I am building a new masonry forge in my new shop, and I am going to put a steel top on it, then I plan on building a masonry side draft hood on the side of it. So part of the hood will sit on a portion of the top, but I plan on supporting it underneath.

So What size top would you put on it if it was your forge?

Here is a link to a sketch of what I plan on doing.

http://s1109.photobucket.com/albums/h422/kyblacksmith/?action=view&current=Image274.jpg

Thanks

1/2" should be okay if there is any doubt you can always go thicker. Don't forget to put in a block foundation for your chimney or over time it could colapse. We ended having to rebuild a forge because someone didn't put in a foundation. No it wasn't us, we have a second forge thats has the same problem its just the funding that is an other problem. Good luck on your forge.