Thinks for the great video. Talking about the minimalist setups helps understand what is necessary and why, and thus how things work. Thanks a lot. Cheers from France!
If you look up the process of levigating, its pretty simple to remove the clay from the soil, then you can use the clay for this project and put the rest of the soil back in the garden!
I basically did the same thing you did but with all metal studs and a metal plate. I dropped in a break drum and used that. But, I've been a big advocate of dirt box forges for a long time. Its a low level of entry for new people and honestly is kinda part of that progression as you learn. Make your own forge to forge things has been happening a long long time.
Exactly! A lot of people who don't have much practice in making things get intimidated by projects that require working with metal. Starting with something made of wood seems tn lower that perceived barrier of entry.
I have gone through a couple of the mattress blowers over the years. They work well with a valve and since they are designed to build pressure they don't mind a restricted air flow too much.
Speed control is a fantastic feature to have! I used a vacuum for a while long ago but always found it was too much air, which is why I switched to the matress pump.
@@northernforgeblacksmith Yes, the lowest speed 300 liters? per minute is still a lot of air but that works pretty well. It also has a foot on/off switch which is pretty nice so you don't have to have it on while you're forging. I haven't welded with it yet but I'm pretty sure that would not be a problem.
Cool! A foot switch would make an excellent upgrade! I've always loved manual blowers for their ability to 'auto off' ability as soon as I step away, but a foot switch on electric is nearly just as good.
That is a pretty common concern. As long as you don't disturb the dirt on the bottom so much that you are pushing coals down to touch the wood you will be fine. I ran this for another 20 minutes after the video ended and I could hold my hand on the bottom. Not even warm to the touch. If he is still worried, you could make the sides from 2x8 or even wider so that there is more dirt between the plywood and the fire. Just make the legs a bit shorter to compensate for the higher sides.
Keep a bucket of water handy, should have on hand anyway to cool burns if you mess up! Unless you are using it your living room any danger of a fire getting out of hand are negligible!😁
Depends what you mean by "explode". In normal English concrete won't explode, but will crack and eventually lose integrity. In social media speak, I guess "explode" is OK bc nobody with common sense takes it literally.
Concrete can and will literally explode if put under high heat due to the water in the concrete creating steam pressure. These explosions are typically small and isolated to the surface, and we refer to it as spalling.
concrete absolutely can explode when exposed to extreme heat. in most situations you get a large number of small explosions on or near the surface, which is called spalling, and is usually caused by a very hot material making contact with cold concrete. If you heat a larger mass of concrete directly so that the entire mass heats up instead of just the surface the moisture inside the concrete will heat up faster than it can vaporize through the solid concrete and will build pressure until it reaches the failure point and explodes. Its a pretty well known phenomenon, and I've seen it happen in person multiple times.
@northernforgeblacksmith Why do you people think "thanks for the engagement" is some kind of 'gotcha?' Every old man on every farm in my hometown in Iowa had a tractor tire filled with concrete used as a forge, but some dude with an internet connection read some nonsense and now he knows better. 😏
Thinks for the great video. Talking about the minimalist setups helps understand what is necessary and why, and thus how things work. Thanks a lot. Cheers from France!
Glad you enjoyed!
11:00 “dirt with a lot of clay in it” Yes! Finally a win for my garden soil!
If you look up the process of levigating, its pretty simple to remove the clay from the soil, then you can use the clay for this project and put the rest of the soil back in the garden!
I basically did the same thing you did but with all metal studs and a metal plate. I dropped in a break drum and used that. But, I've been a big advocate of dirt box forges for a long time. Its a low level of entry for new people and honestly is kinda part of that progression as you learn. Make your own forge to forge things has been happening a long long time.
Exactly! A lot of people who don't have much practice in making things get intimidated by projects that require working with metal.
Starting with something made of wood seems tn lower that perceived barrier of entry.
Almost an exact copy of my first solid fuel forge, I used a hair dryer that had a speed dial and it worked great until it died!
I have gone through a couple of the mattress blowers over the years. They work well with a valve and since they are designed to build pressure they don't mind a restricted air flow too much.
Put a large heat reflector (stone) and you're good to go.
Not a bad idea. There are lots of small improvements that can be made to this design to make it more durable and efficient.
I have a very similar setup except I use a miele vacuum hooking up the hose to the air out nozzle (it has a speed control).
Speed control is a fantastic feature to have! I used a vacuum for a while long ago but always found it was too much air, which is why I switched to the matress pump.
@@northernforgeblacksmith Yes, the lowest speed 300 liters? per minute is still a lot of air but that works pretty well. It also has a foot on/off switch which is pretty nice so you don't have to have it on while you're forging. I haven't welded with it yet but I'm pretty sure that would not be a problem.
Cool! A foot switch would make an excellent upgrade! I've always loved manual blowers for their ability to 'auto off' ability as soon as I step away, but a foot switch on electric is nearly just as good.
Still have it in fact.
You could also replace the bottom plywood with thin sheet metal to eliminate any risk of burning.
@@northernforgeblacksmith what about a sand-plaster coating?
@@northernforgeblacksmith Though sheet metal is easy to obtain too. Get an old appliance.
I started to build one of these a few months back. My Dad said no to finishing it out of fear of the wooden box catching ablaze.
That is a pretty common concern. As long as you don't disturb the dirt on the bottom so much that you are pushing coals down to touch the wood you will be fine. I ran this for another 20 minutes after the video ended and I could hold my hand on the bottom. Not even warm to the touch.
If he is still worried, you could make the sides from 2x8 or even wider so that there is more dirt between the plywood and the fire.
Just make the legs a bit shorter to compensate for the higher sides.
Keep a bucket of water handy, should have on hand anyway to cool burns if you mess up! Unless you are using it your living room any danger of a fire getting out of hand are negligible!😁
If you gonna do something dumb: at least be smart about it!
👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Would be cool to see the process you use to make coal
I am planning on making one down the road. I had a pretty good system before moving. I just need to find enough clay to make another one.
Depends what you mean by "explode". In normal English concrete won't explode, but will crack and eventually lose integrity.
In social media speak, I guess "explode" is OK bc nobody with common sense takes it literally.
Concrete can and will literally explode if put under high heat due to the water in the concrete creating steam pressure. These explosions are typically small and isolated to the surface, and we refer to it as spalling.
Your concrete will not explode. Jfc
concrete absolutely can explode when exposed to extreme heat. in most situations you get a large number of small explosions on or near the surface, which is called spalling, and is usually caused by a very hot material making contact with cold concrete. If you heat a larger mass of concrete directly so that the entire mass heats up instead of just the surface the moisture inside the concrete will heat up faster than it can vaporize through the solid concrete and will build pressure until it reaches the failure point and explodes.
Its a pretty well known phenomenon, and I've seen it happen in person multiple times.
@northernforgeblacksmith Just stop. Your fear mongering holds no sway here... Saying it over and over doesn't make it true
You do you friend. Thanks for the video engagement.
@northernforgeblacksmith Why do you people think "thanks for the engagement" is some kind of 'gotcha?'
Every old man on every farm in my hometown in Iowa had a tractor tire filled with concrete used as a forge, but some dude with an internet connection read some nonsense and now he knows better. 😏