irgunr

so I tried it last night and one of the biggest lessons you can get is by trying things! I am starting to understand more of what you all are saying. It was hard to control the fire and the only spot hot enough was near the air. I will work on a reshaping of it this weekend. Its hard to picture and understand what you guys are saying until it try it. Charles and Billy thanks for the support. I have enjoyed most of my time being able to serve. 2.5 more years to go. I'm thinking I'll get some black pipe, a ball valve, and some sand. I'll remove the bottom bricks to make the fire pit deeper. I'll use the black pipe to run the air into the hinged side of the grill with the V still going in this direction. and I'm also going to remove the lid it serves no function and it a large chunk of aluminum. my only other thought and I will listen to what you all recommend would be to leave the air coming in from the side it is now and make the V 90* from its current direction while making it deeper.

Charles. Thanks for the pictures that helped explain a lot. I can see how deep your fire box is and how the air comes in from the side vs how mine is at the end. I think it will be a easy mod to cut a hole in my container and move the air in to the side of the V. Is that a foot petal to turn the air pump on and off? and is that a air mattress pump?

It is a HF heat gun that I was using. it has a little less power then a normal hairdryer. my wife wants me to make her a letter opener so that will be the 1st, beer, project that I actually put hammer to steel. since the knife build was really stock removal. I only used the fire to anneal, then heat treat after it was formed. I really appreciate everyone taking the time to give me the feedback so I can get started in this hobby. Frosty If i'm picturing what your saying is to put the air coming in in the middle of the V with it pointing at the opposite "V" wall. instead of at the end of the channel pointing down the trough

Charles Thank you for the input I looked a few of the JAPOB forges. I'm trying to keep thing contained in the grill shell for ease of moving in and out of my shop, for now. I rearranged my brick layout last night but didn't get a chance to try it out. O moved the brick into a more V shape, moved the tuyere to the bottom, and changed out to a 1 inch ID pipe. Is my V shape to wide? I have a LB from a electrical project that I'm going to but the hairdryer on to use as a waste gate to help limit the amount of air I push to the fire. I will keep my eyes open for small fans. has anyone tried a computer case fan? I have a couple of those sitting around but they run on 5 volts DC. Thomas. I emailed the NMABA contact account last night I'll see if I hear back from them. Again thanks to everyone

Thank you for your input Frosty. I will rearrange the material to make more of a trench, Taco shell and straw! I will source a smaller pipe and make the V trench deeper to get the pipe lower in the bed of fuel/coals. Thomas, I did look at the NMABA site but it looks like it hasn't been updated in a year. If you have more info on the smith in Bosque Farms that would be great. I actually live in Bosque Farms. I put LL on my profile because its easier to find on a map and reference to people. All do these reworks to night when I get off work and see how it goes. Thank you guys for you input!!!

Hi everyone! I have been lurking around the forum for the last 9 months this weekend I finally built a forge and tried making a knife. I built a side blast charcoal forge from an old BBQ grill and a few Hard Fire Bricks. I used the fire bricks because they where free. the teyure is a piece of 2 inch horse fence pipe. My wife got me a 15 pound HF ASO and a HF1x30 belt grinder for my birthday. I'm working with used farriers rasps because I get them for $1 each. I checked the rasp for hardness by heating them to non magnetic then water quenching it. after it cooled I placed it on the ASO and gave it a smack with a 18oz framing hammer and it broke clean in half. I know working with mystery steel isn't the best way to start but I figured for learning how to grind and shape its a start for really cheap. the forge has 3 bricks on the bottom to make a flat shelf then 6 bricks to make the fire pit. I have a large cotton wood tree that fell and have cut my wood from that. I started the fire with just plane wood then placed the steel into the charcoal once it burns down some. for a air source I have a 2 speed heat gun that I'm currently using. so far I have made one blade and I feel pretty good about the setup. there is a few tweaks. I have to give everyone on this forum a huge THANK YOU for all the information you provide. Looking at the hobby it looked like I could never get into it but ready the forum made me realize I could get started with a little scrounging. I have $0 into the forge and other then what my wife has bought me I have used tools I already had in my shop.