Archie Zietman

Thanks for the input I was using a small fireplace handbellows from the side and above, which wouldn't have helped very much. I am using charcoal which I made, by cutting up scrap wood from my basement into cubes and then just burning it. I don't have very much, though, and I should probably get some from Home Depot or some such place. I know that briquettes don't work, though. Tomorrow I am going to actually set up a decent forge, I think. I have a massive wooden box I just found, so I will use that. I already went through the discouragement stage several months ago, so I have no discouragement left in me Thanks again! Archie

Amazingly, it's sunny and warm today, so I decided to finally get some forging done. I am using one of this thin metal turkey-roasting trays, filled with crushed clay. I dug a hole in the middle, and lit up in there. I had a lot of trouble getting the charcoal to a decent heat, though. How do you guys start your forges? And how do you keep them at a good temp? Thanks, Archie

I have come up with a design, which I think will work: The forge-pan is 1.5 feet across made of a thick steel plate on the bottom, bolted to wooden sides which are about as high as the width of a man's palm. Firebrick, or clay is packed in, with a dip in the middle, which is the fire-pit thing. (The steel plate is exposed by the dip in the middle) There are holes drilled in the bottom of the fire-pit so that ash can fall through. Underneath, to catch the ashes, is a big pipe with an openable /closeable bpttom flap for the ash dump. Then, instead of a bellows, or hairdryer, or whathaveyou, I am going to use an airbed inflator, which is basically a plastic bellows which you step on. This is linked to the ash dump-pipe, so that air can go up through the holes in the fire-pit. The whole thing is on legs. I hope this will work? Thanks, Archie

Mr. Strine, where do you live? I'm just curious. I can't do the hole in the ground because it's been raining for the past week, and will rain for another week, because of a Nor-Easter storm coming in from the coast. The non-hole in the ground would allow me to forge independantly of the weather. :D

Hello. I'm new here. My name is Archie Zietman, and I'm 14, living in the dead center of Salem MA. Got interested in blacksmithing last year, but haven't done much with iron yet, since there's been school going on. So now it's time for some summer hammering. But before I hammer, I need a forge, what is the utmost basic of forges besides a hole in the ground? I have no welding facilities, so it can't have anything to do with welding. Thanks, Archie

Mine is Broomstick Forge, because I live in Salem MA :D