I have a barbecue forge and it seems really difficult to get the metal to get hot enough to glow orange hot.

Rarely i even get red hot.

Is there a particular way to stack the charcoal? becuase it usually just falls in the hole (i tried to put a stake though the middle but i guess smaller peices get by.

I will try to get pics of my setup but if there are any guides on this it would really help me out

1 you are *NOT* using briquettes right?
2 you have walls of firebrick so you can stack it high in a fairly narrow strip over the tuyere
3 you have some sort of grate over the tuyere, I use expanded metal I get as scrap.
4 You have a stack at least 5-6" tall and place the metal about 1/3 down from the top
5 your air supply is strictly controlled so you don't use too much air.

DETAILS DETAILS DETAILS

1 you are *NOT* using briquettes right?
2 you have walls of firebrick so you can stack it high in a fairly narrow strip over the tuyere
3 you have some sort of grate over the tuyere, I use expanded metal I get as scrap.
4 You have a stack at least 5-6" tall and place the metal about 1/3 down from the top
5 your air supply is strictly controlled so you don't use too much air.

DETAILS DETAILS DETAILS

1. not briquettes , the lump stuff.
2. Not really fire brick i will post my setup

Do you have a fan/blower, and how do you control the airflow?

Do you have a fan/blower, and how do you control the airflow?

a blow dryer connected to pipe assembly

In my experience, charcoal prefers a side blast. But you can make bottom blast work. Charcoal also likes some form of insulating lining. Another thing, these grills are generally fairly thin sheet metal. Without something to protect it, you run the risk of quickly burning through your forge. Wood ashes work well enough.

Do you control the air flow? Or just turn the blow dryer on? Charcoal doesn't need much air, if you aren't choking the airflow down you probably are pushing too much are.


The more details you can provide the better the answers will be.

ron

In my experience, charcoal prefers a side blast. But you can make bottom blast work. Charcoal also likes some form of insulating lining. Another thing, these grills are generally fairly thin sheet metal. Without something to protect it, you run the risk of quickly burning through your forge. Wood ashes work well enough.

Do you control the air flow? Or just turn the blow dryer on? Charcoal doesn't need much air, if you aren't choking the airflow down you probably are pushing too much are.


The more details you can provide the better the answers will be.

ron

its a multistage blow dryer , unfortunately only high and low and no in-between.

The problem i am having is the fact that the coals are falling into the tube and i have nothing to really block it without blocking the airflow.

As for the grill itself , i managed to coat the bottom and walls with "fireproof" concrete (2part portland , 2 part sand , 1 part pearlite , 1 part clay)

I have no idea if this is going to last me long . I would make my own real forge but i dont have any welding supplies or training. Would a small cheap gas forge be better?

I would use a brick on each side a few inches on each side if where the air comes in this will control how big the fire gets and alow a deeper fire. Control how much air comes on by blocking the area the air gets to the fan with tape

Guiltyspark, Charcoal is a little tougher than coal in that there is more info on coal than there is on charcoal. I have for sale a Canedy Otto Charcoal Forge (designed, I'm told, for the use with charcoal), if you're interested. Just PM me if you are. Also, where in MD are you specifically?

Guiltyspark, Charcoal is a little tougher than coal in that there is more info on coal than there is on charcoal. I have for sale a Canedy Otto Charcoal Forge (designed, I'm told, for the use with charcoal), if you're interested. Just PM me if you are. Also, where in MD are you specifically?

bmore county

Look through "Show me your forge" in this forum. There are some brake drum forges that do not take any welding and work great with charcoal. I can burn steel in my brake drum forge with a blow dryer. It sounds like you might be getting to much air, get a dimmer switch or for a few dollars more you can get a fan speed control at a big box store, these will hold up a lot better that a light dimmer. Charcoal needs to be deep to work well. I use a piece of sheet metal with several 3/8" holes drilled in it for a grate.

double post!

Or put in a way to "waste" air. A chunk of expanded metal will work as a grate, will need replacing ever so often but as I get mine from free scraps it's worth it to me.

A couple of firebrick stacked to the sides of that firepit and then the charcoal heaped to the top of that should work nicely.

Remember that forges are basically a hole in the ground that has been lifted up for our convenience, most of the "fancy" stuff was just added for sales purposes!

Another thought has occurred to me. Is the charcoal all a consistent size? And if so, about what size?

Large chunks will allow the air to flow through without doing much and really small pieces will tend to block airflow.

ron

I sent you a PM. Let me know if you want some help, I've been using charcoal pretty consistantly for a while.