stevehewer Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 Hi all, this is my first post so be gentle with me... I am going to build my first purpose built forge soon and am looking at different materials, mostly due to low funds... I have some 1.5 mm m/s sheet and some 4 mm plate, obviously this wont last long as a forge table and fire pot. What I am thinking is can I use clay quarry tiles, im guessing they would be ok for the table as it would only have the coal converting to coke and radiant heat from the firepot, but could I use the quarry tiles in the firepot, I intend to make a rectangular pot with angle sloping sides with a double sheet of 4 mm with 6 mm hole drilled all over it for air flow. So what I am asking is do you all think that the quarry tiles will stand up to the job, I know other materials would be far better but after buying an anvil funds are low so whatever I use needs to be cheap. I would not fix the tiles down so any that crack or crumble can easily be replaced, even if I had to change all the tiles in the firepot every 6 - 12 months it will still be a cheap option. BUT will it work ? ? ? Thanks for your help. Steve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 Hi all, this is my first post so be gentle with me... I am going to build my first purpose built forge soon and am looking at different materials, mostly due to low funds... I have some 1.5 mm m/s sheet and some 4 mm plate, obviously this wont last long as a forge table and fire pot. What I am thinking is can I use clay quarry tiles, im guessing they would be ok for the table as it would only have the coal converting to coke and radiant heat from the firepot, but could I use the quarry tiles in the firepot, I intend to make a rectangular pot with angle sloping sides with a double sheet of 4 mm with 6 mm hole drilled all over it for air flow. So what I am asking is do you all think that the quarry tiles will stand up to the job, I know other materials would be far better but after buying an anvil funds are low so whatever I use needs to be cheap. I would not fix the tiles down so any that crack or crumble can easily be replaced, even if I had to change all the tiles in the firepot every 6 - 12 months it will still be a cheap option. BUT will it work ? ? ? Thanks for your help. Steve. Hi Steve, welcome to the site, Yes it will work, and if you make the table out of the 4mm plate also and use the thinner stuff for a retaining wall around the edges it should last a fair old time depending on how often you euse it and where you store it when not in use. My only concern would be the 6mm holes drilled all over for the air flow, They are a tad on the small side. Here is a picture of one we use regularly and this has 10mm holes for the air, you could go to slots or a different grate but these work fine, no problem with firewelding or forging up to 30mm sq bar. The one shown is in a stack of three, we make them this way so we can transport them to demonstrations and shows. The only other problem that occurs is the whole table tends to warp and twist slightly when it has been hot for a long while, to reduce this, you can make it so the firepot area "floats" in/on the table. Where are you located? There may well be someone near who could mentor you or join a local group,any way good luck with the project and we look forward to seeing pics of your progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehewer Posted June 20, 2011 Author Share Posted June 20, 2011 Thanks for the reply, I only intend to use a firepot that is 13" x 9" as in this link http://www.blksmth.com/mild_steel_firepot.htm with the pot of 4mm and the table with the 1.5 (for now) and then lay the clay quarry tiles all over and cut them to fit in the firepot (I would enlarge the design of the firepot so it would be the 13x9 with the tiles inor maybe 15x10), its like I said really, I dont mid replacing the tiles in the firepot every now and then, and replace the 1.5 for something better when funds allow, I thought I would just tack the sheet on so I could remove it easily when replacing with the thicker material etc. as for the air holes, the p[late at the bottom would be around 5" x 6" or so, I intended to drill holes all over the plate so that the holes removed around 30-40% of the metal, so maybe 60+ 6mm holes, there would be a small chamber between the plate and the air inlet of about 2 inches so the air can get around to all the holes, I thought this would give a good even distrbution of the air to all of the bottom of the firepot ?? tell me if its not a good idea ?? cheers. Steve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drewed Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 I'm using a cast iron skillet for a fire pot that I picked up for ~$10 new. It might be a tad bit shallow, but I built up around it with firebrick and refractory cement. Works great and I spend about $30 total. Something you might want to look into. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 Make 5 holes that are 13mm (1/2 inch), or 2 parallel slots 13mm wide and 25mm-30mm long (1 to 1 1/4 inch long) or the entire way across your tue if possible, with 13mm material in between. Those 10mm holes will reduce the blast considerably. You can also take some 10mm (3/8 inch) or 13mm (1/2 inch) rod or square and make a simple grate with the bars 13mm apart to cover the tue. I am using a sewer grate with 10mm holes. I have drilled out some holes and the grate is eroding very fast (I have had 2 fires since enlarging some holes and there is noticeable material loss) Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 Clay quarry tiles will probably break up FAST due to the uneven heating and cooling---just clay from a local creek bed would work better. Also note that forges get way hotter than some clays can take---I've *boiled* a terra cotta flower pot once in my forge. I'd go with *no* liner or just creak clay mixed with wood ashes. For my Y1K forge I use old adobe broken up and mixed with water as it's nicely "tempered" to start with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 as for the air holes, the p[late at the bottom would be around 5" x 6" or so, I intended to drill holes all over the plate so that the holes removed around 30-40% of the metal, so maybe 60+ 6mm holes, there would be a small chamber between the plate and the air inlet of about 2 inches so the air can get around to all the holes, I thought this would give a good even distrbution of the air to all of the bottom of the firepot ?? tell me if its not a good idea ?? Steve. There are a lot more things to consider when making your hearth, rather than just asking unsupported questions. Are you having an ash dump under your forge? Where are you feeding your air supply in, and how are you going to control the airflow. 2" is not a lot but that could depend on the blower you are using. If you are going to stack 2 plates of 4mm thickness in the base of the hearth, the inner one will burn through quite quickly, and probably the air holes will become blocked in the lower plate with the molten steel thus created (Alternative way to make rivets???) IMO if you have air holes distributed over the whole plate you are going to have a very large fire, and be using a lot of fuel, and possibly also creating more clinkers. It will also be more difficult whem managing the fire to suit the material sizes you will be forging. You only need a fire big enough for the requirements of what you are forging, you don't need something akin to a mini volcano. good luck with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehewer Posted June 20, 2011 Author Share Posted June 20, 2011 Hi John, YES I want a volcano moahahaha. Seriously though thanks for the reply. The "table" would be around 32 inches deep and 40 inches wide with a side draft chimney, I am thinking a firepot about 14 inches x 10 inches with angled sloping sides with the bottom of the firepot about 4 inches by 4 inches and the Grate about 2 inches above the bottom with the usable firepot being about 4 1/2 inches deep. The air inlet I have is 4 inch pipe (this I already have), My theory was that the air would come in the bottom and have the 2 inch gap before it went through the grate and into the fire. I though if there where lots of small holes on the grate then this would aid air flow around the whole of the base of the fire as well as allowing air to pass without too much blockage from ash etc. I have a couple of fans I could use, I have a 4" inline power fan (not the 4" shower type) that blows about 160M3 hr, I also have the blower from a leaf blower (1600w) and third I have a 1000w motor from an earlex hvlp spray gun set, All of these I would have some sort of air flow control on. As for the quarry tiles I really was testing to see what the chapest option would be, I have seen a 25kg bag of refracotry castables for £26 ish inc postage on ebay so I think that would be the best option, I would plan to lay about an inch all over the table and about the same in the fire pot, so this would make the fire pot a little smaller. Going back to the fire grate, I have seen some cast iron drain covers that are 6 inches square and 10 mm thick on ebay but they do have quiet large air gaps in... http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/6-Square-Cast-Iron-Gully-Grid-Driveway-Drain-Cover-/330569568600?pt=UK_DIY_Materials_Plumbing_MJ&hash=item4cf77b5158 On the air inlet I would have a ash drop at the bottom of the air inlet with the air coming in via another pipe into the side of the drop pipe if that makes sense, same as most firepot forges I have seen. Again thanks for everyones input. Steve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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