JABOD - Just A Box Of Dirt

4 hours from first board cut to first fire, 24" square box, 7 1/2" deap, 3/4" pipe tuyere and a bed inflator with a 3/4" ball valve. 1x8 lumber but pallet wood can be used, or ?

I need another bag of litter, some handles, an other bracket on the air pump but she burns

I've been wanting to make a JABOD (Just A Box Of Dirt) forge ever since Charles R. Stevens first posted his original description. It just occurred to me that a sheet metal box salvaged from my oven replacement project would be a good base, so here goes. I started by making a base from an old pallet cut to the proper width: Using the cut-off section for one end: Legs in the other corners (more pallet wood) and a robust diagonal brace: The sheet metal box with the sides built up with some more pallet wood: (This photo shows how I built up the back fairly high and added another piece of oven side to protect the wood, as well …

Today I had some extra time, and will be heading up to Nebraska soon to visit my cousins, and though it would be fun to bring a portable shop, something that wouldn't fill a 5 gallon bucket. Obviosly this topic is about the forge, but for the anvil I will be bringing a 2"x3" x 5" block of mild steel, will be buying charcoal there, and will find a stump there. They live in a rich boy neighborhood, and their parents don't want me digging a hole in there yard, that is the reason for this, or else I would just bring the pipe and hair dryer and go to town on that. Anyways, it didn't even take up an entire 1"x6" which I found down at the creek. Was just 2 15" pieces and 2 …

Let me start by saying that I have really enjoyed this site. Whenever I have a question, can always find it here. So, on with the story. For the last 6ish years I have been using a washtub bottom blast forge, with a hand crank cheesy blower. I can say it has worked well for me (I only know what I know), I have been able to do for the most part what I wanted. Up to this point I was using mainly wood, pine specifically. Reason, easy to get and plentiful. I started making charcoal and found that this set up, for me, doesn't work as well as I would like. So, off to the site i go. Found out about the JOBOD and spent several weeks reading everything I could from ev…

Hey everyone, I started forging a couple of weeks ago and I’ve been having a lot of trouble with my forges. I only have access to charcoal, and I originally used a bottom-blast setup. After asking around here on the forum, most people pointed out that a bottom-blast isn’t ideal for charcoal. So, after doing some more reading here, I built a side-blast JABOD forge with a trench-style firepot. Here’s what it looks like: The problem is that the metal just isn’t getting as hot as I think it should. I’ve seen people say that a side-blast can even produce more heat than a bottom-blast, but I haven’t been able to make that ha…

I’m mainly unsure about the correct dimensions. I prefer a bottom-blast setup because I’ve had an easier time controlling the fire compared to a side-blast. I use charcoal, and I’m not certain about the ideal measurements for a medium-sized forge, something that gives me around 12" of active fire so I can work and heat-treat larger pieces like big knives, daggers, and small swords. What I’m most unsure about is the firepot. Since this is a charcoal forge, I’m not even sure if a firepot is necessary. And if it is, how deep should it be? The one I currently have is about 5.9" deep, but it feels excessive during use. I also don’t know the best size for the tuy…

I used to be a member of primal fires and used a washtub forge back in the early oughts, then switched to soft brick propane forges, then an actual blanket lined pot style propane forge. I eventually gave it all up when my daughter became my primary focus. I fiddled around last summer with the propane forge, bought and actual anvil but then needed to make some hardy tools for the anvil but most won't fit in my forge. Well, I started gathering supplies to build a new washtub forge. Started assembling last weekend and will do a test/drying fire tomorrow. I need to figure out a stand for the champion blower. And make hardware to mount my post vic…

Good morning and/or afternoon and/or evening! I've gotten myself a better, non-galvanized pipe for my tuyere, but I need a grate. What can I use? Here are some photos of my JABOD as it is.

Hello all, long time, no see. Been having a go at my first JABOD the past couple of days. Learning to start and manage a solid fuel fire without firestarters has been quite a humbling experience as i've only dabbled with propane before. This is more an exercise in attempting to achieve weld/white heat temperatures, which my diy gas forge wasn't able to reach. This will be using charcoal of course. Images hopefully arrange in date order, can't seem to find a feature to spoiler them, apologies for the bombardment on your screens. Started off with a trench with a bick sized base. The next version was my most sucessful heat wise thus far; the one with the squ…

I started with some leftover wood from a previous project. Initially, I was using clay from my pond, but it had a lot of rocks, and from my digging on this forum, rocks are not ideal. Where the tuyere enters the box there are firebricks which I then covered with dirt, firebricks are also on the bottom which are pictured. One broke so I tried to situate it against the tuyere and they can be moved as needed. Looking for any feedback, there are a lot of posts on here, and everyone does the JABOD with their flavor, depending on the use case, materials, experience, etc. I am still looking to source a hairdryer or some air-moving device so not yet ready to fire up, …

finally, my own solid fuel forge. It’s certainly better than a barbecue chimney full of charcoal. feedback will be very welcome. This forge is made from a 55 gallon drum and a 22 inch charcoal grill as the forge bottom. I started filling it with a mixture of kitty litter and sand but it was dry and didn’t mold well so I decided to mix local clay and sand instead, and that worked a lot better. I had some old fire bricks that were laying around in my garage for a couple years, so those became part of the build. It survived its first firing and I even managed to hammer an old lawnmower blade flat. my high-tech Harbor freight prybar served as a fire rake but I reall…

so I've decided I want to build a charcoal forge to expand my options for projects. I can currently heat anything up to about 3" or so in diameter and basically any straight length I want in my propane forge, and about 85-90% of all the projects I've got planned or likely to want to do can be done in my propane forge, so this project is to do those 10-15% of things I just cannot fit in the gas forge's 4.5x4x24" interior... also I'm trying to do this for As little out of pocket as I can, using whatever I can lay my hands on around the shop. this means I'm not aiming for everyday use efficiency, I'm after something to handle bulky or large items. And after looking thro…

I have started a simple charcoal forge project because, let's face it, I don't have enough work to do around here! I thought I would post progress as I go. My research has lead me to a side draft forge for charcoal, and as any container seems to work, I decided to use one of the steel wheels I have stacked about from the boss' Toyota truck. As you can see from the picture I decided to place the entrance for the tuyere just above the bottom of the container created by the wheel. That would be the central portion of the wheel where the stud holes etc. are located. Marks I placed on the side of the wheel show the inter…

is there a way to make this forge work with a proper 3 inch electric coal forge blower instead of a hair dryer? Just using it to get by until i can make a proper forge

It's a Philly thing, but I'll call it Just A Wood'N Box Of Dirt. Scrounged up some scrap wood consisting of some 2" thick planks, butcher block, 6" newel post and other wide planks to be assembled with leftover nuts and bolts from treehouse and firewood shelter builds. Gonna be bloody heavy but nice and sturdy (I tend to overbuild). I have to dig out some storm swales around the property so will dig deep to get some soil clay to fill the box. Should be around 25" x 35".

Pictures attached: front view of new design in-use; sketch of backside view with hair dryer; sketch of backside view with hand pump After one very frustrating & unsuccessful forging attempt with anthracite, I've already changed the JAGOD design and tried again with just charcoal. Then I couldn't figure out the fire for charcoal! I knew from comments on here that charcoal didn't need as much air so I offset the hair dryer. It didn't seem to be getting hot so I put the pipe back direct to the blower and got it going. Any time I offset the dryer, the charcoal would lose heat. I realize that sounds obvious - as air is what makes the heat - but I thought since the hai…

Hi everyone, first post but been reading for some time I built my jabod forge this weekend and just wanted to share with yall since everything you have been saying here was so much help. About 30 inches square, 3/4 schedule 40 tuyere, hairdryer a couple inches away and angled for air control (on the lookout for a handcrank blower) Burning lump charcoal, using a water bottle with a hole in the lid to keep fire from spreading Started with a firepot 8" long 4" wide and 4" deep, didnt like the way that was working and changed it up to about a 2" deep 6" circle with a mound of fuel on top. I liked that better, but still going to play around with it. Which …

Hello again, everyone. I've been forging for almost two years now with my JABOD. I owe a lot to all of your help with that project and getting me started. Well, in the meantime we built a detatched garage with a separate room in the back with the idea that I could forge in there. Here's my current set up that I've been using up until now. I've been working outside and pulling it inside when finished working. That garage in the background is now living space. My father-in-law has had some serious health issues and moved in with us, and we needed space for him live which is what prompted the new garage/remodel. Well, now that I'm ready to move this into a …

When our beloved propane grill finally died broke, I decided to take all the inspiration I'd gotten reading about the JABOD Mark III (thanks, Charles R. Stevens) and make Just a Grill of Dirt. A JAGOD, if you will. I had two goals: Spend as little money as possible Forge using charcoal I'll just admit now that I am way better at spending money than not spending money. I scrounged up some thin firebrick I'd stashed and since I had to dig footings for some pier blocks, I rough-screened a couple of 5-gallon buckets of that dirt. I put the grill in a level area always in the shade. I had to snip some of the sheet metal to get a l…

Hello. I'm new here. As noted in my profile, I'm located in Central New Mexico (in the mountains to the east of Albuquerque). I have been getting fascinated with taking up blacksmithing as a hobby, as I am (rapidly) approaching retirement age and looking for something engaging for when I put my day job behind me. I am starting from absolute zero, but have been reading books, reading forum posts, and watching videos for several months. I have a first blacksmithing class in two weeks. I have tried to read as many posts on the JABOD forge on this forum as I can, and tried to remember what I've read. Hoping to hit the ground running after my class, I've begun …

Here's my take on a JABOD, thanks everyone for sharing your valued knowledge which gave me the insight for my creation. I took all my inspiration from this awesome site. My initial thoughts were to keep everything as simple as possible and using materials I had at hand or that can be sourced easily. It may not be the prettiest but it's easy to erect and dismantle without the need for cutting or screwing timber together. The basic idea is to stand a pallet on top of some blocks to create the platform at the desired height and then arrange blocks to hold the dirt, sand or whatever material you choose to hold everything in place. I went with a 2 x 1 block formation…

Hello folks! I am new to this forum and decided to make my post here rather than the "Introduce Yourself" subforum. It's straight to business. I wanted to post here mainly to ask about three things, but also receive any critiques any of you experienced folks may conjure up. 1) Tuyere diameter/length. I have a 2' length of steel pipe with a diameter of 1.5". Is this too large for a charcoal-fed JABOD forge? Also, is this length long enough to dissipate the heat before reaching the fan? (I plan on using an old air mattress inflation fan) 2) The fire pit configuration--I have 6 bricks with dimensions of 9"x5"x2.5". In the configuration pictured in my link belo…

A quick thank you to this forum for introducing me to the lump charcoal JABOD and giving me an excellent way to make forging happen without a huge expense. I’ll do a more thorough write-up with dimensioned drawings and detail this week, but I at least wanted to say thank you right away. I turned 1/2” rebar scrap into a short JABOD rake as my first project.

Hi all. Im looking at putting together a little dirtbox forge, just for some mobile stuff and maybe some demos. I'm building a Mastermyr style tool chest and my plan is to fit an entire smithy into it. Stake anvils, stands, forge, hammers the works. Whats the minimum thickness of lining between forge bowl and wooden frame people would consider safe? I'm not going to be doing massive projects in it, just the smaller stuff really. I probably don't need more than a 6inch firebowl. It'll be mainly for coal use, with a leather bellows as a manual air source. Would 2 inches of dirt or cast lining be enough? That would give me a 12x12 inch forge in total which wo…