"The best knife is the one you have with you when you need it."

3.4.13

Tim Lively inspired washtub forge



Together with my friend Sammy we made a new style logo and business cards and i am happy with the result.
Last two weeks i have been building on a simple portable washtub forge. I found some time ago a hand crank blower from 1925 out of New York and got a old washtub from my dad who was laying somewhere in the garden.
A family member gave me some old clay with, plaster in it and a couple of heath prove stones.
I mixed the clay with ash, sand and water and  used that to make a shape in the washtub.
On the bottom and the sides of the tub i placed the heath prove stone and the iron tube with the little holes for the air flow of the hand crank,  and finished it all off with the clay.
A couple of day's later  i made a small fire inside the forge to harden the clay.
After that i connected the hand crank on a frame and used an old vacuum cleaners pipe between the blower and the tub for the airflow.  Now it was ready for some heath.  
I had an old small anvil on a woodblock and together with the washtub forge i had built my own portable forging setup.
This weekend we had a demo/workshop with my other company 'PolderBushcraft' and i tested my setup if it was working the way how i wanted.
Thanx to the site of Tim Lively (http://timlively.com/washtubforge.htm)it was very easy to build and it cost nothing to make, all recycled materials.  
I also made a small case with glass to present the knives in.
Check out the photo's below and the first two knives i forged in this great washtub forge on coal!  
Take care thanx Igor.