November 5, 200619 yr Alan, I wouldn't modify this forge, but I wouldn't get rid of it either. These were intended for smaller stuff, i.e. horseshoes, tooldressing etc. If you want a bigger fire consider something with a greater capacity for your main forge and keep this one aside for when you don't need a fire big enough to roast brontosaurus steaks. Check out Centaur forge, they sell firepots and a lot of other stuff too. Dan:)
November 5, 200619 yr Alan, I have a forge very similar that I use for demos, it has a slightly different firepost and I use my bellows with it.
November 6, 200619 yr Alan, thats a nice looking forge. I haven't seen one quite like it before, so am unsure how the firepot should be "clayed before using". In regard to using charcoal. My firepots are designed for coke and are about 4 inches deep. To use them for charcoal I drop in a spacer with drilled holes to reduce the firepot depth by about half. I'm not sure if your American charcaol would behave much differently to our Australian charcoal, but ours certainly operates more efficiently with a shallow firepot, with couple of inches of charcoal piled over the top of the metal.
November 6, 200619 yr I have a forge that is a litter mate to this one. My first forge. Got it almost 20 years ago. More later and I have some pics.
November 7, 200619 yr Thanks Apprentice! Here's some pics of where I got with it today: (linky pic) Still have the blower stand in pieces, but it's getting closer. WOW, it looks great all black, and will always look clean too hehe. Great work!
November 7, 200619 yr Charcoal burns absolutely fine in that forge as is. Get some white fire brick and set them up on edge and make a trough ( leaving the rear open ). I also burned coal in the same way. This is the way I used to do it before I made some changes and put a round pot in the forge. The old blower that hung on the forge long ago crashed and I've been using a Canedy Otto floor blower for long time. The old grate long ago died and I used a chinese floor drain cover for long time. New pot works great. When I took the old pot out with the plasma, I discovered that the forge table is about 3/4 "thick at the edges where the new pot sets.
November 8, 200619 yr Just a question with the paint.... What kind of paint is that? Did ya use stove black, or the high temp paint?
November 8, 200619 yr I have a rivet forge very similar to yours. I have used it for 3 or 4 years and have never clayed the pot. I do what Ten Hammers does with the hard fire brick. If you just set the bricks on edge you can make the fire pot any size to suit your needs. There is a picture of the forge on my web site on the last page. It is sitting behind the anvil with the bricks laying in it. Joe
November 9, 200619 yr I think that is the Super heavy duty coal/coke firepot from Your best resource for farrier and blacksmith supplies.
November 9, 200619 yr I think that is the Super heavy duty coal/coke firepot from Your best resource for farrier and blacksmith supplies. It sure is; that's the only firepot I've ever bought, and it's served me extremely well. It's great because you can use any solid fuel in it and not have to worry about melting/cracking. It's easy to clean out too. If you need to buy a firepot, I highly reccomend that Centaurforge X-Heavy duty coke one. :)
November 9, 200619 yr . As it is, the portable forges only have little if any space if one uses the cutouts in the front/rear, but I'm told I should have at least 3" to where the steel is heated, and another 3" above the heating area when using charcoal. I'd like to use charcoal if I can as coal is a non-neighbor-friendly fuel. So, I was thinking that if I build up a firepot even with firebrick, I could have an area that would be deep enough to use charcoal.Welcome to Lazzari Alan, here is a source for your charcoal in the SF bay area; haven't bought from them in years, but it is much cheaper than at the store. Mesuite was about $11 for a 40lb bag, oak a bit more. You will get "forge fleas" with this, I guarantee:D
November 9, 200619 yr Alan, Thanks for the comment about the knives. The old anvil is 250 lbs. and doesn
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