antique forge

[sav17]

Hi All
I have always had a yearning to make my own custom knives and been looking at how to build a cheap forge
Well today on a trip into swansea town by chance i spotted a small antique shop up a side street in one of the quieter areas on the outskirts ,we decided to have a mooch in the window and when we strolled up we noticed that they mostly did renovated cast iron fire places ,but then we spotteg the gates opening into the yard next door we looked in and saw this !!!!!!!!



Hand operated antique forge i was real excited we went in and then an elderley chap appeared from no where and greeted us and starting chatting he showed us around lots of old cast iron ware and fire places and old country machinery that he was renovating and selling on he seemed delighted that we had recognised it as a forge and said it had been his possesion for about thirty years and had only just decided to put it on display the yard was a mish mash of fire grates and cast kitchen ranges chimney pots, tiles and old paraphernalia
Jen spotted an old wooden horse yoke we think its to connect two heavy horses to a plough or something similar, with the metal work still attached she wants to buy it and renovate ,well to be honest we were like two kids in a sweetshop ,he showed us around and produced an antique ransomes hand operated lawn edger with the original paint still on it we were gob smacked and like I said our eyes were every where
When we mentioned we were looking for a forge to actually use he was very interested and told us that he thinks it was exmilitary and still in perfect working order Then came the big question "How much for the forge" after showing me it still worked perfectly and saying he had put a new plate in the bottom of the fire box ,he looked at me pushed his flat cap back scratched his head and said "hows about £60 "(around $100) I was expecting it to be a lot more and unaffordable
So it seems me and jen are the proud owners of an antique leather bellows operated forge I was so excited I forgot to ask if he had any other related equipment tongs hammers etc It seems he has a large storage area elsewhere so we will be picking it up the weekend and I,m looking forward to cleaning it up and renovating it as much as using it













all the best keep safe
"Richie"