Fire Pot Questions

[ledson]

I have started with this pot so far and I'm looking for suggestions towards it being workable or not. Here are the dimensions.

5in deep
12in wide both ways on the top
3 3/4in at the bottom

I also need to know the best way to make the screen for the bottom, examples like if it should be a plate with a certain amount of holes or if i should just run 4-5 bars across it?

Thanks

[Mainely,Bob]

As far as the bottom goes the two things to consider are the type and size of the fuel you plan to use and air flow.
I use an old cast iron drain cover with slots in it.Others tell me they prefer just bars spaced far enough apart to keep the fuel in but let clinkers and plenty of air pass thru.

The depth of the pot depends on the type of work you plan to do most and also whether you plan to line it or not.

[ledson]

As far as the bottom goes the two things to consider are the type and size of the fuel you plan to use and air flow.
I use an old cast iron drain cover with slots in it.Others tell me they prefer just bars spaced far enough apart to keep the fuel in but let clinkers and plenty of air pass thru.

The depth of the pot depends on the type of work you plan to do most and also whether you plan to line it or not.

would you suggest I line it? if I can get away without doing it I would. If I had to line it, what would you use?

thanks

[Bad Creek Blacksmith]

My fire pot is made out of 3/8" plate, we cut a 3" hole in the bottom for the pipe and tee'd off of that for the blower pipe. I felt it was to deep so we brought the pipe up a 1" or so, and I used refactory cement in the bottom to level it out. I bought the cement at a brick yard and it is made for the high temps. .I don't have any pictures of that set up but if you would like to see some PM me and I'll post some. The grate I used I bought from Centaur Forge and every thing is holding up great.

[ledson]

My fire pot is made out of 3/8" plate, we cut a 3" hole in the bottom for the pipe and tee'd off of that for the blower pipe. I felt it was to deep so we brought the pipe up a 1" or so, and I used refactory cement in the bottom to level it out. I bought the cement at a brick yard and it is made for the high temps. .I don't have any pictures of that set up but if you would like to see some PM me and I'll post some. The grate I used I bought from Centaur Forge and every thing is holding up great.

How deep was your pot before you raised it? where i never used a forge before plus and I'm building one, I would like to do it right the first time so I don't have to redo things later. Thanks for you help. I would like to see pictures of your set up for sure :)

[arftist]

It would be good if you could make a clinker breaker for the bottom. I used a peice of 1" thick steel for mine, cut it smaller than the opening so air can get by it. Drilled a hole through it side ways and welded it to a peice of 1/2" dia. stainless steel roundbar, which was fed through two holes near the top of a shedule 40 steel pipe tee which I welded to the bottom of the firepot. The round bar comes out the side of the tee, bends down 90 degrees for about six inchs, then bends horizontal again. Moving the handle frees up the clinker and ash. The bottom of the tee has a hinged adjustable door which acts as an ash dump and an air gate to help regulate the fire. The forced air enters the side branch of the tee.
If the walls of your firepot are thick enough, don't worry too much about lining it. Chances are good that this will not be the last forge you build. If, however, you need to change the shape or depth of your firepot, fireclay mixed with course washed sand, about 1 part fireclay to two parts sand. Dry the lining thoroughly with a pine wood fire, no air blast, for a couple hours to prevent a steam induced explosion.

[ArtWerkz]

As someone mentioned go to Centaur Forge online and click on forges and then look through all those pages. There's pics of firepots, clinker breakers etc etc. A visual is always a good help for design.
My set up is the Centaur Forge HD Coke firepot, clinker breaker, ash dump etc etc.
Myself personally I don't see the use in a deep firepot, 3.5"-4" is plenty for what I do. Why burn extra fuel if you don't have too.

[ledson]

That's great, you all helped me a lot in this. Thank you very much

[ThomasPowers]

There is no *RIGHT* *WAY*, but there is a lot of right ways depending on what you plan to do, what kind of fuel you plan to use, how what you do changes as you learn, what kind of blower you plan to use, and your personal preferences.

Notice how many of of these aspects depend on *you* so asking *us* without giving all the details is not real helpful.

I would have suggested you try out several different forges to see what works best for you before building your own. Otherwise don't get tied into making it *RIGHT*. Make one that's usable and then expect to re-build it to better suit your self every couple of years; I've been forging since 1981 and it's about time to rebuild my current coal/charcoal forge for the nth time as what I want to use it for changes.

[thecelticforge]

I think it is a simple matter of letting as much air in as possible without letting the coal drop through. I have a 1/4 thick plate on the bottom of my portable forge. with a 4 inch pipe at the bottom full of 3/8 inch holes, as many as I could fit. I made them far enough apart to slow down burn through, about 3/8 of an inch apart.

[Bad Creek Blacksmith]

Okay hears the pictures of my set-up.

1. With ash gate closed
2. Fire pot 3"deep x 7"wide x 12"long
3. This is showing the blower pipe coming into the vertical pipe.
4. Showing ash dump open.

These pictures don't show the ash dump to clearly but you can make it open and close any way you want. The only change I want to do is put in a air gate the fire tends to get a little to big and I'm just burning up to much coal. For the tee on the tyure we stub out a 3"length of pipe for the blower pipe to clamp to.

[ledson]

Thanks again everyone, so I've been working on it bit by bit as I have time and when it's done I'll post up some pictures. Then like you guys said, I'll see then how it works for me. As far as fuel goes, I'll likely make my own charcoal for it until I find a place to buy coal.

[Pat Roy]

I built my fire pot from 3/8" plate. The bottom is also of plate. I was too lazy to put in a clinker breaker and just burned a couple slots in the bottom with my torch. The fire pot has been in service for 4 years or more without any refractory lining and shows no sign of abuse. It will last a long time. I have to reach in a couple time each day with a poker to pull out clinkers. It isn't rocket science. If it ever does burn out I'll just built another, but at this point I'm will to bet this one will last me.