First forge with 1/2 steel bowl in brick box

[Nonameguy]

this is my forge i have some pics from start to almost done its really neat. the bowl is set in a chimney section on its side .with holes drilled for forge chimney and air inlet/ ash dump, and then bricked in with firebrick with a variable speed blower. also with perlite as insulation sealed under bowl.http://s1138.photobucket.com/albums/n523/blakemuz/
sorry couldn't figure out how to insert images

[MLMartin]

ummm why is the fire pot set into that little refractory box? I think you may find it pretty hard to get your coal or charcoal into the pot. Also your chimney is vary vary small, I think you will find most of the smoke comes right out of the two sides. You may want to look over some of the coal forges people have posted picture of on this site. Your forge looks like a gas forge and coal forge combined, not one or the other.
Not trying to be ugly I just don't understand how its going to work.

[MattBower]

I'm sort of with Mr. Martin. I understand that you're probably trying to make do with minimal materials, but I think you're going to find that design rather constraining -- hard to work in, can't see the fuel or work easily, no place to pile spare fuel while it cokes up -- and the chimney not very effective. Insulation isn't really necessary with solid fuel forges; the fuel doubles as insulation. In fact insulation may actually be counterproductive as far as the life of your firepot.

I'm sure it'll heat metal, but I suspect if you try a more conventional forge you'll soon want to make major modifications to that one. (I'm assuming you haven't done any forging in a more conventional solid fuel forge. If I'm mistaken, I apologize.)

Sorry not to be more positive. I can see you put some work into it. If it were me I'd think about taking that firepot, setting it in a hole in a metal table or an empty 55 gallon drum, and burning coke or charcoal in it (to avoid the need for a chimney). Outdoors, of course.

[Marksnagel]

1st let me welcome you to IFI, Blake. This is a great place to have others look at what you are doing and give corrective criticism when necessary.

As Matt said, take a look at the 55 forge that Glenn has posted. Your fire box would work great inserted into a cut down 55 gal drum.

What are you using as an air supply, where are you located, will you be using coal/charcoal/corn or other source?

Please give us as much info as possible. Remember, and criticism you receive is only to help you along your way so you can enjoy your forge to the utmost.

Mark <><

[Frosty]

Welcome aboard Blake, glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in your header you might be surprised at how many folk here on IFI live in easy distance of you. It'll also save us old farts from using our memories trying to recall who's close when we're on the road and want a snack or place to nap.

That's not a bad attempt at a forge not knowing how a forge works. As has already been said it's not a terribly workable forge. If you take the fire pot you have and set it in a table, even a wooden table rammed with clay it'll make a much more usable forge. The flue pipe you're using now would make a fine smoke stack and side draft smoke hood.

On a practical how to note, I've had good luck setting the fire pot in a fitted hole so it wedges at the desired height. For example 1" is good for ramming clay around it to make the forge floor. Or 2 1/4" to match bricks for the forge floor. This'll protect whatever you have for the table and make a good surface for working. It'll stand up to raking burning coal out of the pot and laying hot steel on plus there'll be plenty of room to lay tools you want at hand.

As said do some searching here, look at the pictures, read things and do NOT hesitate to ask us questions. We love good questions, almost as much as making up stuff we can't answer.

Frosty the Lucky

[Nonameguy]

Hey tested it for the first time u guys were right smoke dose blow out the front. what about plumping it with an updraft essentially a steel pipe angled pointing up the stack making a vacuum and increasing -pressure
and i decided to put it in the box to help with efficiency i live in Cali Sacramento and coal is $35 for 50 pounds and 10 pounds of hardwood charcoal is bout 6 bucks that works for one session .
my original forge was a cement bowl and it cracked i got one use out of it and it used a whole bag of charcoal so i focused on getting an anvil and other equip all i need is the forge to be finished now i have a 204lb anvil very nice. gave to by family friend.

[Nonameguy]

also the whole reason it was closed because my last open forge sent sparks everywhere like on me stand and when i made a brick tower it worked great ! i updated my gallery in my link with more pics take a look
has pics of old one and current

[Nonameguy]

update thanks for the advice removed my design flaw with a single swing of a hammer

[pkrankow]

Some charcoal likes being wet or damp so it doesn't spark, some spark either way. A bit of water controls the fire size well. You can also use corn (animal feed or stove fuel) and it acts a lot like coal, but uses about 2x as much pound for pound.

If you need a chimney, AT LEAST 6 inch diameter. 8 or 10 is better. You can whip up a side draft arrangement to pull the smoke off the fire.




These side draft can be staked in without a structure, but need to be taller to work well.

Phil

[MattBower]

Sparks are one of the hazards of charcoal. You can learn to minimize them, but the occasional flea bite is inevitable. If it's not the sparks it's hot scale, or molten flux from forge welding. (These are especially problems if you let your tong hand get lower than the face of the anvil while you work.) Coal generally doesn't spark at all, but it does produce some pretty noxious smoke -- and it looks like you might have neighbors nearby.

As far as finding coal at more reasonable prices, have you talked to the folks at the California Blacksmith Association? http://www.calsmith.org/ They may have ideas, and I notice that they run classes in Sacramento.

[Nonameguy]

Sparks are one of the hazards of charcoal. You can learn to minimize them, but the occasional flea bite is inevitable. If it's not the sparks it's hot scale, or molten flux from forge welding. (These are especially problems if you let your tong hand get lower than the face of the anvil while you work.) Coal generally doesn't spark at all, but it does produce some pretty noxious smoke -- and it looks like you might have neighbors nearby.

As far as finding coal at more reasonable prices, have you talked to the folks at the California Blacksmith Association? http://www.calsmith.org/ They may have ideas, and I notice that they run classes in Sacramento.

Yes i do have lotsa neighbors lol but and yes charcoal sucks now i started yesterday using wood pellets. i start charcoal fire and shovel in some wood pellets works great and i keep the mix about 70% wood pellet 30% charcoal and easily get welding temps i actually melted what i was working on within a Minuit and the blower wasn't even on high. a little less sparks too. i know where to get good coal at a faiier supply but its a rip at $34 for 50 pounds when i bought 100lbs of wood pellet for 12 bucks

[MattBower]

Yes i do have lotsa neighbors lol but and yes charcoal sucks now i started yesterday using wood pellets. i start charcoal fire and shovel in some wood pellets works great and i keep the mix about 70% wood pellet 30% charcoal and easily get welding temps i actually melted what i was working on within a Minuit and the blower wasn't even on high. a little less sparks too. i know where to get good coal at a faiier supply but its a rip at $34 for 50 pounds when i bought 100lbs of wood pellet for 12 bucks

If you're happy with the wood pellets that's fine, but if you're interested in coal I still think you should talk to the Cal Blacksmith guys. I know organizations around here that buy coal by the ton and sell it at a fraction of $34 per bag. I would not be at all surprised to learn that someone out there is doing the same thing, but it's not necessarily something you'll find advertised anywhere. It's about asking the right people.

[Nonameguy]

If you're happy with the wood pellets that's fine, but if you're interested in coal I still think you should talk to the Cal Blacksmith guys. I know organizations around here that buy coal by the ton and sell it at a fraction of $34 per bag. I would not be at all surprised to learn that someone out there is doing the same thing, but it's not necessarily something you'll find advertised anywhere. It's about asking the right people.

thanks for the advice i contacted them and they referred me to local blacksmith i left him a message i did find smith coal for 24 something per 50 lb bag and fireplace coal for $15 per 50 bag but still turns out to be over $500 bucks a ton. just gotta wait to hear back from that guy thanks a bunch tho!