SamT

That's what I meant, brick for the floor. Lol, sorry I wasn't clear. But now that I look again, would a forge made of stacked brick be comparable to a cylinder lined with 2" of kaowool? If internal volume was the same of course. Brick at BCS has a pretty steep volume discount on their 2300* brick. 3 brick flat for floor, 1 1/2 brick standing on long edge for each wall, and 3 more for top would give a chamber of 6.5 x 4.5 x 13.5 with 9 bricks. Just another brick front and back for doors and done. Could be nice to be able to change the layout. Kiln shelf or kitty litter for a floor, for that matter a box filled with riverbed clay and skip the three floor bricks all together.

Does anyone know how well stove firebrick will work in a gas forge? Something like these. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000H7UGU0?ie=UTF8&force-full-site=1 Or should I buy the bricks from budget casting supply? I'm planning in using the BCS blanket as well unless I hear bad things about it. Shell will be an old 5 gallon air tank with a naturally aspirated burner, not sure which design yet.

All my logs are roughly the same size, still building the fire with smaller stuff first. I watched some more videos and I think I'm capping my drum too quick.

Pretty much what I'm doing here, once I get a process down I should be able to produce enough charcoal for my forging needs. Of course I'm not sure what my needs are since my forge isnt done... nor the shop for that matter. I have a short attention span so I keep enough different projects going so I always feel like working on something. I'll try and remember to take the camera with me when i break open the drum.

Got about a 5 gallon bucket of charcoal. Logs werent completely charred, so I knocked some holes in the bottom of the barrel, lit it up again and tossed the logs back in. Burned MUCH hotter this time, once everything was burning and sounding like a blast furnace I tossed dirt over holes and hammered the lid down. We'll see what it does if its cooled off this evening.

Thought about holes, but read somewhere about someone not using them. I believe it was a member here. If I dont get much char then its a simple remedy, punch some holes and light it again. Not worried about smoke, I live in Carroll County MS, neighbors are few and far between. I'll wait till tomorrow sometime to open it up and see my results.

Took a deheaded barrel and built a good hot fire with pine limbs this morning, then dumped a few logs on top. Let it burn down a bit then capped it with the bottom of another barrel that I hammered the sides in on. Hammered this lid down tight, still some small gaps though where the steel folded in. Hope this works! If not then I'll try a flat plate next time.

Now that I think about it, my axe bounces off of sweet gum logs... Pretty hard to split. Have two around 20"D that we left 8' long or so. Ill roll them when I get a chance and see how rotted they are.

I know that Thomas has mentioned this in the past but didn't this time so I'll do it. Do not put that stake in the hardy hole of your anvil, it is not meant to go there. It has a tapered shank not a straight one as all tools that are to be used in the hardy hole have so please don't do harm to your anvil by using it there. Most of us that have a nice beak horn stake like that usually end up mounting it on a separate stump by inletting a hole into the stump to accommodate the shank and then use it as a stump anvil and never place it in the hardy hole of main shop anvil.

I'd just get to working on it and decide what you want to do with the far edge after you get used to it. (Pretty simple to walk around the anvil and use the *other* edge if it's needed.)

I would like to find one of these myself. If nonexistent perhaps make one? If hand cranked maybe a polyester resin and aluminum oxide mix? I wouldn't trust that to any speed though.

Be careful heating cylinder rod, whether it be in the forge or welding on it. Lots of cylinder rods are coated in chrome, as it burns off it lets out some vary nasty stuff in the air that can make you sick or die.

Pics of my prizes as promised. Sorry about the blurry shots, I suck at photography.
What should I do about that far edge. Didn't really get a good picture of it, but should I dress it to a radius?

Anvil.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-P3AOOTER-Ok/TfU-35zK70I/AAAAAAAAADI/Ba5srY-f5kE/s800/SANY0019.JPG
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/--xZUlJycHII/TfU_DhUZioI/AAAAAAAAADM/cBdDvgxoVa8/s800/SANY0020.JPG
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-tNNCHLCrO9g/TfU_KBLwe6I/AAAAAAAAADQ/63pH1sbCFZ0/s800/SANY0023.JPG
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-SNo1FYmUNAE/TfU-AgP0MNI/AAAAAAAAADE/xSg0Q41TIeY/s800/SANY0024.JPG

Stand.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-CqTMDsmLrZI/TfU8UECWPCI/AAAAAAAAACk/_HYH8FwLVU0/s800/SANY0022.JPG

Block and hammers.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-EF_aWiH3De0/TfU9gXOYdVI/AAAAAAAAAC8/qXz1rTbQ7Gw/s800/SANY0027.JPG

T-Stake.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ppoMW__plmQ/TfU90ZL87cI/AAAAAAAAADA/-PRHA309fyg/s800/SANY0025.JPG

My uncle sadly passed a few months ago, and today I went to his welding shop. My cousin is selling most of the steel and equipment, and I picked up an anvil.

M&H
ARMITAGE
MOUSE
HOLE
FORGE
1 . 3 . 13

Judging by anvilfire, it's a 209# produced between 1854 and 1875. some damage on the far edge (horn to left), but the face looks good to me. Surprising, knowing my uncle Charles. Also got a rather large T stake, a beakhorn I believe, about 3' long overall. Also got about a 2x5x10 plate for a cutting block and about 4' of 2" square to make a leg vise from. Also in the load was a 3.3lb cross pein, a maybe 1lb brass hammer, a maybe 2lb double-faced hammer, two pieces of hydraulic cylinder rod about 2" x 2', and about 2gal CI pot. gave her $300 all together. Think I got a very good price now that I've had a chance to look at that anvil, so good a price I may have to give a bit more... or just overpay a bit for the next load of steel i get. I'm sure my uncle would be glad to know this anvil and stake are going to get used instead of being yuppie yard art. Now I just have to figure out who's getting it once I die. Can't find my phone patch cable ATM, but will post pics.