The ammo can forge is something I came up with over five ago
after being frustrated about how almost all the plans online needed a
fairly intensive workshop to be made.
I boiled it down to a
jigsaw and a drill. (hacksaw and snips are optional)
I remembered
that around 350 cubic inches was good for ONE Ron Reil burner.
5x6x11 inner volume of this forge = 330 cubic inches
The size
of the ammo can is important.
Most are too tall or too thin for a
decent forge.The best one we found is 12 inches long, 7 inches wide,
and 8 5/8 inches high. Side
View Front View
You take 1 & 1/3 fire brick for the floor
Cut a small
door in the back and a larger door in the front
But the bolt feet
on if you want em.
wrap the kaowool all the way around one loop
under the brick(this is 2 square feet of kaowool)
Add a bit more
kaowool to protect the back wall.
Fill in the space under the
lid.
Mount a 1 1/2 inch diameter pipe flange to the lid (I use a little
kaowool as a
gasket)
make a hole in the top of the kaowool inside that matches
the pipe flange.
Spread a layer of fireclay on the inside of the
kaowool.
Let it dry for a day or two.
Put a pipe nipple that
mounts the pipe flange and cut it so your burner rests 1/4 to 1/2
inch above the edge of the kaowool. I found a 9 inch nipple works
fine or you can buy a 10-12 inch and cut it down to size.Drop the
burner in and fire
it up.
I get welding heats off one burner.
PART LIST
Refractory:
A half pint of itc100
5 pounds of satanite
(guess)
2 linear feet of inswool
1 and 1/3 1" Thick Hard
Fire Brick*
*This firebrick often called a "split" has become harder to find
and many people are casting their own floor out of refractory
using a wooden frame. If you cannot find the "perfect" ammo
can you can custom size the firebrinch for the floor this way. A
slightly smaller can will limit what you can do but will probably do
welding a little easier.
Last update: May 11, 2011
The forgemonkeys are a group of primarily historical
reenacting blacksmiths that believe in freely sharing information and
hosting open forges. We found that the guild system in some living
history groups obstructed the learning process and thus the
forgemonkeys were born.
