Hello All,
I'm new to blacksmithing but I'm trying to learn, slow process I've come to realize! I went and built myself a wood burning forge out of an old 55gal drum and some pipe. Basically I cut from the top rib of the barrel up and flipped it so the solid bottom was against the solid top. Welded them together and cut out a square for me to put the metal I'll be working on. Put some concrete along the inside and a funnel of concrete towards the middle. I also have a basic air set-up, a T of pipe leading to the bottom of the fire box where the air is sent and a "drain" cap where I empty the ash that falls down, and I have an air compressor hooked up with a valve which lets me control the air flow. And my anvil is a 12in piece of train track that I cut out a horn and shined it up.
I haven't had much success, which I expected, trial and error at the moment... My main issues at the moment are I can get my metal hot enough to manage but I can usually only get about 20 seconds (rough estimate) of time to do anything with it. The piece I'm working on right now is 1/4" thick which I know the thinner it is the faster it cools but do I need to get it hotter? It gets light yellow at times.
Also, with a wood forge, should I have a thick, thick layer of coals on the bottom? I never thought about it but my metal is usually pretty close to where my air is fed, I'm assuming that isn't a good thing. Forgive the questions, I'm just very interested in this and could use some help. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!