From The Flickr Pool: A Brake Drum Forge
By Chuck Cage
TM reader NickNaylo posted this great pic of his brake drum forge to TM’s photo pool, providing once and for all that you don’t need major cash to try your hand at blacksmithing. He says he assembled this little rig for a whopping $75 in parts — including a scavenged squirrel cage fan, some pipe fittings, and, of course, a brake drum.
It even looks like he’s rigged up a dimmer to control the speed of the fan — handy for controlling fire temp to avoid simply burning your workpiece into nothingness.
Toolmonger’s Photo Pool [Flickr]
August 2nd, 2007 at 10:41 am
Hats off and beers up to the man with the Mad Max looking forge! I especially dig the clamp holding the the switch to the leg. You sir, rock.
August 2nd, 2007 at 11:03 am
I think I just found inspiration for my new space heater!
Very sweet. And, the best part is, with everything constructed seemingly very sturdily, the switch is attached with a spring clamp. I love this thing.
I am curious about the T-fitting. Is there a reason an 90º elbow couldn’t be used? I’m not too familiar with how these things work.
August 2nd, 2007 at 11:36 am
He even worked duct-tape into it! I don’t know if he should earn or lose points for actually using it on ductwork, however…
Joel, the T is for ash cleanout. When you shut it off, invariably ash is going to go down that pipe.
Points for ingenious use of a brake drum, but aren’t they designed to dissipate heat? Fins and all, you know. Probably takes a bit more energy to heat things up, but also probably not enough to matter.
August 2nd, 2007 at 12:20 pm
Brake Drum Forge plans: http://www.anvilfire.com/21centbs/forges/brkdrum1.htm
Weld your own Firepot: (useful for adding to a wide flat forge) http://magichammer.freeservers.com/weld_your_own_fire_pot_by_lonnie.htm
September 2nd, 2007 at 9:18 am
I give it an A+. Major league cool!
September 8th, 2009 at 10:43 am
Great pic! I made one similar to this, (same teuyer/ pipe assembly) but with a smalled brake drum and a hair dryer. It ended up costing arround $40 (mostly because of the galvanized pipe). If you want to save even more money, you can use natural hardwood charcoal (lump, not bricketts) for fuel instead of coal and/or coke.