Island Workshop Day 2

Cut down the oversized smoke hood and installed it over the forge, finished set up of the forge table and installed the firepot.

Day 2 of the secret island workshop set up.

The Hood

The smoke hood came from a heavy duty shop and was far too large for this space at about 7′ top to bottom and 4′ square at the base. I used my small torch to cut across one side and then switched to an angle grinder with a cutoff wheel when the oxygen bottle ran out. I drilled two holes and made some steel hooks to attach chain from the roof.

The Firepot and Tuyère

I put two large scrap sheets of steel behind the forge and hood for spark protection, then lag bolted the hooks for the back of the hood into the wall. I levelled the forge table and set up a huge pair of tongs as support legs for the back. The firepot is heavy steel filled with three inches of refratory cement and weighs well over a hundred pounds so I had to use a plank and chain levered over the small anvil and block to raise it into place between the hood and forge table. At some point I will likely modify the forge to a shallower sideblast style which is better for charcoal.

Collecting Old Treasures

The other day there was a garage sale four houses up from where we are staying and it turned out he was a metal worker and his dad a had been a smith. I was happy to be able to replace my cast iron firepot that was lost, and pick up a hundred pound leg vise, another old blower with a 90 degree handle axis, a post drill, a propane forge body he had fabricated, and a wire brush/grinder and stand his dad had fabricated. He very kindly threw in a bucket of iron and tongs, a couple of old blacksmithing books, and even a hundred pound bag of coal given him by an old blacksmith many years ago. Many thanks, Lester of Dragonfly Iron!


Posted

in

by