Shainarue

I've used shainarue pretty much any time I have to pick a screen name. Shaina is my first name. Rue is part of my middle name. Decades ago, a friend had called me Shainarue after discovering my middle name and I liked it enough to use it online. I used to be much more protective of my identity online but still managed to have my identity stolen. Talk about an expensive nightmare! Now I have all my stuff frozen and whatnot so I'm not as concerned. I mean, I'm still not going to give away a bunch of info but I kind of like my name so I'll use it.

My apologies. I just now got around to seeing and reading the "READ THIS FIRST" message in my inbox. I tried to delete the original "Quote reply" and couldn't find an option other than edit. I tried to edit my other comment to remove all the tags but I can only remove text and not tags. So, all I can say is sorry and it won't happen again!

Thanks for the welcome! I'm in the Kansas City area. I do have one person locally who is willing to help me in the process. I had looked at the Blacksmith Association of Missouri just yesterday actually. Their calendar currently only shows monthly meetings and the MO State Fair exhibit. I'll keep an eye on the calendar though for anything I can attend. Thanks for the explanation about the reason behind the forge designs. Starting out, I'll likely only be using the end for leaf keyrings, bottle openers, and hooks or points. At least until I feel like my basic technique is solid. But in the event of a longer piece or a middle needing heated, I could always rearrange the setup to accommodate. I'm thinking, if I set the burn area right where the trench meets the pit, and the air pipe coming from the other end of the trench. Then, if I need more length, I can just remove the log grate and I've got 3 more feet of space. I doubt I'll need more than that in the near future!

I'm in the KC area.

I'm super new to blacksmithing on my own. I've taken 3 classes to make specific objects. Each class was 3 hours and we used a propane forge. So I have a basic understanding of hammer control and basic twists and points, but I have zero knowledge of building a coal fire. I've done some scrounging and found a $2 hammer that I'm going to try to dress using advice from a YouTube video by Alec Steele. I have a friend that is giving me their railroad rail section to use as an anvil so that took care of a huge setup expense. (I still need to invest in a vice and possibly a hammer.) I have some library books on reserve so I'll be more knowledgeable about terminology and techniques soon. I'm following a few blacksmith channels on YouTube and saved a few beginner projects to work on. I've found someone local who offered to help me learn to build the fire and other tid bits at their shop. I'm interested in the JABOD forge to use with coal/coke. I already have a 3-ft wide in-ground brick-lined round firepit that I made about 10 years ago. I've recently dug a trench leading to the pit in anticipation of making it dual-purpose and setting up a section of it for forging. The trench was intended to hold the air intake pipe but maybe it's better to use the trench as the forge? (picture attached, pavers on top of trench just for safety until it's covered.) Everything I've read in the JABOD thread showed the "pot" as ending level with the top of the box, and then the coal pile mounded about an inch or two above the top level. With the depth of my firepit, the coal pile would be below ground unless I raise that portion up with bricks or something. Will it work below ground level or do I need the air above ground combined with the intake air to make it work?