Car rim forge

W

Wiredude

Well-Known Member
Ok, since I actually started building this, I figured I'd start a new thread, so I could show pics, and get feedback, comments, advice, etc.
First off, let me say that I'm building this with the intent of using it primarily to anneal and heat treat, at least as if first get started, though given that I love just making stuff, I'm sure I'll be heating and hammering things just for giggles at some point...

So, I dug around my scrap bin, and found this cupped washer that happened to fit nicely in the axle hole of the rim, and I thought it would keep too much fuel from falling down the hole as well as helping to distribute the air a little, so I tacked that heavily in place.

Then, I flipped the rim over, and used another piece of scrap that I salvaged from somewhere (my wife hates me, I'm forever bringing home "junk" lol) to cover the center section of the rim, and create a sorta 'manifold' to distribute airflow

then I welded on a down pipe, and an air tube.

I'd like to do something to kind of create a cone or dish shape centering on the lug holes so that there's not a lot of space sitting there holding fuel that won't be burning well because it's outside of the airflow, but right now the only sheet stock I have is light 22 or 24ga automotive sheetmetal, and I'm fairly certain that won't take the heat that I'll generate regardless of if I use charcoal, or actual coal...
On the coal note, my grandfather was a smith, and had I known then that I would want to know now, I would have learned a lot more from him, but past is past, and he's been gone for like 10 years at least... Anyhow, he used to try and find I believe it was soft coal, instead of the more readily available hard coal. (or perhaps its the reverse of that, I can't remember) But regardless, does it really matter if I would use one or the other? I havn't gotten to look and see if I can find a source for coal locally as of yet, but it's in my plans.
Anyway, comments, thoughts, and advice are all welcome.
Thanks.
 
Thank you. I've been rolling ideas around in my head about how to do the 'cap' on the ash dump, but I hasn't come up with any thing quite like how they did it. I like their counterweight to keep it closed, very simple, but effective

And thanks on the coal thing as well
 
Well, I got a few minutes yesterday before I had to go to work, and I got a little more work done.

Not that much, but progress is progress. And it's raining today, so I'll poke around on here and the rest of the web before work...
I did also do a little more research/video watching, and also got some advice via pm on here. I definetly need to figure out something to shrink the 'fire pot' area. My airflow should be coming up in about an 8" dia. area, which looks to be a bit larger than most forges, though I think it will be acceptable/workable. I think im going to see if I can go dig around in this sorta scrapyard place near me and see what sort of material I can find. I'm just kinda thinking i probably want to be somewhere at least 16ga or thicker, but I'm also just kind of guessing... anything thicker than about 1/8" is going to be hard to do anything but flat shapes, and also will be pushing the limits of my welder. Anyone have any thoughts/advice on thst front?

Also, a little quick Google search and a phone call revealed that I can get soft coal at roughly $5 /5gal bucket, only about a 25 min drive from the house.
 
Ash dump looks good.

As a general rule figure about 10-20 bucks for a 50 pound bag in your area, so figure out about how much your full bucket weighs and base it off that.
 
When I called the place (Kingston Supply in Latrobe) the guy I talked to said a 5gal bucket weights in at about 60lbs. He said that would be about $4 and change... $150 something a ton. They don't sell it bagged, but he said they have people buy it by the bucket all the time.
 
If you are trying to shrink the fire pot just make a damp clay mixture out of kitty litter, the kind without the perfume in it, and sand. About 2/3 to 1/3, mix it well and pack it around the sides of your fire pot to make it the size you need. Don't forget to put the fore grate in first. Let it dry for a few days and start a low fire in it to bake it. Ed

Most people seem to use the kitty litter, I use stay dry from the auto parts store, I have it so I use it.
 
Ed of all trades said:
If you are trying to shrink the fire pot just make a damp clay mixture out of kitty litter, the kind without the perfume in it, and sand. About 2/3 to 1/3, mix it well and pack it around the sides of your fire pot to make it the size you need. Don't forget to put the fore grate in first. Let it dry for a few days and start a low fire in it to bake it. Ed

Most people seem to use the kitty litter, I use stay dry from the auto parts store, I have it so I use it.
Click to expand...
Question on the grate. I know normally people just leave the large center hole open, and obviously, that requires a grate. What I did was create sort of an 'air chamber' where the air will feed up through the 6 lug holes, as well as the now roughly 1/2" hole in the center. Do I still need a grate? Or am I going to run into issues by flowing the air the way I have it set up currently?
 
You want to focus your air in the center more or you will be burning a lot of coal that you won't be helping you. I bought a small cast iron grate from a supply house but you could just weld a few 3/8 rods across a 3 in hole in the center. With the air spread out like you have it you won't get the heat you need in one place, focus on a small blast area so you can control the fire. Ed
 
Take some aluminized HVAC tape, put it over the lug nut holes, then add the kitty litter mix or what ever you plan on using to taper down the rim to just the center hole, covering over the outside lug nut holes in the process. Go to home depot or lowes and buy a few pieces of 1/4" or 3/8" rebar and cut it up to lay down in the bottom as the grate and just embed them in the kitty litter while your putting it in. Or like Ed said get a "tuyere plate" which multiple people have for about $20 on the net.
 
Thanks for the input, both of you. I actually got a little more done yesterday morning before work, and I think I'm headed down the road of "the automotive monstrosity " forge, and had dug around my garage a bit more before I started, I might have gone a little different from the get-go...
Anyway, I'll grind that washer out, and plug the lug holes.
I also have a bunch of shorter 1/4" rod I can easily make a grate out of, so that'll work.
I'm not gonna type it all out, but I kinda solved my firepot issue yesterday morning, at least I think so. I'll post a pic or 2 later today and it'll explain better...
 
Ok, so here's more or less what I did. Pic was taken yesterday, and I've since ground the washer out of the center hole. I'm plugging the lug holes with some short stainless bolts i had laying around, and a grate is under construction.
f1bf7adf7db8a6932afb8d1f065d728c.jpg

I'm going to fill in between the edge of the rotor and the rim, and it will give me a bit of a pan to preheat and dry fuel. I may also knotch out part of the rim so I can place something flat across the top of the pot.
 
Last edited:
You are coming along well. I built my coal forge out of a deep dished rotor like that. I just put it under a sheet metal table and used a piece of 1/2 plate to hook my air supply to and cut a hole in the center and I was done. I did hook some linkage to the ash dump si I would not have to reach way under the forge to use it. Ed
 
If you have some sort of tube between the two air ports, I would fill that whole gap in the bottom between the two with either pearlite or vermiculite, or the kitty litter homebrew refractory up to the edge of the rotor, and then use the rest of the area between the outside of the E-brake drum for coal storage.
 
Well, good and recovered from hip surgery finally, and getting alot more stuff closer to being able to actually do something.
I understand that coal is a better, more efficient fuel than charcoal. However, it is also my understanding that it also generates a good bit more smoke and odor.
I have reasonably local (15-20 miles) access to soft coal, but I also live in a residential neighborhood. I do live on the edge of the neighborhood, but the wind tends to blow towards it, so... Would I perhaps be better off to use wood/charcoal, given my situation? I can aquire wood to make charcoal no problem, and at basically no cost, so it's really more of an issue of convenience / not ticking off my neighbors. And while the neighbor on one side could probably not care less what I do, the ones on the other side can be a bit cranky, and he works for the township, so he probably can raise some significant fuss if he wants to...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top