Hawkbox

I've been reading and attempting to internalize everything here and elsewhere while working to build out my first forge attempt. I think overall it went pretty well and I believe I did most of it correctly (feel free to correct me on that) but there are a few things I definitely could have done better. My own observations are around size, I think I made it almost twice as long as it really needed to be and I notice it struggles with even heating. Secondly, I think I've left the inside to large and I lose an enormous amount of heat out the ends. Lastly, I am not entirely certain I have a good coating of refractory in it, it definitely has no loose wool sections but it is uneven in colour so that's a bit weird to me. It's ITC-100 because that's what the local forge and farrier supply stocks, I've noticed comments around not using it but needs must. It does heat up well but takes some time and I'm not entirely sure if I am not pushing it hard enough or if I am being unrealistic but the metal I heat in it (Some 1/4" flat stock I found in a metal recycling bin) loses it's orange colour in under 30 seconds while I'm pounding on it. I don't expect to make anything yet as I'm just pounding on metal and testing the forge but it seems that I may not be getting enough heat. I don't really have a good side picture of how it's built so just ignore the brewing equipment in the background, it's not relevant until after I turn the propane off for the day. Appreciate any feedback on it. I think I'm going to build another one about 1/2 to 2/3 the same of this one and keep this as a momento/future use forge.

I've been reading through these to educate myself and got blind sided by the 7 year gap in this one. I've only just started researching scrap shops in the Edmonton area, it's been educational. Once you know where to go it's obvious, but man figuring it out the first time, especially in a pandemic is a challenge.

Good morning, I've had an interest in forging since the early 2000's when my brother had one for his farrier work but I've only just recently had the time to really dig back into it. I'm going to take a run at building my own so I have a lot of reading to do but it should be fun. I imagine I'll ask a lot of stupid questions but I did the same thing when I started brewing and now I can say with confidence I ask fewer stupid questions. Have a good one.