Blacksmithing - Building a simple DIY forge
2018 ж. 18 Сәу.
2 988 465 Рет қаралды
I get a lot of questions about how to start blacksmithing, how to get tools and equipment etc. I wanted to make this video to show people that are interested in trying this craft, that you don't have to weld or fabricate a simple forge. It's much easier than that! My video is not a tutorial, instead I hope it can spark interest and contribute to some inspiration.
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Good tip don’t use river rocks or rocks that have been in water for a long period of time because the tent to explode when they get to hot
How did you get to the point they explode
@@thehomicidalduck6867 thermal expansion
👍 👍 👍!
U Can Use That Rocks That Have Been In Sun For Big Time
Wear eye protection. Pebbles to the face don't hurt much, but the eye is no fun.
Bro I found this video last night on Google watched it twice and made my first forge this afternoon! So incredibly simple after making a few tweaks to it I got it perfect and forged some tools to work the coals with! Thank you so much, now if my arms don’t fall off from all that hammering I think I’m gonna try to make myself a knife next.
Ha ha, sweet! Good luck!
It's been 2 months, how far have you came along?
Has your arms fallen off ? If not please type a reply ?
@@lisamayuri i think his arms have fallen off
@@wilfy8545definitely arms fell off
Nice videos. Is great that you dont use music. I love to hear the tools and nature songs. Thank you!
Adrián Fdez .i agree with you sir/madam
The music is for when the sounds of nature include your kids screaming in the background.
I agree
Lots of videos play classical music at full blast
My first forge was a hibachi BBQ with holes drilled out the bottom, sitting in a trench in the garden, with a hair blower pointing down the trench. The old codger who turned the 18 year old on to how to improvise a forge has no idea what he started. He did promise that by the time I burned the bottom out of the hibachi, I'd know what to do for a real forge. He was very right. Thanks for the memories!
Paul Lalonde Great story! 😀
Please elaborate
I made my first forge out of the bottom half of my BBQ when the legs broke from too many Army moves. Not commercial quality, but my forging wasn't back then either!
I enjoy how all your stories have a start/middle/end clearly shown. It's easy to see you're enthusiastically encouraging us to experience the joy of shaping red hot metal into something useful or decorative. Thanks for the inspiration.
Thank you!!
At first I thought you were making a spear to protect yourself from your wife when she found out that you stole the vacuum.
He he, better make something nice to give her :)
Лайков с каждым разом все меньше.
Paul Dowding lol 😂
good one lol
Paul dowding me to
I really do enjoy videos like this one. No music, no talking, no show, no hectic! Just inspiration by watching the work. Thank you and greetings from Germany
What I take away from all your videos is a relaxed, methodical approach with no screaming or wild antics just a pleasure to watch and learn. Thank you, it is a help to all of us who make.
Thanks Bruce!
it was a quick jump for me from watching sword forging videos to directly how to make a forge lol
same here lol
Me too.
Same 😂
yürü be iso
The blacksmith bug will bite you, but only a few stay with it
i actually appreciate that there is no talking or music in this video. it allowed me to focus more on what you were actually doing. i wouldnt mind some more details about the size of the box, but i think i could figure it out. great video!! this might be what gets me into simple smithing. its winter and theres a global pandemic, after all.
That video is poetry. I love the idea of a forge in a wooden box. It has made me realise that what I want to do is achievable. Thank you.
Can’t wait for the report on the first individual who forgets to move the vacuum hose from inlet to outlet. The video will be quite entertaining.
Hmmm, yea. That goes under the "common sense" section I believe :)
Alan's Mistakin' Acres ohyea
@@torbjornahman ,I kinda wondered do yu suck or blow,lol
In germany our vacuum cleaners sadly just work one way so i was pretty confused aswell xD
montanaMontana miele vacuums do this and they are German!
My forge is build in the same way, but with a metal baking dish instead of the wooden pallet. And a hair drier is my bellows. That is very lightweighted, and it needs just a little charcoal to run. It is good to know that you can go as big as you need :D
Love how you get right to the point. No extra filler words. Fewer words were never spoken!!
Man, thank you a thousand, I haven't made my forge yet, but I was going to make it out of bricks and earth, or with some cement. Thank you very much for warning us that concrete blocks explode.
Thanks so much!!! Ive been racking my brain to try and build a forge, but I don’t have a welder nor know how to weld (at this point in my life). This is exactly what I needed.
Well done 👍🏻 I'm looking into getting started with steel instead of silver ! This will help me develop a good coal forge ! Thank you.
This is so incredibly helpful. i've always wanted to build myself a little forge, this video showed me i can get this on even tomorrow and so i will do. Thanks a lot from Germany!
That's why we call you master of blacksmith on KZhead. You always come up with most easiest and cheapest ways for blacksmithing hats off to you man. Thanks for making such informative videos.
I want to build a simple forge and this video is the perfect primer. It contains all the basic information and answers all my questions. Thanks!
Awesome, thank you!
Very interesting project. I have been thinking about doing a outside forge for the summer. I have this portable coal forge, but it would be interesting to build something like this too! Great video, as always!
I have the boys in the merit badge class build a dirt box forge in much the same way but use a hair dryer for the air source. Never thought about using fire brick, I think I will carry some next week when I set up for class
You are an inspiring man. Thank you very much for sharing. Do not forget to show your landscape, your greenhouse. It is really nice. Greetings from Valparaíso, Chile.
Great video, this is ideal for someone that's getting into blacksmithing but doesn't need a permanent forge, someone like me for instance, these things are accessible to anyone. Thanks for the inspiration.
This is a great video lad I like it when people show just how easy it is to start from nothing and the be able to make something useful that you get to say that you made with nothing but yourself .Keep up the good videos
Another amazing video on creating home made workshop equipment, amazing stuff, thank you so much!
Really cool design. I would suggest to those planning to make any forge that there is no way to dispose of Coal Ash without environmental damage. It is incredibly toxic and will contaminate ground water with heavy metals. Use charcoal. It burns faster and not quite as hot as coal but much cleaner than coal. I like using black locust charcoal. It burns very hot
my favorite part was when you concealed the air feed pipe, i was not expecting that and it made it look so nice
That was a great show, man. Grounded and archaic... that's the way I like it. Thumbs up. Give me 5 more of these and it probably makes me start swinging the hammer... ;-)
So people CAN forge something other than a knife ! 👍😁👍
I like making tools. Seems like no one ever uploads a video of forging a wood gouge. Maybe I should fix that!
@@clintonm2357 yeah, knives or tools appeal to different people, I personally enjoy the knifemaking aspect of it, but I do like both
@@samuelsneesby1771 I feel like knives are almost relaxing to forge. I love watching them take shape as you hammer the bevel into the belly.
@@clintonm2357 I never start with a plan, I just start hammering in the tang and point, and just kinda let the knife take shape, and if I see good lines I work with them, and like you said, it’s one of the most surreal and and calming thing ever
I think it's the easiest and most efficient method I've seen so far, and it's easy to maintain after that. I thought that the biggest obstacle to making a DIY fire bed was the treatment after making it, but I was impressed that this was a temporary installation and easy to remove. It's great to use sand or gravel for insulation or to hold hot coals. Your method does a great job of using a minimal amount of charcoal to get the desired effect. As others have pointed out, practitioners should beware of explosions due to water vapor expansion when gravel is soaked with water.
I made my own forge with termite mud and normal bricks used for building houses unexpectedly it's very damn good using everyday for a month only the termite mid is cracked but it doesn't melt easily so does the brick and it provides a decent heat enough to heat up atleast upto 2 inches thick of metal it's superb
Thank you this is such a great tutorial. I was able to finish this with stuff laying around my house.
Easiest way I've seen yet. I've got my weekend project for sure😁
That works surprisingly well. Nice job
Mike Builds In alot of 3rd world countries they just dig a trench in the dirt and work off of the ground
Ironwood eclectia I know, it’s sorta like how bog ore was refined. I’m mainly surprised the wooden box holds up so well and how simple it is. I’ve never seen anyone do it like this, read about it but have never seen it
Very useful! I have a future project to make myself a 1''/25mm mortice chisel, and a 2''/50mm firmer chisel, from an old van flat suspension spring. This is just what I'll need to take out the curve, and temper it.
Short, sweet and to the point. Thank you for taking time to film, edit and post this video.
Like A Pimp !! Exceptional work you put out as well to equal the quality functional make shift forge !! Color me impressed sir! Thanks for sharing this information with all of us, and for also demonstrating such command of wonderful technique/skill/creativity/ingenuity and above all --- craftsmanship
NinjaBOT Handyman pimps sell women for sex. ....... js
Sir you have inspired this young soul indeed. Ive always wanted to do things like this for the longest time but never found a good source. Thank you
Great, good luck!
Wow! that was an easy forge! Thanks for sharing, I hope to give this a try someday.
Very neat. And very contagious! I am ready to jump on this project. There only one thing I will have a difficulty... The smith anvil and tongs
Anvils can be hard to find... ask around and tell your friends what you're looking for. Suddenly one might show up. You make tongs, but there are people making and selling them also.
4:33 what a coincidence, I use coke for fuel too. Never had much luck with charcoal - clogs the nostrils right up! :D jokes aside, love your work! Keep it up!
Thanks!
Now that is an idea,simple and effective.Thanks for passing the it on.
Beautiful leaf and done with minimal tools! Very nice and great video that shows if you want to do something bad enough you can figure out how to do it simply
By far the best simple forge I’ve seen yet.
Wow awesome Torbjörn! i might go ahead and make myself one of this when i get sick of woodcarving:D
:)
@Mike Nolan That would actually be great! I still have to learn to sharpen the chissels i already have, so i have a long way to go
@Cadeboy13 or use your metal working to create new tools for woodworking
I love this thread. I starting with smithing, because I love it, but my wife said, "it would be more useful around the house if you made things out of wood." So I smithed myself a fine (debatably) set of woodworking tools and dug into that. They complement each other well. By the way, I haven't heard her complain about that ice pick I made not being useful this winter...
Oh the wood 😍
Tack Torbjörn det var ett fint tips, så enkelt kan man starta med smide.
A man of few words, but a video of a thousand. It was a pleasure watching this video!
Once again, another epic video. I also have BOROWED the family rug sucker a few times, and now she just leaves her old hair dyers in my shop when she buys a new one.:) Then I use them at demo's when I don't want to take my big blower apart.
Great demo of how to have one less excuse :)
I drug a metal two basin sink home for my neighbor to make his own. Even gave him firebrick. He still comes over and works with me everytime I spark mine up. I want to shake him and yell "just build one." (My current profile picture is the viking axe I forged for him recently).
@@clintonm2357 ah that would be a nice idea you could even probably use those upside down to build a gas forge with some kale wool
Outstanding! Thank You!
Great video, I will keep this in the back of my mind, when I run out of woodworking projects I may just give this a try!
Or you could take this up as a new skill set to add an extra dimension to your woodworking projects. Make your own hinges and handles, corner protectors, cabinet and coffee table feet. Think of it as saving money on hardware costs.
Watched this a number of times as I'm considering making a side blast forge,not like this one but just seeing how simply one can be put together IS inspiring to me.Think you did a very good job of showing folks an alternate way of looking at things,thanks!
Great, thanks!! And good luck!
I'd avoid stone & modern regular brick due to the tendency to break or explode in the extreme heat of a forge. Local builders supply in most places will carry firebrick, and it's pretty cheap.
@Ognjen Radojevic you're thinking of firebrick or refractory brick. Regular clay brick can explode, though it's not as common as stone or concrete-mostly due to it being less porous, and so it doesn't trap moisture as easily-however, any imperfections in the brick can allow water in, and regular clay brick will degrade much faster than firebrick
Pretty cheap? It's $40 per brick where I am at.
I made one by digging a hole in the ground with a piece of iron pipe at the bottom and a Electrolux vacuum cleaner for the air supply. I used it to heat a 10ft long piece of 24 lb rail to make a turnout for a an amusement park railroad. Just heated the thing red hot and picked up the ends. It sagged sideways to the right bend. Then we set it upright and let it cool. Oh, i used anthricite coal as fuel.
Super simple and functional. Thanks for the great video!
Many thanks for making this video. I wanted to construct a Viking era table sand forge, but could not find a decent schematic. This is basically what you have constructed, so now I can see how to make one myself. Great work, thank you again. Regards, Keith. (Subscribed).
Glad you liked it!
Nice video, Torbjörn. Thanks for the detailed instructions. Was interesting to see that the natural stone breaks through the heat and holds the red brick. Although, here one used to get also "burned bricks". The then have so black and / or dark blue spots, you get with a hammer, bad halved.
These old klinker bricks... yeah they won't have much of a problem with heat...
The sound of this video is just amazing.
i know uhh u can hear almost every sound, thats really cool.
Thanks buddy. I was wondering why so much dirt then it dawned on me. To protect the wood. Nice simple forge. easy to set up, take it anywhere
Thank you sir, great idea. I'm fixing to start setting up my own forge and this will go long until I can get a real set up.
Nice! Just goes to show that technology just makes things easier and more convenient, not impossible. People have been forging steel long before welding, propane tanks and electricity... although electricity did come in handy on this one, but there were once bellows.
If you have an air mattress pump, that makes a great bellow
@@lancewhoha3659I have one of those inflatable castle air pumps, I imagine that would work pretty well too.
Only now I realised why the airflow in my Miele vacuum is like that. It never occured to me you could connect the hose to the exhaust filter!
Thanks! I've been feeling the itch to try some metalworking, and things like this make it seem much more attainable.
Great! Thanks
Ok but your skills usually WOW me . Yes looking safe and anyone might find it useful Thanks to you again Sir
Muy buen vídeo como siempre! Saludos desde México!!
Very nice bro, I like your practical improvising. I’m sure your boss value you. (If he is like my boss, lm Not sure about the wages).. Lol.
This video came in very handy. I'm just getting started metalworking, and I'm trying not to spend a lot of money, but I keep finding myself needing a way to heat metal for bending and quenching and bluing. This is by far the cheapest and best solution I've run across. Thanks!
Cool, I'm glad if I have sparked some ideas!
Hi what a fantastic yet cost effective way to build a kiln. This video has inspired me to have a go with minimum out lay. Nick
Simplesmente incrível! Agora já sei por onde começar. Muito obrigado Mestre! Sandro Fiuza, aqui de Itapeva, estado de São Paulo, Brasil. Um abraço!
I have used red bricks like those in my first 2 forge designs and both times they have melted and covered my air pipe with obsidean glass and now use a cast iron pan and plaster as a insulator and have much better luck
did you keep the obby glass? i reckon that would be really cool
@@muunii6801 ya i do have some of it the one that looks really nice is about a 1in square brink with a nice frosting looking layer of obsidian
My takeaway from this is "use red brick, get free obsidian for use with Neolithic reenactment."
Very archaic, but it works. I made kilns using autoclaved aerated concrete. It is cheaper than firebrick, more sturdy, although it crumbles and easy to find. This works very well, especially if you coat the inside of the kiln with natrium silikat (glassvatten) and aluminium oxide. Other concrete will not work and is dangerous. I can use an electric kiln for what I am doing, but then it takes many hours or I can use a propane kiln, which takes ca. 30 minutes. I will certainly build a forge, I am sure I will like it.
BRAVO OTTIMO LAVORO!
Ma l aspirapolvere non fonde? Risucchia il calore no?
With respect from Siberia. Success in work.
Олег М get back home
блант дзмиен You didn't find another place to assert yourself? I feel sorry for you. Your anger destroys your soul...
Олег М you traitor
блант дзмиен God created this world for good and for love , do not overshadow it with words in which there is no kindness. I don't want to write...
@Torbjörn Åhman I am just starting out (like just this weekend) and have been looking at ways to make a forge. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
Experimentation time! :) Just be careful!
I'm a beginner blacksmith and this type of forge will satisfy me... Thank you.
Good stuff! Never thought of doing it like that.
When ever I'm feeling bad and thinking I'm useless I watch one of your videos and it makes me feel even worse because I can't do any of the stuff you do !
This is simple to do! I promise you can do it!
I actually built one of these of my own design, using your video as a guide, and it works amazingly! Thank you for sharing your knowledge and craft with the world!
That's great! Thanks!
So I tried this out today and didn't get very good result. The forge wouldn't keep heat. Any advice?
@@rsr1995 hard to tell without pics. Maybe limiting your air supply. I often see people blast air like crazy, which actually cools the middle of the fire... Fuel?
Is there anyway I could email you pictures of my set up? Also I used lump charcoal
Great video. I have seen other "box of dirt" style forges on other videos and they seem to work real good. This is how it was done for centuries. Don't listen to the blacksmithing snobs that say only 1000's of dollars worth of equipment will work.
I mean angle grinders and belt Sanders are pretty helpful and will save you lots of time
A vacuum with exhaust and rheostat is convenient, but not a requirement. A cheapo hairdryer with the heater disabled will blow MORE than sufficiently if you're following along at home. Both noisy though. Making some sort of small bellows is easy. A mere bag in its simpler form.
Can you keep it blowing the whole time your working or do you need to sometimes turn it off and on to get certain temperatures?
Keep the blower on while working on the metal and turn it off to save fuel if you need to work on something else for a while. This advice also depends upon where you live and the time of year example Summer in Australia carries the risk of Bushfire so during the summer a gas forge is the best option and a coal or charcoal old school forge for Autumn Winter and Spring. If you are likely to be away from your forge for more than a few minutes then bedding down or extinguishing the fire is the best option.
This is so Friggin awesome. I want to learn blacksmithing so bad.
I think you did it cheaper than anyone else! Nice, simple forge! Good job.
My dad and I want to get into blacksmithing as a hobby, and I think we might use this video to build our forge. Thanks for sharing!
Great, good luck!
Elegant, and with a beautifully whimsical sense of Mirthful Irreverence to boot, too! I love it. Please . . . Keep on, Keepin' ON
If you expected to need a forge for just a single day of work, this would be a great way to build one.
Even when using refractory block, you want to make sure they stay dry...don't leave them outdoors in the rain and then try to use them. The moisture inside expands with heat and that's what causes the bricks to explode. Also, start your fire out small and let the bricks come up to temp. slowely....it' helps to dry out any moisture before you get a hot fire going. Also, if you don't have a vaccum with adjustable motor speed as he did. Build yourself an extension cord with a double-gang box on one end. Inside the box wire up one female receptical to a light dimmer switch. Plug a shop vac in reverse to the receptical or a hairdryer and then adjust the dimmer to the proper motor speed for the flame you want. Same extension cord can be used to control the heat on a soldering iron if you like to do stain glass work and need to regulate the heat of the iron so as not to melt the lead. No need to go buy a special soldering iron tempurature control. One last thing...if you don't want to tear apart your furnace each time... Build yourself an outdoor pizza oven out of refractory block....when not hungary for pizza, you can easily build a small fire in a corner and won't harm a thing. I used a few pieces of plumbing pipe and 90 degree angles to get the air blower to just hang on the oven floor and keep the vaccum hose well away from the fire. With the right adapters on the cold end, I was able to find the right size to just slip the vaccum hose right into the pipe with no need for tape and support.
Che bella pensata che hai avuto! Per costruirsi una forgia all'esterno è la soluzione migliore! Mitico davvero. Un forte abbraccio
This is just one of those videos that you ABSOLUTELY have to like. Cool tutorial, awesome art project, and mistakes / corrections shown. You sir, and your craftsmanship, have unfettered potential. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you Peter!!
Well that ain't so hard, is it? Thanks for the how to build a fridge "on the cheap". Really is a quite nice bit of kit for those of us with funding that is a bit more limited than most. Thanks
I can't get over how easy you make blacksmithing look. I'm a machinist and doing something like that leaf totally by hand amazes me!
Thanks!
Thank you so much for the knowledgeable video! I am gathering information to help my husband create a forge in our backyard and found your video very helpful. We shall try out this method soon and hopefully, it will be successful!
Cool. Good luck and be careful!
So you broke up the terrace, ruined the umbrella stand , dug up the backyard and commandeered the vacuum cleaner. You must live alone are dont care anymore. Lol
Ha ha, you're right... shit I'm in trouble now....
I suspect Mrs Åhman has long since gotten used to various household items going "missing" and insisting on buying duplicates of everything, haha.
old umbrella, old vacuum, an old palet and a easy maked box... dirt and refractal bricks. easy forge :D
Ignore the troll
he lives in sweden after all
Don't use stones found in a river they explode.
That makes no sense what so ever... a river itself does not dictate what type of stone that is found in it and if it's water that has some how gotten into the material, expanding due to heat, that you're worried about then it's all wet or moist places, not just rivers you should be talking about. Also, you did not take time into consideration, what if you found it in a river a couple year ago and it has been sitting in a dry place since? xD
The only stone you don't want to put anywhere near fire is flint, which will explode if heated enough.
Actually it does, Many stones are porous. If you get a stone from a river, it will have water in it and will explode. If a stone is soaked long enough it will have time for water to penetrate deep into it. If you dry it for a longer time then yes of course it will be safe. It may appear dry on the surface though. Stones that just get a bit of rain on them are not a problem. Hope that makes more sense to you now.
Not the only stone but I think people used to put them in fire for flint flint knapping, but not sure.
LazyLife IFreak I've had sandstone found near a lake explode before in a campfire. If any water gets into any hairline fractures or pores, it will boil and explode the rock.
I'm going to be making this soon can't wait. As a first small forge.
This was a very heartwarming lesson, now I know I don’t need a considerable cash outlay to get started
Give a man a sand box and he'll build you a forge. Ive trying to find a place in my garden to dig a hole for a forge that wouldnt be too in the way. I never thought of filling a sandbox with dirt.
It's best to use refractory bricks, most hardware stores sell them fairly cheaply You can also mold some plaster and sand mixture that will work just as well, a little messy though
Sure!
You can improve this endlessly until you end up with an industrial forge ...at what point you loose the simple/DIY/cheap aspect of it is debatable though :D
It's even better to use Soapstone. Historically accurate too, if that's important.
Granite is also heat tolerant and not usually explode-y and free if you happen to live next to giant granite basolith if you want to stick to cheap and dirty DIY aspect of the forge.
This is pretty similar to the forge that I made to start messing around blacksmithing. I made a more permanent construction of concrete blocks to hold the dirt instead of a wooden frame and put a 1/4" steel plate that I drilled holes in above my air tube (old car exhaust pipe). The "fire pot" is old red bricks surrounded by more rocks to hold them in place. My biggest issue right now is making sure I don't have an air leak between the tube and grate (it is an open space so ash can fall though). Otherwise it works great even using anthracite heating coal which takes constant air to keep going, I use a blow dryer I tape onto the tube instead of a vacuum.
Legend. Insane idea, Il be copying this forsure
Absolutely cracking video sir. The next time someone moans about how hard it is to make a forge I know exactly where to direct them. Thank you
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