Hi all I am new here and to blacksmithing I am trying to set up my first forge I have seen the 55 gallon barrels cut to make the pan of the forge my question is I have a old aluminum grill could it be used as the pan with a cast iron fire box or does it all need to be steel.

Do not use the aluminum, use all steel to make the forge and forge table.

The aluminum will melt,I made a campfire in one of those once and it just melted the bottom out.

thanks for the info