possible to forge a blade on a wood fire?

[mcginnis6010]

i was wondering if its possible to forge a blade in a wood fire and harden it as well? ive been making a few knives by stock removal and hardening with a torch and a makeshift forge. but i really wanna forge my own blade and do by the most primitive means possible.

[madcrow]

With a regular wood fire you won't be able to get the steel hot enough, probably no more than 900 degrees.  you can use the wood to make charcaol if lack of coal is the problem.  That and a good air source would get your temp up to 1500 degrees or a higher.

[mcginnis6010]

thanks madcrow never even thought of that eventhough it makes perfect sense lol. think i may get started on that tomorrow it its nice. the idea has me excited and wishing i could start work on it now.

[aaron]

out where i am at ( WA State) you can buy mesquite carcoal . I have seen this used for blacksmithing at primitive skills festivals. It comes in a bag like charcoal brickettes (briquettes?), but it is not a pressed brick, but actual mesquite branches. lazzari is the brand name i think. it's kinda sparky, but it's really hot

[mcginnis6010]

yea ive thought of buying charcoal but i wanna do things as primitive as i can without having to really buy anything.

[madcrow]

If you have a good sized piece of sheet metal and some old cinder blocks laying around, you can dig a fire pit and put a row of blocks around it.  Leave an opening to stoke the fire.  build a fire in the pit and lay the metal on top.  I guess an older model (70's or so) car hood would work.  Anyway, get the fire going good, and throw a bunch of dead limbs, twigs and wood on top of the metal.  As it heats the woods will turn black.  You can break it apart and check, but when it is burned all the way thru, it is home made charcoal and will work in a forge, but you will need a bunch of it.  The purpose of the metal is to allow the wood to char, but no burn up to ashes.  If you don't have a squirrel cage fan for the forge, there are several plans on the net for homemade bellows.

[mcginnis6010]

Thanks again for the info madcrow sounds pretty simple

[Jimbob]

Just messing around once, I got a railroad spike glowing bright orange in a campfire.  It was going for a while though and had a good amount of coals going, I was using a piece of cardboard to fan the fire while the spike was in there.  Get you a good fire going and try it out and let us know how it goes.

[Stoker]

I annealed a blade blank once on kingsford charcoal once. It took a 18lb bag and used my shopvac for air. It worked. But it only lasted about 20 minutes. To forge something you are gonna need a pile. It sounds like a great project alot of work but cool. Good luck on your venture. Keep us posted maybe a forgealong. We'll all learn something
Thanks Leroy

[fishfinder401]

I annealed a blade blank once on kingsford charcoal once. It took a 18lb bag and used my shopvac for air. It worked. But it only lasted about 20 minutes. To forge something you are gonna need a pile. It sounds like a great project alot of work but cool. Good luck on your venture. Keep us posted maybe a forgealong. We'll all learn something
Thanks Leroy

how did you have it set up, because i have made a 5lb bag last for over an hour of forging before i ran out

[Stoker]

how did you have it set up, because i have made a 5lb bag last for over an hour of forging before i ran out
[/quote
Cut a five gallon pail in half pipe for air grate on top load charcoal. Hooked the air pipe to my shopvac 10 gal 6.25 hp for air supply. Air = heat. More is better . Charcoal on top of grate. Light get red turn on air 100mph wind. I agree not the most effecciant. But dang son we got heat. Building gas forge now. I figure natural gas comes outta ground it's primitive Heck I'm in Alberta we supply all the way over to east coast of the US. Gotta be good stuff. Like to see a pic of your setup mine melted Always fun till somebody loses a eye.
Thanks Leroy

[iowabow]

Beehive mud kiln i built reached 1950 degrees.

[Ryan_Gill_HuntPrimitive]

when my cabin burned down, the wood stove actually melted and warped quite a bit. windshield of the truck melted too.  so I would say yes, but you would probably need a big fire and enough wood to build a cabin

[kid bow]

use pinewood the resin it has will heat up to like 1200 degrees. add wood charcoal if you need the heat up more