The case against the brake drum forge

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Before going any further with this page I want to make it clear that I do not recommend brake drum forges to anyone. A brake drum forge is the poorest and most awkward and impractical design. Brake drums were meant for use on cars and trucks- not in a blacksmith's forge.

Updated 09 April, 2007. Under construction-not ready.

Who recommends brake drum forges and why?

Most blacksmith websites and many of the inexperienced hobby smiths that participate in the internet forums on those websites are often unanimous in pushing the beginner to start smithing with a 'brake drum' forge. They would have the beginner blacksmith believe that he/she can make a good start with a 'brake drum' forge and a cheap hair dryer in place of a good blower.

These websites are often very slick and have a 'professional' appearance that cause the newbie to think he or she is going to find the best advice there. Any attempts to point out the serious flaws in brake drum forges, are immediately attacked by people that inhabit these forums and websites. All of them claim to have many years of experience and to do blacksmith work on a daily basis and they don't like to have people question them on their advice. With a quick look at some of the date stamps on these peoples' posts, it will be noted that these people are on the internet day and night- not working in their shops as blacksmiths.

And despite their own advice urging beginners to use brake drum forges, the owners of those websites and their forum participants, have chosen to use gas forges and coal forges with commercially made firepots or tuyeres. Beginners should question this contradictory philosophy. Why do these 'experienced' smiths choose not to use brake drum forges themselves?

Why do they continue to push beginners into a brake drum forge?

The reasons go something like this:

Because the beginner just wants to try his/her hand at the blacksmith's craft to find if they want to pursue the craft further, and
because the beginner doesn't a lot of money to buy a lot of expensive tools to start blacksmithing,

Their concerns here are well intentioned but their argument for using a brake drum forge are poorly thought out. The central theme of their arguments is about cost. And often they point to a beginner's ability to obtain a brake drum for 'free'. But as I would argue, having access to some object for free does not mean that one must choose to use it. Often that 'free' object (a brake drum) costs more to work with than if one were to simply pay full cost of an expensive implement (a commercially made firepot or tuyere) that was made to do the job for which the free object is ill-suited.

The usual target of a brake drum forge is the person that 'doesn't want to spend a lot of money'. But cheapskates generally have few tools of any real quality and no skills with which to use them. To make a brake drum fit into a forge and work well, will require a substantial cash outlay to purchase the necessary tools and materials. And these people don't have the necessary skills with which to do the work. If they had the skills to build a forge, they wouldn't be using a brake drum. In fact, if they had the skills to do the work, they would also have money to buy better materials for building a forge. Trying to make a poorly fitting piece of junk like a brake drum fit in a forge is a lot of work. Would it not have been easier and cheaper to simply use scrap steel, concrete, or wood and clay, to construct a forge with materials designed for the purpose to begin with?

And would it not also be easier and cheaper for an unskilled workman to fashion a forge from wood and clay and dirt and stone, instead of trying to make a brake drum conform to shape? Aren't those materials 'free' too? The gently sloping sides of the ducks nest, for the fire, are easily formed in clay or fire cement. This can be done without a brake drum. And no welding skills, screws and hardware, or expensive electric tools would be needed for this type of construction.

What's wrong with the picture at right? The fire is not depicted in a realistic manner. This picture shows a couple iron bars roasting over the fire and everything is comfortably maintained in the tiny little hearth. It looks like the smith is simply bar-b-queuing the iron over a low bed of charcoal.

In reality the typical blacksmith's fire is roughly 7 inches or more in depth and fuel would tower over the sides of this little forge. The sides of this forge would be roughly 3 inches tall and similar in size to the rim of a brake drum. The fire would be more than double the height of the side walls of this forge. And every time the smith adjusted the fire or moved the iron into or out of the fire, fuel would spill all over the floor to be wasted.

The reason that most pictures like the one above fail to show this problem is because they were not drawn by blacksmiths, they were instead drawn by a book illustrator. Very nice picture but it just isn't accurate. The depiction should have shown the iron thrust into the heart of a larger fire, not roasting above a low bed of coals.

When the iron is placed on a brake drum forge, fuel spills off the brake drum and all over the ground (wasting valuable time and fuel). Every time that coal is added to the fire on a brake drum, the beginner must be careful to add only a little at a time and place it slowly for fear that much of it will fall off the forge if he puts it on the fire too quickly. Fire tools cannot be placed conveniently nearby the fire because there is nowhere to put them on a brake drum forge hearth, that they won't fall off. Some hobby smiths like to claim that they make a tool rack to hang their fire tools from, but this is awkward- almost like having to pick them up off the ground.

Fire tools have long handles and get very hot. The blacksmith must be very careful to grasp them only by the handle and if the tool falls to the ground with the handle underneath the forge (as they often seem to do when dropped) then the smith must bend and reach under a hot forge- often snagging clothing on the ends of the iron being heated, and sending the hot iron to the ground as well. Tongs and other tools cannot be hung from the horn of an anvil like the picture above depicts, because tongs get very hot and the smith must bend down to grasp the handles of the tongs to avoid getting burned- using valuable time while the iron is wasting away in the fire or cooling in the air.

Note that the forge depicted at right is actually based on a small 'riveters' forge. We can use this depiction to discuss the brake drum forge because the forge in this illustration is identical in size and shape to a brake drum forge.

Fire depth. Now immediately the hobby smiths on the forums are going to attack the idea that a blacksmith's fire must be at least as deep as stated above. So let's look at some proof in photos of forges in blacksmith's shop. Click on the photos below to see them closer.

One of the firepots in the photo below is the Centaur Vulcan that this author has used in 3 different forges since 1981. Note the height of the forge fuel in the last photo. The coal is piled on top of the firebrick to a depth of about 1-1/2 inches. The brick is roughly 2-3/4 inches tall. The depth of the firepot below the brick is roughly 3 inches. Total fire depth is 7 to 8 inches. This is a typical fire for general blacksmithing work. Compare this with the brake drum forge.

Photo right shows a selection of firepots with the Centaur Vulcan second from left.

Photo at far left shows the Centaur Vulcan pot installed in a new steel forge.

Photo middle shows this new steel forge in use. Coal and coke are seen piled over the height of the firebrick near the firepot.

This website is loaded with photos of forges and blacksmith's working with their fires. I have placed literally hundreds of photos showing blacksmiths forges on this website. More photos of blacksmith's forges and fires are available throughout this website.

A question of size

Brake drums are too small for forge hearths. Multiple pieces of iron must be placed on the ground for cooling as the brake drum forge hearth is very small and all available space is needed for fuel. The light weight and small footprint of the brake drum forge make it unstable so that it is constantly wiggling and causing more things to fall off each time iron is placed in the fire. And what makes the brake drum forges really foolish is that after the forge is finally built, it will never heat the iron as quickly and easily as a properly designed forge with ready-made firepot or tuyere.

The guys that keep shouting at beginners to start with a brake drum forge won't use one themselves! Think about it.

The case against the brake drum forge.

Too small for use as a forge hearth. The brake drum of a car or truck is too small to make a forge hearth. A good forge hearth requires much more room to support the coal and coke that is placed in and around the fire. The brake drum is simply too small for this. It is possible to fabricate sides around the brake drum to try to extend the surface of the hearth area but this is much more work compared with using a custom designed forge with firepot or side-blast tuyere. The brake drum of a truck wheel is too deep and a smith would need to cut a lot of the sides of the brake drum to gain access to the heart of the fire if the brake drum is used. This is a lot work with expensive tools. If the smith doesn't already own lots of tools, then using a brake drum will actually mean a substantial investment in tools to modify the brake drum- money that could otherwise have been spent on a manufactured firepot and construction materials anyway!
Too large for use as a firepot. At the same time it is also too large for convenient and efficient use as a firepot. The sides are made at a 90-degree angle to the bottom (side) of the brake drum and will snag at the fire rake each time the smith maintains the fire with the rake.
Center hole in the brake drum must be covered. The brake drum forge requires a plate to cover the center hole with air holes punched or drilled into it to allow the passage of blast air. The air holes clog with debris during fire use and require a lot of effort to clear individual air holes with a poker. The poker snags on the edges of the holes and this makes clearing the blast holes awkward and frustrating. Clinkers adhere readily to the homemade steel plate covering the center hole of a brake drum. By contrast, a ready-made firepot uses a rotating cast iron clinker breaker to loosen clinker and clear the debris from the air blast hole, and clinkers have less tendency to adhere to the cast iron parts of a manufactured clinker breaker. The small cover plates sold by Centaur Forge may fit some brake drums but again this costs more money,- money that could otherwise have been spent on a manufactured firepot or tuyere.
Brake drums are awkward to modify for forge use. The brake drum is made of cast iron and because it does not already conform to a convenient shape for use as a firepot, it is therefore difficult to use as a component in the construction of a forge. While it is very desirable to use a cast iron firepot due to the excellent anti-corrosion properties of cast iron when exposed to high heat, the ready-made firepots are of a suitable shape and design for use in forge construction while the brake drum is not. The manufactured firepots and tuyeres have mounting flanges cast into their form to facilitate mounting in a custom built forge. Anyone building a brake drum forge must spend additional time and materials to build supports to mount the brake drum into their forges,- time and money that would otherwise have been spent on a firepot or tuyere.
The brake drum still requires a tuyere. A tuyere is the part of the air delivery plumbing closest to the fire. Note here for beginners that I keep talking about firepots and tuyeres separately. This is because most American smiths use bottom blast firepots with tuyeres mounted underneath. Smiths in other countries may use a sideblast style forge in which the air blast comes into the fire from the side rather than the bottom. The sideblast style forges use only a tuyere while the bottom blast fires use a firepot with a tuyere attached to the bottom. When discussing the construction of brake drum forges it is assumed that the smith intends to use the brake drum as a firepot. Keep in mind that the brake drum was designed for use as a part of a braking system for a car, not for use as a firepot. Consequently the brake drum has no means for mounting a tuyere assembly and clinker breaker or other air valve. These parts would still need to be added. Clinker breakers and tuyeres come ready-made with a firepot and are not needed at all with a sideblast style tuyere.
There is no cost savings with using a brake drum. As stated in the previous arguments above, a new smith may think he is saving money by using a 'free' brake drum from a junk yard compared with buying a $150 firepot. But money the new smith thought he saved by [not buying] a firepot, will still be spent on additional tools and materials needed to try to make the brake drum forge fit together. The new smith that has yet to build a forge cannot know the true costs of construction. If he blunders along with the brake drum forge, he will find afterwards that his costs would have been the same as if he built with a ready-made firepot, and at then he must start over at now double the price.
Frustrating problems caused by poor design. New smiths should keep in mind that coal forges require constant attention with rake and poker to maintain a working fire. Any holes or other construction that snag against the rake or poker cause a great deal of frustration and will make the work so aggravating that after a while the smith will lose interest in the blacksmiths craft. The right-angle sides of the brake drum forge and the holes in the plate covering the blast hole/tuyere will make the work difficult.

My own advice to beginning blacksmiths:

The first thing visitors notice about this website, is that there are no 'brake drum forges' here. Visitors ask me why I don't have a 'brake drum forge' on my website like all the other websites. Other websites will not discuss the problems concerning brake drum forges. Compare my advice below with advice offered by other websites.

Enroll in a blacksmithing class near you. The blacksmithing class must be taught by an experienced blacksmith. Avoid learning from other beginners (the blind leading the blind). In a good class environment the beginner will have the best opportunity to learn fire maintenance, heating the iron, and get to try out a good forge for themselves. The class experience will give the beginner an opportunity to learn if they would like to continue the craft of blacksmithing and find out what it is like to work with good equipment.

If the beginner wants to start by jumping directly into smithing on his own then I recommend he/she buys good equipment. The best tools are the cheapest by far in the long run. So you say you don't have a lot of money? Then start saving money. Get a job. This craft is very expensive.

Use a good forge first to learn how it is used before building your own forge. Buy a good firepot or tuyere from a blacksmith supplier such as Centaur Forge or Baker House Group. Check out your local scrap yard for scrap steel but be ready to buy new steel when they don't have some of the things you need. Buy a new anvil- they are cheaper than overpriced worn out used anvils. Buy new Peddinghaus brand hammers. Buy some 5/8ths round, 3/4ths round steel new and learn to make your own light tongs. Buy the book The Blacksmith's Craft by CoSIRA or RDC and modify their method for tongs making using your lighter materials. Buy a 5 inch leg vise- make sure the jaws are in good shape, not misaligned or worn out. Buy good blacksmith's coal, not the cheap stoker coal. Stoker coal is full of clinkers. Buy a large forge blower. Not the tiny blowers. Don't buy the tiny portable forges. Attend some seminars and see other smiths working and get some ideas for your own work. Attend a horseshoeing school that specializes in forging hand made horseshoes. Make your own rake, shovel, and poker, and make a nicer set of fire tools a year later.

How can I try blacksmithing without spending a lot of money first?

Enroll in a blacksmith class for beginners. If you only want to try your hand at smithing and aren't sure if you want to reserve a large amount of money and time to the construction of your own coal forge, locate an organization or person near you offering beginner blacksmithing classes and enroll in some of those classes. You will have access to forges that have already been set up and in use. You will have a teacher helping you begin forging some simple items, and you will have exposure and access to many of the tools of the blacksmith. The classes will offer you the chance to see if you really want to continue with blacksmithing without the need to spend large amounts of money up front to purchase the expensive tools yourself. Many Living History or open air style museums offer blacksmithing classes in addition to their museum demonstrations. Check with a museum near you. Many craft schools offer blacksmithing classes. I have placed links to some of these crafts schools under the heading 'Schools and Seminars Teaching Blacksmithing' on my Links page at: http://www.beautifuliron.com/links.htm
Visit a museum to watch a blacksmith demonstrating the old crafts. Living History museums and other open air museums offer live blacksmithing demonstrations as part of their display. Some of these smiths are little more than paid beginners. At the same time many are experts that are involved in training an entire new generation just like the master smiths did more than a century ago. I have placed links to some larger Living History museums at http://www.beautifuliron.com/links.htm and many more can be found by looking up the Association for Living History, Farm and Agricultural Museums at: http://www.alhfam.org/. The ALHFAM offers a large number of links on their website to living history museums throughout the US and around the world. If you can find a museum near you linked on my Links page, then try ALHFAM's website for more links.
Visit an ornamental iron business that forges their own ironwork. Many of these shops use at least some blacksmithing techniques to build ironwork and some shops in larger cities specialize in forged ironwork. They are professional businesses and will allow only minutes to talk to you. The may let you watch some of their work though and some will even have suggestions to help you get started. Check your local telephone book for listings of ornamental iron shops. Look the listings: Ornamental Iron, Ironwork, Gates or Railings, Stairways or similar listings.
Attend a blacksmith's meet or convention to watch other smiths demonstrating their work. There are a large number of blacksmith clubs or 'chapters' throughout the United States and in many other countries like Europe and England. Locate one near you. Ask about these clubs at any of the sources above to locate one near you. In the US you might try looking up the local chapters listed on the A.B.A.N.A. website. These association chapters often have meetings and weekend demonstrations at which they give live working demonstrations and instruction and sell and buy blacksmith tools.

The tools of the blacksmith's trade are very expensive. If you aren't sure that blacksmithing is something that you would want to invest lots of money and time into, then go back to the recommendations above and/or enroll in some more blacksmith classes until you know whether or not you would like to be a blacksmith. Otherwise plan to spend lots of money to get started because the blacksmith's trade is very expensive and will remain expensive for a very long time. Building 'cheap' equipment will actually cost more money in the long run compared with paying for the best equipment in the beginning. Remember that if you invest in cheap junk equipment then you will be purchasing equipment twice- once when you bought the cheap lower quality stuff, and again when you purchase the higher quality tools because the cheaper stuff didn't perform well enough.

I'll add an article later on to link here concerning the easiest way for teenagers with little money to get a good start a blacksmithing.

Advantages of a ready-made cast iron firepot in a bottom blast forge:

The advantages below apply only to coal forges with a bottom blast design. This does not suggest that side blast forges are in any way, inferior to bottom blast forges- they aren't. This is simply a comparison of two bottom blast style forges; the brake drum forge vs. the properly designed firepot and tuyere.

The firepot was designed to be the right size. A ready-made firepot is of a sufficient size to support the fire and to allow fire tools to be used against the sloping sides while avoiding the snagging of fire tools during routine fire maintenance.
The firepot comes ready-made and can be used with only minor assembly (bolting a few ready-made parts together) right out of the box. By contrast, a brake drum requires a great deal of time and effort to put a tuyere and other parts on for use as a forge firepot. The firepot is designed to be quickly added to a forge. Side flanges on firepots allow them be hung in the middle of the forge hearth. Insert air delivery plumbing and you are ready to light the fire.
The tuyeres are designed specifically for forge use. The tuyere of a firepot assembly is designed to make the air converge in the heart of the firepot. A brake drum with a 'T' pipe welded or bolted to it cannot reproduce this design and consequently the brake drum cannot produce a fire as hot as the fire in a good ready-made firepot.
Clinker breakers are designed for use with firepot. The cast iron clinker breaker in the ready-made firepot helps direct air flow to allow it to converge in the heart of the firepot while also helpful in loosening clinkers for removal and helping to clear clogged air passage during routine fire maintenance. The clinker breaker requires only quick minor assembly to install - inserting the preformed rod into the tuyere through the clinker breaker and fastened with a screw.
Firepots support the fire at the proper depth. The ready-made firepot (example; Centaur Forge model Vulcan firepots) are of sufficient depth to allow the heart of the fire to be centered level with the sides of the firepot and hearth.
Relatively inexpensive. Ready-made firepots are relatively inexpensive at approximately $140-150 for a complete ready-made pot from Centaur Forge, and lower priced and heavier models are also available from other manufacturers that I currently have no links for here yet.
Easy to use. With the fire lit, the clinker breaker rod allows easy break up of clogs at the tuyere hole and loosens clinker, sloped sides allow the rake and poker to be used comfortably without snagging. Air is delivered in a way that forces it to converge in the center of the pot approximately 2 inches above the tuyere and the heart of the fire is very hot.

Updated 09 April, 2007.

An article concerning the easiest way for teenagers with little money to get a good start at blacksmithing will be added to this website in the near future and links will be placed to the new page here and on other pages.

Page created on November 24th, 2003.