sorry if the post didn't seem clear really all i wanted to know is what styles of firepot people had made and in what material I suppose, and if anyone had built a brick forge and what material the firepots brick forges usually were. and if anyone had heard or cement/fire clay as this was described in a guide on building brick forges i had seen.
i need my forge to be able to do almost anything though huge fires will not be necessary I'm not making armour or anvils, but i would need to be able to put pretty large bars in the fire, but really all i wanted ideas on were fire pots, as I've heard varying ideas on what's best especially when it comes to depth some say 2" some say 6" size wise I'd like it to be about 12" round, is there an optimum depth for a size like this, is it better to make it round oval or rectangular? and what materials can be used to make them, I've only used side blast forges before, but the up blast makes a lot of sense to me.
as for cost that that shouldn't be a problem as i intend to make and fire the bricks from clay i dig from my own land so that will be free apart from the coal to fire them, and my time is unlimited pretty much, and as for the the location i hope that my forge will remain there for ever, hence not caring how long it takes to build.
so basically i want a fairly big forge that can except fairly thick long items as for making gates and the like, as well as doing all kinds of other work, pretty much like an old local blacksmiths forge
as for the car, buy a land rover Defender or series 2/3 best cars in the world buy one and you can keep it forever haha.