territorialmillworks Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 I love my ribbon burner forge...big and fast. But it does produce more scale and it's hard to use for small items requiring isolated heat. So I've been thinking about a portable charcoal forge for months now. Got plenty of plate steel, a cart ready to mount it on, a blower and even have fire brick to line it with. But can't seem to sort out all the info on how deep and at what angle to make the fire pot for charcoal....Also, should I use the fire brick or just use heavy plate which goes along with my idea not to use any kind of refactory. As always, thanks for you help/input....Keith (Besides, if you have two forges, why shouldn't you have three LOL) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marksnagel Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Just an option to keep in mind:http://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/23368-brakedrum-55-forge-rebuild/ This forge serves me very well and will last for years to come. I'm thinking about putting a set of wheels on the bottom of the forge and a handle on the top so when it is tilted it can be rolled around. Always thinking of improvements. Didn't take long to make either. Mark <>< Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drewed Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Because of the "cart" I going to assume that this is going to be some what of a portable forge. Fire pots can be almost any size, but the manufactured ones are around 12" ( round, or square. Heck some are rectangle - 12 x10 ish) I currently use a 9" cast iron skillet. The skillet works well, but is a little shallow and the sides are too steep. If it were me, I would shoot for about 12"x11" at the top, 3 to 4" at the bottom ( what ever fits the best with your air supply, 5" to 6" deep, and what ever angle the sides end up. You really can't go wrong unless you make it way to small or way to big. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Burning CHARCOAL you don't want a coal firepot. You want it fairly deep and narrow---unless you will be doing pieces that are wide. When I use charcoal in my coal firepot I place a couple of hard firebrick in it to narrow and deepen the fire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elemental Metal Creations Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 @ territorialmillworks thanks for starting this, I was thinking about asking this question myself as I don't think my brakedrum forge is really deep enough for charcoal, it's only about 3-1/2". @Tom Powers can you give us a better idea than deep and narrow? what size would be best? I have a cast iron bell that I was thinking about, it is about 10" deep and 10"-12"in dia. at the opening. I will try to get some pics tomorrow. Thanks for any ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HWooldridge Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 "The Craft of the Japanese Sword" by Kapp and Yoshihara, has good pics and description of a traditional Japanese ground forge for charcoal. You can take those principles and use them for a portable rig. As mentioned, the most important features are deep and narrow compared to coal - and side blast might also be a good option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elemental Metal Creations Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 This is my cast iron bell that I am thinking about using for a charcoal fire pot. The firepot would be 7" deep, 4-1/2" across the bottom, 14" across the top. It is about 3/8 " thick. Would this make a good charcoal firepot? The last pic shows it as lopsided but it isn't I don't know what happened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 You want to have the ability to push a piece of stock through the hot spot horizontally so it's good to have some sort of "slot". As for sizes it all depends on what you will be using it for and how much. For my Y1K demos I generally make the slot two firebricks long and about one firebrick wide (so a firebrick or two laid flat can serve as a front apron and a vertical one can close the slot in the back.) Of course this is run off of two single action bellows and generally is used for fairly small work. The tuyere comes in betwwen the side firebricks who are missing that corner and everything is slathered with adobe mud to cover the "modern" firebricks. Doing a straight adobe forge is better but doesn't travel as easily as a bucket of adobe with a stack of bricks in the top... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomhw Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 Burning CHARCOAL you don't want a coal firepot. You want it fairly deep and narrow---unless you will be doing pieces that are wide. When I use charcoal in my coal firepot I place a couple of hard firebrick in it to narrow and deepen the fire. I think that this is a matter of personal preference. I use a Centaur Forge copy of the Buffalo firepot with no problem. While a broad firepot is necessary for making coke in a coal fire it presents no difficluties in a charcoal fire. Though you may have to wet the outer coals a little more often than you do with a coal fire, it is easier to move fresh charcoal down into the fire as you go. Try it both ways and see what works best for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 With the narrower forge you don't have to wet the charcoal at all. All the fuel is in the "good" zone and having it all burning is a positive thing. When I'm using good coal I don't need to wet the fire either. The "fair" coal we get out here is fines stored in a bucket of water! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesG Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 I would look into side draft for your charcoal forge. I get clinker in mine when I use mesquite charcoal. Or use a brake drum and make it flush with metal table , then use fire brick on the side to make it the shape you want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fosterob Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 Is there a general size of a charcoal firepot compared to a "standard" size that most coal forges seem to be? I mean is it the same dimention across but twice as deep? Three times? Thanks in advance Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mtrewyn Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 Does a "side" draft work better than a "up" draft for charcoal? I have been thinking about using firebrick for my fire pot, the one that I made out of Fireclay and n-mason mix flakes bad around the tuyere, and I thought the brick would hold up better to the heat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jasonmichalski Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 I agree with ThomasPowers, you should never have to water charcoal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wannaforge Posted November 26, 2011 Share Posted November 26, 2011 awesome thread, thinking i will have to use charcoal to get started, keeping my overall cost down. lots of great ideas here, gonna try and keep it simple stupid(KISS) thanks guys for the advice and ideas. great thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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