Thread: Blade from $9.00 forge

I fired up my $9.00 forge today and pounded this out.
It is very rough, I did manage to get a partial hollow ground on it with my hammer and anvil
I had a hard time keeping the steel hot, I think it was because I was being skimpy on the charcoal
because it took me 2 days to make 1 bucket.
I will fire up the ghetto forge again soon to work on the tange and refine the edge.

Great start, cant wait to see the finished thing

I have a homemade forge in my garage as well, but I never tried making a razor with it yet. You've given me inspiration. Very cool my friend! Can't wait to see further pictures.

Looking very good, keep on going.

If you are making your own charcoal, I am sure you have a great reason, but you can buy bags of natural charcoal from lot's of different places, even home depot. Hard coal isn't hard to find or expensive either if there is a smith in your area to ask.

You really shouldn't skimp on the fuel in your forge as you want to keep your work in the center of a generous sized heat(fire). Too low towards the tuyer and you are in an oxidizing heat and too high up on top and you are in a reducing heat. Right in the middle of a nice heat will give you the best results without taking anything away from your steel.

Keep on pounding, that is looking good!

Will N.

I couldn't wait until tommorrow so I fired up the ghetto forge again tonight.
I started forming the handle or tange (haven't decided yet) and banged out some of the lumps on the blade.

Originally Posted by WillN

Looking very good, keep on going.

If you are making your own charcoal, I am sure you have a great reason, but you can buy bags of natural charcoal from lot's of different places, even home depot. Hard coal isn't hard to find or expensive either if there is a smith in your area to ask.

You really shouldn't skimp on the fuel in your forge as you want to keep your work in the center of a generous sized heat(fire). Too low towards the tuyer and you are in an oxidizing heat and too high up on top and you are in a reducing heat. Right in the middle of a nice heat will give you the best results without taking anything away from your steel.

Keep on pounding, that is looking good!

Will N.

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I don't have access to coal anywhere and I didn't know HD carried real charcoal. I am defanitely heading over the Depot
to save myself some time, thanks for the tips!

They also sell real hardwood charcoal at Sam's club, Menards and several hardware stores in our area. Check around, its sold along side the BBQ charcoal briquets.

9.00 forge? how?? and all that with a hammer, NICE

$.99 for kitty litter, $4.99 for pottery plaster....oops it wasn't a $9.00 forge but a $5.98 forge.
I also have an anvil to go with the hammer. I learned quick to wear long sleeves too. I got a couple dot burns on my left arm the first go.
I got a stainless steel eye wash basin from the recycling center along with a piece of pipe for the blower (which is an old wet vac).
I mounted the whole thing on an old tablesaw stand.
I will take picks of it tommorrow. (I was calling it the ghetto forge but my wife renamed it the Hillbilly forge because I used the word "cantiwhompass")

Mastershake - If you get close to Atlanta, let me know and I will see if I can spare you a bucket of coal. It will last much longer than charcoal.

Will N.