Hi guys. My name is Justin. Been interested in blacksmithing a while now. A few years ago I was fortunate enough to come across a great deal on a forge and anvil. Not long after I started tinkering I ended up having to sell my stuff due to losing a job but Im slowly getting back into it. My father and I built a great looking forge last week. Have a big chunk of steel as an anvil at the moment and should have a "real", if you will, anvil within a month. Just wanted to say hi and hope to get to know you and look forward to learning

Nice; though I would have mounted the brake drum from underneath to get rid of the lip around the firepot. 

One of my forges uses the expanded metal grate too.  I sometimes have to remove it and hammer it to remove the fluxcicles 

if I've been doing a lot of welding in it.

I was thinking about that. I can simply take the bolts loose and the brake drum will unbolt from the plate that holds the drum and airflow pipe together and lift out. I might change that.

Justin, nice looking work.

If your grating burns out, several have suggested other types; plates with holes, grates, screens, etc..  The cast iron drain grates I tried out burned out pretty quickly. Here's one type I'm using now.  Made the ring from 1/2" mild steel square bar, diameter same as drum ID.  Straight bars are 1/2" square bars, welded with 1/4" gap.  I just drop it in the drum.  It's heavy enough to not have to secure with bolts or welding.  Has been working fine for quite a while now.  Easy to make and replace if it becomes unusable, which I don't foresee anytime soon.  If an inside bar burns up, just cut it out and weld in a replacement.  Better than cast iron which is not easily welded.

Thanks arkie! That looks great. Thank you for the idea and pics!