old forge

johnwayne360 · May 23, 2019

this has been sitting in a shed for longer than ive been alive. tell me whatever you know about it.

Tony in SD · May 23, 2019

It?s an old forge used to heat metal, usually iron of some sort to a very high temperature. The fan under the table blows air through the coke (a high carbon version of coal) to make the fire hotter. Most fans had a crank with a high ratio step up gear box. This one looks like it has a lever to propel the blower. By the looks of the other equipment must have been in a blacksmith shop. Among other uses they were mostly used to heat and bend iron and to weld iron together by heating 2 or more pieces very hot and beating them into one piece with a hammer.

Mike(NEOhio) · May 23, 2019

Looks like it's ready to use. I rescued these two cleaning out the old chicken coop. They need a little work but I have all the pieces.

rrlund · May 23, 2019

Can't tell you anything about it,but we had Grandpa's here when I was little. It burned up when the old garage and chicken coop burned down in 62. I can remember Dad cranking on it just once when he was fixing something.

Goose · May 23, 2019

When I was a kid, my dad had a forge and did a lot of blacksmithing.

He used a different kind of coal he referred to as "blacksmithing coal". I'm not sure where he got it.

It was interesting that of all of the blacksmithing projects he did, they were all either bolted or riveted together. He never showed the slightest interest in welding.

johnwayne360 · May 23, 2019

its actually my grandfathers old shop. Im just getting started on cleaning it out. it has almost 100 years of stuff to sort through.

moresmoke · May 23, 2019

Blacksmith coal is soft coal, about 3/4 inch nuggets. Stoker coal (furnace) is hard coal with a much finer crush.

Cliff(VA) · May 23, 2019

Be careful what you throw out. Blacksmiths use a lot of drifts that just look like a hunk of steel. Also tools that go in the hardy hole in the anvil are often overlooked.

Get a good book on blacksmith tools and read it before you start scrapping the junk.

Cliff(VA) now (NC)

cb in wisc · May 24, 2019

I have one that is similar to that one. It's hard to tell from your picture angle about the setup for the blower. You should contact someone in your area that belongs to a local chapter of ABANA, (American, Blacksmiths, Artist, of North America), they will be able to provide you with more information about the forge.

JMS/.MN · May 24, 2019

Pretty much the same forge that my Dad had- guess who pumped the handle until he motorized it. Made a lot of tools, punches, chisels, bale hooks, any iron that needed to be bent. (no torch) Horse rake teeth made balehooks, springtooth cultivator shanks made wide chisels, etc.

old forge

johnwayne360

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Tony in SD

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Mike(NEOhio)

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rrlund

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Goose

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johnwayne360

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moresmoke

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Cliff(VA)

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cb in wisc

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JMS/.MN

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