Thank you for all your help. I will be doing more research and fixing the forge I have for the time being. I appreciate all of the wisdom and knowledge held by the curmudgeons (said with respect) here.
At a later date I will be taking all of your input and building a better forge using Kaowool or another like material, but for now my only option is to make do with what is available.
Please do not think that my Edison quote was meant to say that I am just as knowledgeable as yourselves. I am not. I am a beginner to this craft, and my meaning was to say thank you. You curmudgeons have years of experience that tells you the right thing to do and wrong thing to do. It’s your willingness to share the knowledge gained from that experience that makes it possible for people like myself to learn this craft without needing to reinvent the wheel, so to speak. In other words unlike Edison inventing the light bulb, I do not have to make 10,000 mistakes before finding the correct way to do it. I will inevitably make mistakes, but when I do I can ask for guidance from veteran craft masters, such as the curmudgeons.
On the topic of tagging: I read this post, and I took it to mean I shouldn’t tag in my initial post/question. However, I understood it to also say that tagging when replying to specific people’s answers is acceptable. I must have been mistaken. Please forgive me. Just as I am new to blacksmithing, I am also new to using forums. I am always fearful of committing a breach in the forum etiquette. I will learn from this mistake, and strive to do better in the future.
Thank you again for all of your help in solving this problem with my forge. If my research (including reading posts here on IFI) for future projects comes up short, resulting in another mistake, then I hope I will still be welcome to return with another post and seek advice from this incredible community and its master-craftsmen.