, charcoal, a hammer, and an old anvil my uncle left at our house, that was welded to a stand with 1” rod for legs, so it would sink into the ground and tip over.
I'm so amazed that people just have metal blocks. I just can't find any good Anvil. Currently using a normal small hammer
@@ForTheGoldenOak used to work at a metal fab shop. Check around for one of those, they always have scrap lying around
Scrap yard
This video brought to mind a couple of your previous videos about historical Viking anvils. They certainly weren't using 150-pound anvils at their forges, and they managed to make everything they could ever need. An excellent video. Thank you!
Been there done that. My #1 tip is getting your "anvil" up at a good working height makes a huge difference. It really sucks forging off your knees and hunched over.
Many years ago I asked my grandfather if i could buy an anvil from him because I was interested in smithing. Instead He gave me a piece of RR track. I went to our abandoned RR tracks and found some hard coal. A brake rotor, some pipe, a hairdryer was my forge. Made some of my most beautiful wall hooks on that rig. Thank you John.
I've made a few knives with this sort of setup in the past... definitely functional. One thing I did end up doing is chisel out a hole in an old wooden log and set the sledgehammer in that, as you suggested. Worked far better...
Kind of comforting to know how to do an improvised forge in case you end up in a jam!
The notion that anyone would consider using such a setup makes me realize 2 things, 1st that some people are that interested in learning blacksmithing, and 2nd that I am lucky to have such a nice anvil and a good assortment of hammers. It certainly encourages me to use what I’ve got.
The notion that anyone would consider making such a comment makes me realize that there are people out there who should refrain from commenting lest they appear to look like they're bragadocious.
@@WYO_Cowboy_Joe sorry, my intent was not to be thoughtless, please feel free to delete my comment.
Welcome to the unnecessary comment section.
Ah yes...the good ol hair dryer days... I burned up a couple Goodwill hair dryers as they're apparently not made for a 3-4hr 100% duty cycle. What I didn't like was that the hair dryer was way too much air for the small stock I was playing with so I upgraded to a bathroom exhaust fan from the hardware store and a makeshift damper... but that was 8-9yrs ago....I've come a long way since 😂 great video sir!
I think the success of this setup is due more to the skill of the man wielding the hammer than any other factor.
Keep It Simple! Brilliant!!! 👍👍❤️
Here in Brazil there are very few blacksmiths but several bladesmiths and many of them started forging blades exactly like this, adapting forges and anvils with scrap and available material. Great video!👍
😊
Takes me back to when I started. Didn’t quite have a hole in the ground, but I did have a junk brake drum with a hair dryer +pipe. Wasted a lot of hardwood charcoal that was given to me. Had a harbor freight anvil though. That anvil is still a useful piece of equipment, I prop the shop door open with it when it’s hot. A tip for people wanting to use bricks or stones* if you use bricks, make sure they’ve been fired, not poured cement bricks. With stone, make sure your stones haven’t been sourced from near a source of water. Both stone and concrete can absorb moisture that can make the material burst in a forge. Don’t use cinder blocks. Wear your safety glasses for sure. Another excellent video sir.
I love this video as it shows just how easy it is to start forging. I wanted to for years, and even though I had a number of tools to do the work, I struggled to find a forge. Of course, once I found one, several others just seemed to fall into my lap. There must be some sort of weird inverse proportion rule about how badly you want or need something and its availability to you.
" Once I found one, several others just seemed to fall into my lap", Is true for girlfriends too.
@@honthirty_I must be missing something then...😂
Good lord, that is exactly how I started. And with a few more bricks and proper charcoal, you can actually forge weld in such a set up. Don't ask me how I know... I am a bit beyond that now, but it brings back a lot of good memories.
Oddly enough the "Dirt Box Forge" which is kind of what you are showing is my primary forge (or a variation of that). I'm retired and do some blacksmithing just for fun. I can't afford to spend serious money on this. I have a 2 by 4 wooden frame, clay brick and plumbing fittings for the forge. The blower is an old electric motor, some scrap plywood I found, and fencing material glued and screwed together. I was given a junk Peter Wright anvil and I found a bent-up sprung leg vise that I've bent back into alignment. The vise mounting hardware and return spring are all made from rebar I had sitting around. Still I can easily reach welding heat and do some reasonable work. All together I have roughly $200 in the whole set-up. Will I ever be a professional blacksmith? .....No. However, enjoyment in the shop, in retirement, has been achieved. A young man could take this much further with very little money. With a little imagination, you can have many, many hours of enjoyment.
Well done John. My back hurts just watching this video. Wishing you health and happiness.
Its not something I would do often, my knees start to complain
I'm glad to say, I haven't been at that level of need in a few years. I recommend a cheap shop vac ($20) instead of a hair dryer. If a sledge is all you have, I would still mount it on a stump. Watching you kneel, hurt my knees😅. Love the content!
This is awesome :D I reckon one could stretch fuel consumption just a little by turning down or off the hair dryer in between heats. Maybe hit the switch right before pulling the piece from the fire, etc. Lovely video John!
I was just going to add the same comment! 😁
Get a good, foot operated switch perhaps...
My first forge was made out of a diy sheet steel barbecue and a hair dryer. It could get so hot it was able to melt steel.
I started in the same way with a $10 grill from Dollar General and some old fire wood and a large rock so basically I truly appreciate this video and I appreciate that you showed how to get started extremely cheap
Whatever works works, now to find an easy way to get up off the ground 😀. Thanks John for making videos for us. Enjoy your day.
I started with a hair dryer, a box with clay and the end cap of an air tank for a forge. Dropped a 20lb piece of tool steel in a stump. Definitely suitable for a beginner to make hooks and small edc knives.
Great job thinking outside of the box. I'm shocked how hot you could get it with just wood. Thanks!
The Vikings did it the same way great idea Mr John thanks for posting blessings to you and your family
John, had to sell all my good and heavy forge and anvil due to military move but this keeps my boys and I in the game. Thank you!
That was an awesome demonstration of the absolute basics. Thanks!
Glad you enjoyed it!
I have forge welded in a setup like that one. If you put some thought into the brick configuration you can achieve some surprisingly hot flames
You are the courageous blacksmith. Thanks John
This video is why Black Bear is the cornerstone of the community. No judgement, all practicality. Good stuff.
Thank you. I appreciate that
I used a propane grill some fire brick a weed burner . I also did the grill charcoal & hair dryer . It's a way to start & helps justify the money spent to get better stuff . Wife's can be encouraging or hindering in getting into something different
For my coal forge I run a bouncy house blower, a 30gal drum, an old lawn mower deck, a brake drum. I have made many knives using this setup and done a TON of forge welding and such. Been a lot of fun just recently bought a propane forge for the first time in my 7 years of smithing.
Great video! I made a forge from an old kiln that was missing the electrical parts, so I have not needed coal and I can't confirm, butI believe that Tractor Supply stores may sell coal for farriers. I'm thinking that would produce a much hotter fire and shorter heat times.
Pretty much a bushcraft forge, little unwieldy but completely doable. Morning John.
I've seen a lot of takes on a makeshift anvil around on the internet, and honestly none of them seem as simple, cheap, and effective as a sledge hammer. That's genius.
Just outstanding!
Simple, low-cost and functional ideas. Thanks BBF. 👍🏻😎 🏠🔥🚒 Well Chief.. there's was this blacksmithing guy I watched on KZhead.. Well yes Chief.. admittedly I didn't take time to watch the rest of the video until AFTER I became "that guy" which he mentions towards the end of the video... 😄😄
I play guitar and I remember someone once saying "The great guitarists don't get amazing tone from their equipment, they get it from their fingers" - it's so true. If you know what you're doing you can do anything, with almost anything. Great video thank you
One of my early woodworking shops was heated with a small cast iron (farm store brand) stove and pallet wood. And like your simple forge, I spent more time stoking the stove than woodworking. Pallet wood burns pretty fast, hot, but fast.
My first forge was an old brake rotor in a box of dirt, anvil was a salvaged piece of I-beam with a chunk of old heavy truck leaf spring welded to the top. It wasn't glamorous, but it worked, and it got me started. There's all kinds of videos out there about how to get started for cheap, but I love going back a few years and being nostalgic about where I came from. Just proves, where there's a will, there's a way.
Iam currently building my 3rd forge started with the old BBQ bottom an old tube from a satellite dish and my wife's hair dryer ( she had to get a new one) lol!! Then built a propane forge from scratch ,gave that one to a new smithy i ran into. Now im building my final one I think? Lol!! My anvil still is a120 lb block of aneald 4140 and an old railroad spike hammer for a horn i have ground down and mounted on a shaft and mounted in my stump next to my anvil. Once I moved some hot steel under my hammer I was hooked...
Where there's a will there's a way. Thanks for sharing with us John. That was show that it can be done.Stay safe around there. Fred.
So nice to see the different ideas of how to get started. The bouncy house blowers may be a bit much for air supply but before building my gas forge I built a coal forge and used an old air mattress blower for my air. I ordered a simple rheostat on Amazon for about $7 to control the speed. It actually worked great. Blacksmithing is such a satisfying activity even if you don’t want to make a living at it and we need more people who have these timeless skills. John thanks for teaching such a valuable skill. I hope you never stop!
Actually, an old sewing machine foot pedal can be an ideal set up for controling the flow of air and it frees up a hand.
Awesome showing what one can do with very little. Thinking outside the box is a great thing. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Brilliant , should be very valuable for starting off or someone doing a particular project needing some bending . Thanks👍
Cool experiment! I wonder if it would be worth your time to revisit the viking stake anvils you made a few years ago? Specifically just looking at smithing from the standpoint of efficiency. Would it be possible to have everything you need in just one toolbox? Likely that was what defined the variety of tools the viking smith had at his disposal. It would be neat to explore some of the possible range of projects with just such a set up. Cheers.
It might be worth looking into.
If you need more airflow, moving the hair dryer back so there is an air gap around it allows more air to be pulled into and forced through the tubing. I think I used nuts off 5/16th(8mm) bolts on mine. But that is dependent on the size of the hair dryer and tubing. Love this video, it very well demonstrates that we aren't limited only by our imagination but also the motivation to actually get down to doing. And burn bans. Like me right now. In Louisiana, outdoor forge and statewide burn ban. But I'm good with that until the temperatures drop below 90. In fact I'd prefer they were below 60, or even 50. Lol
Goes to show a true craftsman can use anything and create something. Thank you for sharing this!
I think we get a little bit spoiled by having all these cool tools around to work with so its awesome fun to go back to almost nothing and see what we can do with that sometimes, I made my last knife with an angle grinder and no other power tools, using a small hand cranked blower in the house stove to do all the quench and start the tempering It turned out to be a really good little knife, its got its problems but hey I did it ...pretty much handtools only so to speakBouncy castle blowers are great but tend to be a bit strong so you do need some way to divert some of the air flow...otherwise well worth the money though
Been on a binge of your channel lately. I have always thought smithing was incredible and way outside the boundaries of my skill. But your videos I caught within the last 2 months that I finally bought material to make my own forge, however I opted for the gas burner for my forge, shout out to the @KyleRoyerKnives channel for that idea. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge the way you do.
Glad you enjoy it!
This is a great idea for when i run out of propane, thank you.
Great video, my forge is like a combination of this and the $500 set up. I have the 66lb anvil and a charcoal forge made from an old tin firepit, a hairdryer, small trailer wheel, break rotor and some other junk welded together. I love using charcoal.
My first forge was a Box-O-Dirt forge. A frame salvaged 2x4s, filled with dirt, a fence post for the pipe, and "Goodwill" hair dryer which lasted 2 years. I already had a ball peen hammer.
I love this! Doing without and making it happen anyways is a real positive message for folks to see !
I started out with a charcoal forge but built it from two cultivator disks connected by 2” pipe. I plugged bottom of the pipe, welded a pipe tee in the 2” pipe for an air connection, and welded a piece of plate drilled with air holes over the pipe connection in the top disk. I used this setup until I build my first gas forge and it works well. It does use a lot of fuel. Darlington, South Carolina
Its nice to see you showing this, I used to do this when i first started blacksmithing! Tho i used a small 5kg anvil, a cast iron pot as a forge and a fireplace bellows for air. Used to go out into the woods to do forging with everything fitting inside my backpack, except the charcoal i used! Dont have a youtube channel for my blacksmithing, Winter Heart Forge here by the way! Keep up the good work!
That's a pretty cool example of how a simple improvised set of tools can still create useful things! Thanks for bringing us along and taking the time to break it down to Ye Olden School!
Glad you liked it!
Thanks for bringing back fond memories. It's almost exactly the same setup I came up with in my parents' garden when I was 11.
Thanks John. I have had the desire to forge metal as home on the farm in Northern Alberta dad had a forge set up on a stand that he used charcoal in. I remember the hand crank blower and how we go to crank it. I have purchased a cheaper anvil from Princess auto and you have rekindle my desire to beat on hot metal. Thanks.
Thank you so much for presenting these "dirt cheap" option scenarios. This kind of video helped me get over the intimidation factor and start learning.
Glad it was helpful!
Sir that is so smart, I've been wanting to get into this and I believe you just gave me what I need to tip the balance to get me started, can't wait till I'm off work Sunday the kids are gonna love this idea. Thanks so much, Lord Jesus bless you and yours.
That's absolutely brilliant, and in my garbage clay soil I bet the sledge would stay even more nicely.
Thank you. I lost my job last summer and haven't found employment since then. I'm not on government subsistence so I don't have the money for expensive tooling. And yet, even so I'm building and renovating something at my place almost every day. I plan to forge and smelt and weld and construct in all sorts of projects. I'm not letting poverty keep me from building my dreams.
Best of luck. Blacksmithing can help pay the bills once you're comfortable making simple items.
Great video! Definitely an easy way to get into the Hobby. That is how I started as well with a little dugout hole in my backyard!
That was an absolutely beautiful frankenforge setup. I've seen other people do these sort of videos but most of them made S hooks or something small with them. I can't remember seeing anyone make a functional tool with one of these setups. My first forge was a wok that I sat in a brake rotor on top of a tube type diner table leg with a piece of copper tubing ran up the inside of it attached to a shop vac with a dimmer switch attached to it so I could control the air. It was an ugly setup but it worked as well as the shop forge I have now, just not as efficient.
Fantastic video, thanks John!
My pleasure!
my first forge was similar. I have clay soil. Built a mound of dirt up 4 feet tall and 3 feet in dialmeter. Used a very large hammer strapped to a tree stump. Burned charcoal. Worked great.
Now you are just showing off. "You see that hole? I'm gonna make art with it." Good job.
This is fantastic. I hope it inspires those wanting to try but don't have a few grand to get started. This video says "you can do it!"
John, I love this video for the fact it removes the barrier of entry for many people. $500 is still a tidy sum of money for many, and flea markets/garage sales/Craigslist, you can find most of this cheap, if not free on the latter. Thanks a million, -John
Haha, this is more or less how I started years ago. My son asked daddy can we do some forging. I don't know let's try. I`m hooked ever since.
Exactly. I like to remind people that the Sutton Hoo Hoard, Mastermyr Find, and every other "amazing" work from our ancestors was made using tools as simple as that. The sledge anvil is probably the biggest anvil you'd find in ancient Europe outside of stone anvils, and being hardened steel means it's an order of magnitude better. If those guys back then could forge great wonders with what we would consider rudimentary tools, there's nothing stopping people from doing the same today. It's all about patience and perseverance.
I love the improvise, adapt, overcome methods. I like having a nice anvil now - my forge is a paint can lined with refractory cement - still have my railroad track from a state sale - and I love seeing people make something from nothing like this. Our hobby is like that, makes the brain stay flexible.
Not making light of your video, but as simple as it is , it is a brilliant idea ! 👏
I’m a 17 year old looking to get into blacksmithing for myself, and may god bless you, honestly !!
I started out very similar to that. A couple tips I'd add 1. For safety, be careful about using brick or stones in the hottest part of the fire. Some, like limestone, can potentially explode if they get too hot! 2. If using wood, not all woods burn equally. Soft woods like cottonwood and elm burn pretty quick and not especially hot. Dense woods burn longer and hotter. I had good luck with Osage Orange, but that one does tend to pop so it can scatter embers around your forge area.
I had a paving stone explode (not that violently) by just resting a piece of mild steel i had just normalized on it. Puckered me up quick. Found proper fire bricks on the cheap soon after.
This is a good idea! I remember when I was getting interested in blacksmithing, I did something similar to this... I made a forge out of an old brake rotor and set that into a 30gal 80/90 drum... I used exhaust pipe for the pipe. And, an old hair drier for the blower. I made my first S hooks doing this! Good info! Great video!
Wow. This is really one of the blacksmithing videos of all time. That is hands down one of the methods ive ever seen.
This is exactly how i got started forging! On a campfire actually… and it took a lot of wood and great coals for the heat.
Thanks for sharing such a simple way to get started in forging.
That's a great minimum equipment setup! For small things in my machine shop I've been using a small soup can forge for hardening and some small item black smithing. Converted a couple of hex key wrenches into wood working router plane blades with it. But it's really only good for even smaller items than this impromptu setup you came up with.
My very first forge was similar. I used an old cheap standing fire pit, drilled a hole in it for a pipe. Built a "trench" out of bricks and used a mattress pump. Put some steel or more brick under the pipe so the cast iron dont melt and bottom out the fire pit. Worked great for a year.
Thank you for proving that this type of setup will work for simple purposes for those that can't afford the best blacksmithing tools but still want to get into it!
I have a sledge treadle hammer on my bucket list. It is hard to find the really heavy sledge hammers. Amazon has a 20lb truper sledge that i may end up going with. There is a guy in europe named Bertram that has a youtube channel and he does some relatively primitive blacksmithing. His work is inspiring. Anyway, he has a sledge treadle hammer in his shop that he uses to a large effect. It is amazing all of the tooling that he has made with his primitive setup.
Go to the scrapyard
This is almost identical to how I started years ago except I used a leaf blower and the forge was built on an old yard wagon/ trailer that I could move around and many of my anvils were actually tree stumps from my recently logged property, I just shaped the stump with a chainsaw close to what I wanted and then could hammer out hot sheet steel from the forge to the desired shape for a welding project
I built something like this about 6 years ago. I made mine about 3 feet long, and used split firewood. I built a fireplace great out of 1inch round stock. Made 45 and 90 degree bends by hand
John, great video idea, and very slick of you not to do the obvious little improvements in the video that you mentioned right at the end. Its an effective way to increase engagement.😉
I learned this morning, while trying to assemble a cabinet carcass to floppy for my assembly tables, my days of working on my knees are behind me.
Always love to see these “you can do it too” videos. Great video and great commentary
I'm almost ready to start, just some weeks and I got everything I need.. the story will tell my beginnings were humble and minimalist. Every time you said, "in a hole in the ground", I couldn't avoid finishing the phrase with "there lived a hobbit"😂.. TY my friend
Tip with the hair dryer. Put something around it to hold down the "cool" button. Otherwise it will overheat and trip the breaker. It has a breaker on the plug and can be reset, but repeatedly overheating it will kill it eventually.
I actually started like this except I was holding the hairdryer in my hand too, and made 5 or 6 knives before I graduated to a metal box off the ground with a pipe for the hairdryer and an actual anvil on a stump. Still use vicegrips for tongs though 😂
Thanks for the inspiration John 😊 I’ve always wanted to try blacksmithing and I feel like this is finally a push to get started!
A great video to encourage people to get started.
I enjoyed this video so much, not that I feel it's the dream set up, but that it can be done. It's amazing! And when it comes down to it, that's what it's all about, making something from nothing, to be able to make what we need from what we have. I love it!! Thank you so much.
This is kind of "Back to the Beginning" of blacksmithing. It looks like it works. And with your suggestions it looks like it could work well enough for a person to get started in the hobby🙂🙂
Good educational content, once a smith understands the fundamentals, the road to improvement is open. Very good outline of the basic process, sir.