Portable forges ...

[davy]

I am trying to help a friend who is researching portable iron forges, he is trying to determine when the "portable" iron forge was introduced, meaning: the small, relatively lightweight and portable forge which had a blower which was turned by a crank handle.

Was this available in 1836, or were all forges in that period the old "bellows" type, which had to be operated by a rope handle which raised and lowered the bellows?

If you blacksmith types have info on this or places to look for it ... please put it forth here!

Thanx :hatsoff:

Davy

 

[dlemaster]

Davy
I know the Army had them prior to 1860 because I've seen them in photos from the Civil War, but how much prior I don't know. I do have some books on blacksmithing, if I can remember I check with them tonight.

Regards, Dave

 

[Claude Mathis]

Here are some comments I've gathered from other reenactors.

...one source that says they became available around 1806 BUT that was in England. Another piece is where you live and what type of re-enactment you are portraying. If you are East coast and a large mill community of around 1815-20 you might have a hand crank blower. If you are a settlement community in the midwest like I am the rule is no blower, (although most in this area use them with no concern to being period accurate)

Personally, in the time I spent in the village I rebuilt a bellows that had been long since forgotten about and used it. Now that I have left the village the new folks have added in a hand crank cause it looks old. In all actuality for my area a hand crank would probably not been seen until about 1850-60.

For what it may be worth, in an old magazine, circa early '80's i believe, their is a pic of a hand crank blower from the medieval days with wooden gears,etc.

If you are interpreting the first half of the 19th century, bellows is the right choice. In my searches, the earliest reference I have seen to hand crank blowers is in "Cylcopedia of Useful Arts", Charles Tomlinson, ed, 1866. In the entry on bellows and blowers, the rotary blower is mentioned in a footnote as a recent introduction. My understanding is that they are a general commercial device by the mid 1870's.

We use bellows at Forth Vancouver(WA). This is the documented air source for that time and place. The historic forges from the first half of the 19th century also have side blast tuyeres. It really isn't until the post Civil war period that cast iron parts like firepots and blower housings become cheap enough and widely available.

 

[ameling]

The round, square, or rectangular portable cast iron forges with a cast rotary blower are extremely hard to document before the 1890's or 1900's, and then usually with the Pump Handle. The hand-cranked blower pushes the general time frame into the 1910's and 20's. Just look in the Farm section of a reproduction Sears or Wards catalog from the early 1900's. Right there you will see pictured the same portable forges that soo many people drag around to Living History events. They are fine for general small work, but are very out of place at anything from the Civil War on back.

Yes, hand cranked mechanisms existed before then, as did rotary blowers and portable forges. But the shapes/styles/look of them was very different from those 1900's cast iron portable forges.

During the Civil War, the Army on both sides had forge Wagons that traveled with the army. When they would settle in somewhere for a while, they would build up a forge out of stone and mud, and then attach their bellows to it. In the 1870's and 80's, the cavalry had a pack forge - a square metal box that everything packed into. But it was a unique and specific pattern. They continued in use up through WWI and even part of WWII.

The bellows is the COMMON air supply that is easiest to document for the 1700's on up even into the early 1900's. Before the 1700's, you have to start transitioning from the great bellows (two stage) back to using two single-stage bellows.

The actual forge is up for interpretation. The only documented portable "forge" is the forge cart or waggon. The forge and bellows are all built into/onto a cart or waggon. These varied in size from a small tinkerer's cart (like a large wheelbarrow) on up to the back of a full sized waggon. The traveling blacksmiths who didn't have that forge-cart or forge waggon, would build their forge on site out of rocks and mud.

There are some great drawings of forge carts and tinkerer's carts in the drawings of W H Pyne in the book Rustic Vignettes For Artists And Craftsmen isbn 0-486-23547-5. Pyne's drawings are from around 1815, and primarily in England.

I hope this helps. Of course, these are but my humble opinions, and best used in conjunction with your own research.

yhs
Mike Ameling

 

[blacksmithshoppe]

It is my understanding that Colonial Williamsburg has a portable forge. I have not seen it but would like to, if anyone has any pictures they can post, please do so. You would have my gratitude.
Jeff

 

[anvil1231]

IMHO Mike is right. I have seen one of the civil war carts that had been restored and it had a bellows. I also have a reprint of a Champion Blower and Forge Co. catolog and they were not founded until 1878. I am not sure about the Buffalo Forge Co. anvil

 

[dlemaster]

The cart with the bellows is what I remember seeing in the photos from the Civil War. I agree that those cast iron forges you see for sale in farm auctions are much later.

Regards, Dave