My forge

So, finding the perfect coal forge is like finding a needle in a haystack.  Daily searches on Craigslist and Ebay with no luck.  I know they make new ones, but I had in my head that I wanted to go "old school" original.  I became very impatient and almost gave in and bought a propane forge.  I was saved from regret due to the fact that the whole fam came to look at it and it would not fit in the car unless we left a kid or two behind (which, after a 40 minute ride was tempting).  I got home and thought about it and realized, that it was not the forge for me. So, back to the internet searches I went and still no success.  Don't get me wrong, there were coal forges on there, but they were either way too expensive or they were not what I was looking for.

One day, I ran across this ad on Craigslist "Coal forge and tools for sale". They were asking $400 dollars, WAY more than I wanted to spend, so I didn't even bother to respond.  A couple of weeks go by and I run across the ad again.  I decided to message the person selling it and ask if they would be willing to just sell the forge and not the tools.  He messaged me back saying that he really wanted to sell the whole lot, but since it had been on there for two weeks he would just sell me the forge.  We settled on a very reasonable price and made plans to meet up.  Doc, the gentlemen selling me the forge, was from VA Beach said he was coming this way one Saturday and asked if I wanted to meet in Short Pump.  I was thrilled because I didn't have to drive all the way to VA Beach and soon I would have my forge!

So, two Saturdays ago I drive to Short Pump at 7 am to meet Doc and get my forge.    He told me he purchased it years back at a yard sale because his wife thought it would make a cool thing to put some flowers in.  Thank goodness the flowers never got put in it and now it was coming home with me to be used for it's original purpose.

It has yet to be used by me, but the time is coming soon when it will be fired up again.  There are a few more things that I sill have to get before that happens, but I am determined to make it happen soon.  In my next post I will tell you how I obtained my anvil.  That was just as much of a challenge as finding my forge was, but with a little luck and some great friends that go out of their way to help, anything is possible.

The Buffalo Forge company was formed in 1878 originally to manufacture blacksmith forges.  Buffalo Forge was one of the top three blacksmith forge manufacturers in the United States.  Their product offerings later included drilling machines, and steam engines and pumps.