The time I thought a 'coffee can forge' was a joke

For years, I heard old timers talk about making a forge from a big coffee can, some plaster, and sand. I figured it was just a campfire story, something that might get metal warm but never to a working heat. Then, at a meet-up in Knoxville last fall, a guy named Frank actually built one in about an hour. He used a big metal can, mixed up the plaster and sand, and hooked it to a simple hair dryer. I watched, sure it would just melt or crack. He got a piece of rebar to a bright orange in maybe eight minutes. I was stunned. It wasn't pretty, but it worked. It really made me think about how we overcomplicate things sometimes. Has anyone else ever been proven wrong by a simple, old-school trick like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

parkerrodriguez7d ago

Honestly thought those stories were just old guys telling tall tales. Seeing that rebar glow in a coffee can was a real eye-opener. Makes you question all the fancy gear we think we need. Sometimes the simplest hack is the right one.

spencer_wood7d ago

Frank's coffee can forge in Knoxville proved @parkerrodriguez right, simple works when you just need hot metal fast.