One Brick Forge

Bear - what a great little knife !!!! I love the lines and the handle is awesome. I'm blown away

 

I can see that a small anvil is in my future LMAO

 

This knife making stuff is really cool! ( anybody use that word anymore?)
How did you secure the tang in the handle? epoxy??

 

Bear,
I am somewhat new to this forum. I wanted to say great job on the knife.
I am currently looking for somewhere to get a few of those refractory bricks. I have the book $50 knife shop (title is something like that). I am using that as a reference.
Any tips on forging? Also were did you find the bricks?!?
Thanks and great work.

 

Try this http://mcgillswarehouse.com/groupsl...AW=fire brick&OVKEY=fire brick&OVMTC=standard

 

Thanks.... sorry for the delay in responding.... I haven't followed this much ... in the past months....
Yup... get yourself an anvil... its lots of fun.... not just knives but tools as well.... and spikes are cheap and you can have lots of fun making animals, flowers and insects....
I pay almost double for heavy items to Hawaii... you folks on the continent are pretty fortunate.... I'd have literally tons of things if I was on the mainland....
Just ordered a guillotine tool and a fly press.... can't wait for those to show up....
Thanks again...

 

Yeah... I use words like cool and awesome all the time... I guess I date myself when I do that....

The tang is filed alternating grooves to it will hold, the handle hole is filed so that there are two small swells inside so that it won't just slide out, and I used Devcon Epoxy to fill it completely and mixed the dust from sanding and filing the handle to color the epoxy around the tang that is showing ... Melbo didn't want a guard, and me being a guard fan, decided to finish the handle so that it have somewhat of a guard and not slip out or onto the hand....

Thanks for compliments....

 

Welcome to the forum!....
Thanks for the compliment... this project was a challenge from the Head Monkey to make a knife using just regular old tools and no power.... (I cheated and used a toaster oven to temper the knife and form the Kydex)....
The best one stop shop for knifemaking and forge building supplies is here

http://refractory.elliscustomknifeworks.com/

Darren and his wife are the best... look under firebricks.... they've got the right bricks at the right price... make sure to get the soft bricks... but also look around the site... he's got all kinds of things you'll need when you move up....
My One Brick Forge was inspired by the $50 Knife shop book... you can make a two brick and a 4 brick as well.... gets pretty darn hot and is a blast to work with....
Tips on forging?....

Safety, Safety, Safety
Eye, face, breathing, fire extinguisher, wear cotton... still got a hole in some shorts where a piece of hot metal flew and melted the poly material.. a little too close to the family jewels... get an apron... watch what you are doing and don't stare at the forge... gloves.... safety safety safety.... there's tons more... I do it by myself... but if you have others with you... they need protective gear as well...


Other than that.... get a hammer, get some steel, get a chunk of metal or an anvil and go to it.... you'll be surprised how easy it is to move metal... now controlling it and getting it to move where you want it.... that's the fun and the art.....

I've got a couple coal or charcoal forges as well... those are alot of fun too....

my best tip for your first time.... focus on something small... don't try to do anything too big... you'll get tired and frustrated....

Start with a piece of rebar or mild steel, that way... you'll have a handle built in and you don't have to worry about tongs or holding the steel.... then just see if you can forge a point.... remember... make it square, then make it octagonal.. then make it rounded to a point....

Its easy to get hooked and you can do it very little money and very little space....

Hope that helps a little.... let me know if I can help or answer any other questions....

Again... welcome to the board.... and thanks for the compliments...!

 

I have done a little work with hot things.
I made a coffee can foundry that used pretty much anything for fuel and a shop vac for air. I used it to both forge some mild steel for a jute (sai type thing) and to melt AL down and do some simple casting. I had not found all the ideas from the net at that point, so it was hit or miss.
I am planning on another foundry but one that does not burn through as often, and that uses propane as a fuel for it.
I just ordered 3 soft firebricks from that site. So soon I will have the forge going, I already have a mapp gas torch along with a growing workshop.

Thanks for the help. If anyone is interested I will take some pics of my current project. Its a old steel file that I am removing the file parts and am using it for steel. I am using stock removal for this one. I plan it to be a drop point blade.

 

Sounds like you're already on your way....

Yup... I'd be interested in seeing pics of your file project....

There's some good links for backyard foundry projects.... and Ellis already has some nice propane burners for the forges and the foundries... his kits are pretty easy to assemble....

You can build a solid forge and or foundry for not alot of money with the ceramic blankets, Satanite coating and burners that Ellis sells... I've found that if you can't find a 10 or 12 inch wide pipe material for the body... one of those air tanks that they sell at auto stores... and or sears are wide enough... and will cost you only 20-40 bucks.... depending on the size... cut it up to your specs... horizontal or vertical forge body ready to go for not alot of money and its not as hazardous to your health as using an old propane tank....

Here's the sears one.. http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/prod...ir+Compressors+&+Inflators&BV_UseBVCookie=Yes



Here's the Backyard Foundry link if you haven't already seen it...

http://www.backyardmetalcasting.com/index.html

 

The airtank is a really good idea. I had not thought about that.
I am going to try to stick to one project at a time. Funds seem to run away more quickly when I try to do more than one at a time.
Thanks for all the tips.

 

Ya know, I have one of those tanks stuffed somewhere that I haven't used in years - great thinking !!

 

YAY for me , I got my firebricks in the mail while I was out of town.
I plan to start the build of the 2 brick forge tonight. Right now I have a mapp gas torch. I am planning to goto the hardware store and see if they have a propane torch. What would be better for starting out? Do I need the extra heat from the MAPP?
Thanks for all the help.

 

I do have a question .
when making this forge. do i cut all the way through the bricks along the longer axis on the wide part? Or is making a cave better? meaning am i going for a u profile or a wide hole with exits on both the facing and far end?
Did that even make sense?

 

MAAP works better for me.

I cut my bricks using an old 1" paddle bit. I drilled two holes all the way through the brick the long way then used a hack saw blade to remove the center. Then I went almost all the way through the second brick and did the same thing leaving the end on the brick. Then I drilled a small hole for the torch through the second brick. Now I can put stock up to 12" in it.

 

Is there a chance of a picture of your setup?

You have a 2 brick forge with the bricks end to end?

 

I do.

What I ended up doing was cutting several inches off of the end of one of the bricks. I can turn it sidways to block the end or straight to have the whole length. I put two torch holes in the bricks (one in each) so I can pump up the heat if needed. With both ends open I need to use my oxy acetalene torch for heat, though.

 

Well I took the plunge. I made drilled one brick. It is not pretty, but it works.
I am sticking with somewhat small things for now. I hope to move up to spear tips sooner or later. Right now I am using the one brick I drilled out and then using another that is placed at the far end to block the back up. I drilled a 3/4 hole in the side for the torch. The brick seemed to crack some and that worried me. But now seeing yours and the others I have researched. It seems thats normal. I am going to use some steel banding to wrap around it to make sure it does not fall apart. And I can always extend the forge by drilling another brick and setting it up like yours.

I used it last night to bring a old file up to non magnetic.
Now that I have this working. I need to start making things.
thanks for all the help

 

Cool set ups... glad to see folks trying this out....
I used a 1" paddle type wood drill as well and slowly drilled the main chamber with a it chucked in my ratchet....
Then I just took some heavy wire and wired it shut.... what I also found is that after a while the other side of the torch entrance started to crack a bit... I guess the heat after a while gets to the brick....
I'm gonna make a forced air Fogg style forge out of a air tank next.... that should be fun....