Sacred Steel Forge

1 hour ago, Will W. said:

Probably already mentioned, but if you're interested in making your own lump charcoal, there are several topics here on designing a charcoal burner, retort, or "maker" they're sometimes called. Most consist of a steel drum or two and are easy to make. 

Charcoal does not take much air to forge with, compared to coal anyways, in my experience. I usually crank pretty slowly on my blower, and I can reach forging heat plenty fast.

Until you have you "hand bellows" built, I recommend listening to C-1. A simple piece of tape could cut your air flow back to where it is manageable. 

I did this withthe tape as well and unfortunatly still to much air. I just need bellows already

Thank you will w

56 minutes ago, Will W. said:

 A little piece of wisdom a dear friend gave me that I believe is prudent to pass on: with almost everything in life, things can be done fast, things can be done cheap, and things can be done correctly. You get to pick two of these. 

As mentioned, I would switch to lump charcoal as well. I enjoy working with it personally, it's easy to light (compared to coal) and it's HOT! You can burn steel away if your not careful.

 

Thank you will, i have switched to lump charcoal and my air is to fast. Otherwise it will work perfectly as soon as i have my hand billows fully built.  But i can still forge atm just not at the complete potential of my fire pot.

On my profile my location is stated frosty.

1 minute ago, C-1ToolSteel said:

If it is still too much on the low setting, cover part of the intake with tape.

I thought about doing that with my blower for now think it would slow it down enough?

Would a hairdryer be too much air flow even one with different speed settings? 

There is not ileft it open because i figured the force of the small blower would have been to much, that is also the reason the brake drum is not airtight on the bottom allowing very little air to escape but enough to keep the underside of my table cool as well

Usually the entire table is filled and  i figured i could reduce the airflow a little. From what you can see though its probably my fuel source?

here are some photos i had on my phone already these do not show the construction perfectly but it will help you with an idea of what i have. I will post more in dept ones today when i reach the forge but here are some alright ones. The wood table is not attached to any of the metal.

I understand and fully agree! Well this is where it gets interesting for the pros, because my design is a one of a kind and i havnt see anything like it before. It was designed by me and a buddy whos an ex smith, it is designed as a 2 in 1 forge. Its a table top forge with angle iron mounted below the table so i can slide a smaller brake drum forge beneath it and have a larger forge. Now i thought that too much air must be escaping from in between the table bottom and the brake drum top right where the two meet. But again i was using burquettes and i did get enough heat to make a knife so i believe i have the right amount of airflow with an alright design but i was using the wrong fuel source. Again i will post pictures but if you can give me your opinions off of my brief descriptio it would be much appreciated. Thanks again for all the advice so far (:

Im going to my forge today and i will upload them when i get there so you all can look over my design. I see no flaw in the design thats why i figured it was my heat source, i have made 2 knives with the burqettes but i know for a fact the metal should have been getting hotter. It was hot enough to move but it would not get past a darker yellow. If i cant even forge weld obviously im having a heat issue lol weather it be fuel or construction i know im losing heat thank you all so much for the advice sorry its taking me so long to upload some photos, like i said i will upload some today while at the forge

Thank you daswulf i will indeed add some, and i had researched the burquettes and found what thomas has spoke of then i researched the lump charcoal and found some for sale near by me so im going to try the new heat source then asses weather  the issue is my construction or was indeed my heat source

I am in medford oregon usa 

At this time i have no funds to join an association or i would have just to talk with some of the smiths!(: if you know of some blacksmiths extremely close to me that i could talk with that would be amazing but my area is rather short on blacksmiths. But i am open to any names or number you could possibly shoot my way. I agree the internet is a terrible source of information but as for meeting people and setting up meets it is a wonderful tool!(:

Thank you neil! My name is sean smith i live in medford oregon. I have a coal forge and id like to try and stay away from propane if possible. It is an ideal way to heat your steel dont get me wrong but i enjoy the old school coal way much much better. Only for the feeling get from doing it that way, the design of my forge could be what is preventing my heat. I just cant figure out why burquettes wont get my steel hot enough quick enough

So i am a blacksmith who has been smithing for a short time i consider myself still green, i would like to ask peoples opinions on what i should be using a fuel and where i can find it cheaply or even better make it myself quickly and cheaply. I was using charcoal burquettes as fuel but it will not heat my steal fast enough, is this an issues with my forge design and airflow or is it my fuel like i think it is. Please any tips and tricks would be much appreciated.