how would you go about making a blacksmith forge

what would be needed .could you build one outside out of regular bricks
i have an idea for a bellows make you a blower out of conduit metal pipe
with a tin can for wide blower end run pipe back toair hose and air compressor when you need to heat up your coals blow some air through pipe to blower i used same set up on homemade incinerator years ago it worked very well would it work on a forge

Not even going to pretend to be an expert, but don't use regular house bricks. They will explode, which is never funny...

What do you see yourself using this for in a survival situation? Not trying to put a downer on this or anything but unless you have training prior to situation X it would be alot of effort for very limited returns?

Small Gas Forge Plan

Site with forge plans

Hope that helps.

Your post & the replies thus far deal with forges that require either gas or electric power. There are ways to build a forge that uses only a brick frame, lava rock or slag gravel bed with coal or charcoal in the center. The air supply is ran through the side via a 3" steel or terra cotta pipe & ducts high volume air from an outside bellows or hand or foot powered blower. This setup is the typical "blacksmith" forge. In order to melt steel into liquid form, slight modifications to the "firepit" in the center can be made to accomidate a vessel. I would cruise the blacksmith & blast furnace forums.

here are some useful links for blacksmithing.

ftpforge.chez-alice.fr...

www.lametalsmiths.org...

www.twinoaksforge.com...

www.wwmag.net...

members.chello.se...

www.dfoggknives.com...

expage.com...

www.backwoodshome.com...

Look up a gingery Lathe and or gingery foundry
there are a lot of people who have made these they are easy to make
can be made for little or no money using naturally available things like
clay sand and sawdust

anyway this stuff is really cool

Later GEO

The post about bricks is important. At the very least fire bricks should be used.

The gas plans are interesting, but unless you have it in abundance, its best reserved for cooking etc. Id look for coal.

Having had the oppurtunity to work with a blacksmith in the scouts, its a skill you had better learn before there is problems. Its quite difficult and in crunch time you may not have the time to learn.

Such an important skill when it comes to an extended survival situation. Although, what I call survival is just living without extreme comfort. Funny... how spoiled we are.

If this is your interest, you will need to plan out a suitable environment from which to survive and subsequently build your oven. I chose Alaska for a lot a different reasons to exist in this modern day. Relative to your thread, I enjoy the solid rock formations that have produced clay due to glacial action. Also, I enjoy the plentiful amounts of coal that can be picked up in the woods or on the beach.

So, once you hunker down in this place and feel comfortable enough to build an oven, you need to make sure there is a source of coal or really really dense wood, or else you'll be wasting your time. You need something that can burn hot and long without reducing a lot in density.

Then, personally, I'd fashion a nice crevice with some boulders and a lot of clay into an oven. As far as a container to smelt in, you are going to have to spend a long time grinding a crucible out of some stone, or get really lucky.

I see the availability of a suitable crucible and fuel as the major obstacles in all of this.

If tshtf, come this way and we'll hammer it all out...

[edit on 5/3/2007 by Anubis Kanubis]