ive been taking a masonry class recently, and i plan on making a forge made of block (yes i realise the title says stone, im gettin there) i plan on making the sides and bottom of the forge from cement blocks, as well as the vent and everything. then i plan on grouting and then reinforcing the thing with rebar. then i plan on buying cultured stone and going over the whole thing with the stone, then i plan on buying industrial stength firebrick to line the pot of the forge, i also plan on using refractory cement to go down for the ash hole and to line the hole thats going to hold my steel pipe to attatch the blower to. the pipe on the blower is going to have threads so i can switch different diamiters for different blowers. i also plan on(yes i know alot of plans) having steel plates bolted to the bottom (.25") to make for a place to anchor bolt it in the foundation, im also going to keep 2 small holes in the legs, (about half block size) so i can move it with a forklift if i decide to move.

what do yall think?

Sounds way overbuilt. I don't mind a forge with a decorative facade, but lining the downspout with refractory cement and then a steel pipe is super overkill. With the pipe attached to the firepot, what's going to burn through steel and then burn through regular mortar and brick? Maybe I'm not understanding something.

As for being portable, it either is or isn't. You're looking at a lot of weight and fragile joints, and that doesn't generally make for easy moving. Even with rebar, the facade would likely spall off and all of the mortar joints would crack.

That sounds like a great project. Are you sure you want cultured stone? In my experience that stuff is very soft and fragile, maybe OK for a house or wall but I can see a forge getting bumped with metal on occasion. Real stone would hold up infinitely better, and I think the real thing also looks better.
Good luck
smith out

I agree real stone is better also use a cast iron fire pot not refractory. Coal ash and clinker will fuse to the refractory and degrade it over time.

What Timothy said indeed. Clinker will absolutely stick to refractory and side blast pipes through it to the fire as well.

thank you guys, this is why i post my ideas here first, so we see all the little details. and yeah, i might just do a brick veneer on it as opposed to stone, or i might do real stone, i dont really know yet, and ill make sure to find that cast iron piping, thanks guys!

i've got a really nice little forge that I use at a live role play site nearby. It's not 100% stone built, but the base is a solid platform of river stones and I've built up the actual forge hearth (back blast) from clay/sand. The stone is purely to raise the forge off the floor, but it looks really cool :) well, except where tsome of the players have tried to daub over the stones with clay and bits fall off :rolleyes:

Just a side note, reading old blacksmithing book that describes a wood forge heavy lined with clay, claimed it held heat better than anything. Alot of options out there, but all a forge needs to do is contain a fire.

Just a side note, reading old blacksmithing book that describes a wood forge heavy lined with clay, claimed it held heat better than anything. Alot of options out there, but all a forge needs to do is contain a fire.

funnily enough, two of my teaching forges are wooden boxes full of clay :)