Just a box of dirt, or a simple side blast forge

[ThomasPowers]

Would it be worth while?  Yes No Maybe depending on information you haven't shared.  Do you need a large forge for your intended projects or is this like buying a dumptruck for your daily driving car because you might need to haul a load of gravel somethime in the future?

[Glenn]

The red cart is just a stand or table on wheels. Build the JABOD so it fits on or inside the red cart, NOT as part of the cart.  The cart just makes the JABOD convenient to move inside when your finished, and the fire is out.

Quit trying to complicate simple. JABOD is just 4 sides, a pipe, and some dirt. It is a proven design that works.  

[JHCC]

Make an ~8” tall open-bottomed wooden box that fits just inside the rim of the cart. That will give you enough dirt under the fire to protect the cart, and you can always remove the JABOD later to modify it or convert the cart to some other use. 

[Glenn]

15 minutes ago, Glenn said:

JABOD is just 4 sides, a pipe, and some dirt. It is a proven design that works.  

And you really do not need the 4 sides, just use the actual ground and squat down. Soon you will add the 4 sides and move the ground forge up to table height so you no longer have to squat. Everything else is the same. JABOD is a ground forge raised to a continent height to be used. 

Quit trying to complicate simple. 

[Charles R. Stevens]

For charcoal in a steel box 3” will work just fine. 

 

[Exo313]

On 2018-06-08 at 12:36 PM, Glenn said:

JABOD is a ground forge raised to a continent height to be used. 

Shouldn't the ground forge be at continent height, making the JABOD a supracontinental forge? 

[ThomasPowers]

Depends greatly on the continent; out here I could take one to the continental divide and even eat pie!

Wikipedia: "The center of Pie Town is 2 miles (3 km) west of where US 60 crosses the Continental Divide,"

and yes there were several places selling pie last time I went out that way.

[Zeroclick]

On 21/05/2018 at 6:56 PM, Charles R. Stevens said:

The loose fill is cheap cat litter (bentonite clay) as sand melts to form slag.

Hi,

I just want to check when you say about the cheap cat litter is it bentonite clay or calcium silicate. I only are because I was looking at what is for sale in the UK and it is all made up of the calcium silicate. Would this have any effect or should it still be ok to use.

[Charles R. Stevens]

I don’t think the calcium silicate will handle the heat. Perhaps check with your livestock fed dealer, as it is used as a feed additive. It is also used to waterproof ponds.

[Tyler Cech]

Alright, so to Clay or not to Clay? Should I use Clay or kitty litter I can’t seem to find an answer on which is better. I’ve seen people use both. I want to make knives and possible reach temperatures or forge welding. What do you all suggest?

 

[Glenn]

We have red clay and some yellow clay locally. I have used both with good results. Kitty litter is a clay. 

There is no perfect way, just what works for you.

[JHCC]

The question isn't to clay or not to clay: it's whether you want a rigid firepot of fixed size and shape or fill that can be reshaped for each different job. The difference between those two isn't so much the clay content as it is the moisture content when you're adding and shaping the fill.

[Charles R. Stevens]

Honestly, about a foot down under your feet is mineral soil, typicaly it’s is a mix of clay, sand and silt in some proportion. It will all work for a forge.

[ThomasPowers]

There are several formulations of Kitty Litter and one of the common ones in the USA is clay.  If you don't have that where you are and don't want to dig your own,  check into "oil-dri" as they have a clay based product. (or similar product; car repair shops probably have it by the 40# sack for their own use...)

You are very correct in ALWAYS checking the label on things you want to repurpose manufacturers can change formulations at will when something looks to be cheaper or makes a better selling point.

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

Need cheap clay? Check with a pottery studio, or school ceramics class. Many have a large container of garbage clay that they end up tossing. Woodfire clay bodies are cone 14+ in some cases and porcelains are cone 10 which is considered high fire. 

[Tyler Cech]

alright, I think i'm going to try to find some good clay by the river by my house. If not, I'll try buying some kitty litter or something like that. Thanks for your help guys and gals! 

[Tyler Cech]

So, I have been sweeping through the forums and have found that most people suggest a dry clumping kitty litter. Is there a certain brand that works well? I’ve been trying to figure out which brands use bentonite Clay and which ones don’t. I just don’t want to buy the wrong stuff.  Thanks for any help you can give me!

[Charles R. Stevens]

I buy the cheapest non clumping or oil dri/dry sweep. The clumping stuff can have smelly goods and silica jello that probbably won’t play nice with your lungs when heated. If your forge will be protected from rain and cats just dump it in dry, scoop out a fire bowl and go to work. It will vitrify and clump but as ash builds up that will stop. 

[DuEulear]

On 1/12/2016 at 3:38 PM, Frosty said:

You mean the neighborhood litter box? I think that idea stinks!

Off topic i know 

someone said the same when i put in my kids sandbox years ago as tgere where many strays in my verry urban neiborhood at the time....... 5 years never a cat poo to be found.

tore out the sandbox when kids where grown put in an urban chicken coop. I had to kill 8 racoons in the first year to protect my 5 birds. Suddenly there where stray cats all over my yard where i never saw them before lol.

I need to build me a forge like that btw

 

Du

[RyanD]

Thank you Charles for the inspiration to get started for little cost. It made jumping in much easier. I'll likely fiddle and modify as I become better acquainted with my needs, but this was mostly built with stuff laying around in my garage and shed. I did fire it up today, and worked like a charm. Will be looking to put together some more equipment as I hunt down some deals at the scrap yard and on CL. 

[Charles R. Stevens]

Your welcome. That what’s my hope in starting this thread

 

[ThomasPowers]

With an attitude like that---you'll go far in this craft!

 

And some day folks will start marking their charts to deal with the magnetic deviation that occurs around your place...

[Chelonian]

Hopefully it's okay that I'm reviving this thread.

 

Having been advised by some that my current forge may not be ideal,  I have started looking into the side-blast variety. In this thread, it has been mentioned that clay or sand can be used as the filler stuff for the box. I don't really have access to natural clay, so I would have to buy it as cat litter. I do have quite a bit of sand left over from a previous project though, so I would like to give that a try. My question about that is, how does the sand not just collapse in on the hole?

 

Also, I have an old unused charcoal grill (the old round kind) that is still pretty structurally sound. Would that make a decent substitute for the box?

 

Thanks!

[JHCC]

To answer your second question first, Yes. Should be fine. 

To answer the first, sand on its own tends to be a bit loose, but as you continue to use the forge, ash from the fire mixes with the sand and makes a mix that stays in place somewhat better. 

An old trick is to put a tin can in front of the nozzle of the tuyere, pack a lightly moistened mix of sand and ash around it to form the bowl, take the can out, and build your fire. Once the bowl is filled up with burning fuel, the sand can’t collapse inward. 

[Frosty]

The clay sticks it together, just don't make plaster out of it when you put it in the forge. Just damp enough to ram hard is perfect, this prevents shrink checking as the water evaporates out, think dry mud puddle. If you use kitty litter mix it about 15% - 20% by weight, close is good enough this ain't a rocket. Dampen the sand down and mix thoroughly then seal it in a bucket, plastic tub or even a plastic garbage bag and just let it set overnight or longer. Kitty litter, the cheap clay type is usually bentonite and that's one clay that LOVES water but it takes time for it to dissipate throughout. This is why it clumps in the litter box, one area absorbs the wet then seals itself off as the air dries the surface. Closed up the moisture spreads evenly throughout. 

10% water is WAY wet, 3-4% is almost mud but works well enough.

Sure old BBQs are common forges they even have wheels if you lucked out on dump day. You can even pile dirt on an old wooden table and scoop a forge out of it. A couple few inches of dirt will disperse the fire's heat enough it won't light normal flammables, say a wooden box. A little common sense should do the trick BUT if you have questions ask. We'd rather rib you a little about a maybe silly question than read about a tragic house fire in the papers.

Frosty The Lucky.