Hibbs

so I put the briquettes back with the barbecue, and replaced them with smithing coke i got cheap online (well...I think it was cheap, 10 dollars for 16 pounds...) and switched the vac out with my harbor freight heat gun (it was in my tool box and i haven't picked up a blow dryer yet.) and the difference was night and day! thank you guys for the advice!

Thank you sir! I'll be sure and get some lump charcoal, I was just impatient today and used what I had.lol Didn't think about accidentally dropping something in the quench side... maybe I'll toss a piece of expanded metal on that side for cooling shelf...? Or put a lid on it and use it for storage...? Oh well, The more time I spend with it the more I'll make it work best for me.

Just finished my first forge and got it going today! Seems to work pretty well, but I'm still a newbie, I'm sure I could do some more work to it. I used a stainless steel two basin sink, with 2x4 frame. one side of sink is the forge, other side for quenching. Filled forge side with dirt and used inch and a quarter steel pipe for tuyer, it through the drain hole. Got a ninety at the bottom that my shop vac hose fits into. It seemed to pump out too much air at first, so I drilled a couple holes in the tip of the vac hose. And now, got it heating up steel! Just as I got it going, my brother stops by with a 2foot section of rail he found for 5 bucks at a yard sale! What do you guys think?