4 Attachment(s)
Antique Forge Restoration
I wasn't sure where to put this, General Homesteading? General Chat? Oh well, you Mods can move it to where you see fit.
Now for a bit of background.
I've been interested in blacksmithing since I was young, and over the years have kicked around the idea of starting my own business. There is no body around here who does it and the amount of scrap iron and steel leftover from the logging days is amazing. I even took a two week blacksmithing class a number of years ago. In all this I've done very little actual smithing, I've got the books, the magazines, and a very few items I've made myself. In anticipation of "eventually" getting it together I have slowly collected some of the necessary equipment, all for free. I have a large post leg vice, a 15 pound and an 85 pound anvil and lastly an old "portable forge".
I picked this up from the area in Washington State where my Grandparents live, near the Columbia river. The guy I got it from used to be the curator for Fort Vancouver. He claimed it was brought to the Fort in the late 1890's or early 1900's as a "portable forge", brought in by pack mules. All these years later, the forge was considered in too rough of shape to try and display, so it was slated for the dump. This gentleman rescued it from the trash pile and tucked it away in the corner of his barn. My Grandpa heard of it and put me in contact with him, he was just happy to get it to someone who appreciated it. Of course, I have no documentation so I'm taking him at his word.
Now its in Alaska (amazing how stuff travels) and has been sitting around for several years now. I'm getting the blacksmithng bug again after purchasing 100 pounds of smithing coke. After a little research on building your own forge I decided; "why build one when I already have one?" I was originally going to scavenge the main parts off of the forge and put an electric blower on it. My love of history is too great however, and I've decided to do my best to restore it as-is ad use it in its original form.
Here it is.
Attachment 11373
As you can see its pretty rough.
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After an hour and half a can of PB Blaster, I've got some of the smaller hardware loose and wire brushed, with a coat of WD-40. I'm actually really impressed by the quality of this, all but two of the nuts are square head instead of hex, so I'm inclined to believe its mostly original. The bowl of the forge appears to be cast and is very heavy. The bellows handle looks to be hickory, shaped similar to an axe handle but longer and wider at the end...wagon brake handle maybe?
Here is the body of the forge, upside down so you can see the blower fan and tuyere. Soaked with PB Blaster.
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Whats left, are the legs and the rest of the bellows assembly.
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That's about as far as I am at the moment, I'll keep taking pictures and updating my progress. (I'm letting the PB Blaster soak a bit)
I'm still trying to decide if I should do an electrolysis bath to remove the rust a wire brush can't, especially on the larger parts.
Thoughts? Suggestions?
