Forge Design

[iammarkjones]

Hi everyone,

    I have done a ton of lurking, searching, and general google searches and up till now Ive had no luck with my question. I have a forge I built before I retired it is basicly a square box 24" X 24" and 4" deep. The air feeds from the bottom via a 6" pipe and a squrill fan repurposed from a central air unit. I can post some pictures tommorow but its already dark here. My question is; because I went a little larger than i needed to on the actual box size would I benifit from using clay or refactory cement to form a smaller more concentrated cone in the center of the forge? I have looked at a ton of designs both flat bottom boxes like mine and the traditional more cone shape. Think it's worth the time and effort? It works great now as is. I just can't help but wonder if I am mising out on something even better. 

Thanks in advance for any advise.

[Glenn]

No one said you could only have one forge.

 

What they said was you could have one "first" forge to use while you built the others. Build it and then modify it to your liking.

 

Remember that working blacksmiths have developed the "standard" forge design over many years of trial and error. That forge design does the variety of work they needed it to do at the time when THEY were using the forge.  The forge from 1500 is different from the forge from 1700 and different still from the forge of the year 1900. All work, even the simple hole in the ground.

 

Mud is your friend. You can easily make any shape forge and fire you want for the project at hand. 

[Frosty]

Sure you can, make it how you need. This is made a lot easier by not making a first go a permanent one. Ram damp clay into the table leaving a depression over the air grate. Let it dry and go to work. It'll work just fine, like a shallowish hole in the ground. Put wheels on it and viola you have a portable hole!

 

Of course you could set a brake rotor or drum over the air grate and pack it in with damp clay or. . . .Just don't expect to get THE perfect forge first go, or second or . . . You'll always be thinking of something just a little bit better. It's who we are.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

[ThomasPowers]

Knowing how you plan to use it could help---a knife forge profits from a different design than one for ornamental scrollwork

[VaughnT]

The description seems to indicate that you have a flat-bottomed forge with a grate over the air entry, but are considering something like a rectilinear pot like is seen on a lot of forges.  Either one is fine for working.

 

The "cone" shaped pot does help to concentrate the fire, but you can do the same in a flat-bottomed forge by wetting the surrounding coal so the fire doesn't migrate outwards.  The easiest way to do this would be to line the bottom of your forge with an inch or two of fire cement/dirt/clay that's formed into a shallow dish or bowl centered over the grate.  

Or, you can buy a proper fire pot from centaur forge, etc, and simply drop it into the forge body that you have.  Depends on how you want to go at it.