Hello every one, I was wondering if some could help me with my problem. I was using the forge earlier and after about 5 or 10 minutes the holes on my fire pot were totally plugged up. Now I haven't had this problem before, well i have but not to this extent, so I'm thinking its this new fuel I'm using which I got yesterday. And if its not then what could be causing it and how can i avoid it in the future. Any help would be appreciated thanks. The 4 holes at the corners are 9mm and the smaller ones are 6 or 6.5 mm.

small holes, not enough holes

So what size should they be, and how many

fill it up with holes, try 1/2". You could just block off enough of the hole so the coal doesn't fall through. Make a grill out of  small round stock, or

grind the flare off of valves and use the stems, weld with SS rod, years of service  

I've had the most luck with slits or bars, as opposed to holes. Make them too small for the coke to fall through but large enough for the ash to fall through naturally.

One problem with the holes is the taper is on top. This means the holes get narrower as clinker falls into them. they need to be narrowest at the top so anything falling into them will just fall on through.

 

Using a bar grate seems to be a more efficient and easier to clean air grate type. With holes you find yourself with a thin diameter tool trying to poke each hole. takes a long time, sometimes you can get away with scraping it with a rake but. . . . Using a bar grate gives a nice even blast, keeps the coal/coke/clinker on top but without blocking the blast, taper the bars so they're wider on top and anything falling into the grate falls on through. Cleaning a bar grate is as easy as scraping it with the point of a rake or shovel. Just run something along the spaces and it'll knock the dross on through.

 

Bar grates are also a LOT easier to make, just cut some stock and tack it over the air vent in the Tuyere with a gap between bars. Easy Peasy.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

Thanks for the replies, I have made the holes larger but still had trouble to get a good fire going so I'm going to try the bars tomorrow, that seems to be the most popular

on my portable forge my bar grate drops into a recess so when scraping or poking around in the fire it can't move. But I can lift it out when  finished with the fire and the knock any stuck pieces out from either side. only a small 90 x 75mm grate out of 10mm square bar.

 

I know I probably not explaining it properly but hope it helps someone.

My fire box has a plate bottom with two slots 3/8 inch wide that has been doing a good job for me. If it begins to plug up I reach in with a poker and clear it out; the simple clinker breaker.

I use expanded metal for a grate.  When it gets completely blocked it's time to re build the fire  so I take it out and hammer it clean and drop it back in.

Fuel makes a BIG difference!  I've forged a day with great coal and had two teaspoons of clinker; with bad coal I've had it clog the grate before the fire was even ready to use.

Mine is shaped like the letter "S" or "N" from a piece of round stock lots of air flow and easy to pick out the clinker.

This my new one, but I think I might have to make the space between the bars a bit smaller. I think the problem is partly this new fuel I'm using its small peas of coke so I think there falling in the gaps and previously the holes and blocking them up. It's 10mm bar with 5mm space in between them.

Picture of it here