So like make rings on it around the edge and work in

Don't know what happened to the picture in the other post.

Oh. I see how you did it. I just picked up a gallon of cat litter and 40lbs of sand

The great thing is, if what you try first doesn’t work, break it out, crumble it up, and start over. 

Im gonna see what me my dad and a friend can do with it. Im gonna get the mold and other crap off of it first. Also whats so wrong with briquettes. I just seen my dad has about 20 bags sitting around

Briquettes are designed to burn slowly and at a low temperature. They contain a lot of stuff that's doesn't burn which is why they produce so much ash.  Also the size, Rehder in "Mastery and Uses of Fire in antiquity" states that the neutral fire zone for a bloomery is 12 to 13 times the mean diameter of the fuel.  If you wanted to do a blade think what your firelay would look like to get that! Also since they are made out of compressed little stuff the forge fleas (sparks that hop out and burn you), are MUCH greater.

They are better than nothing but you could burn scrap wood and shovel the hot coals into the forge and do better cheaper!

Ok. Ill check Walmart for the lump

If you are going the purchasing rout, stores like lowes and Home Depot usually have it. 

Charcoal isn't hard to make either, including just building a raised fire and transferring the coals over to the forge, as one way, as Thomas mentioned. 

Is there anyway to make charcoal lumps without them already burning

Well, you Have to burn the wood to a point then starve off the air to make it into charcoal otherwise. You could look up "Charcoal retort" or "making charcoal" to get some ideas.

You can use charcoal briquettes to make "real" charcoal...

How would one do that thomas?

Well you look up the terms Daswulf has provided you and figure out how to use the briquettes as the heat source.

Experimental fuel is a pain, and adds one more layer of difficulty for the one trying to learn.  I know I know ... the Egyptians made coal with dried out seaweeds and crocodile bones and forged the mask of the pharaoh. ...    well, almost ... I am told.

Seriously now ... about clay or rather mud cracking. Very true. Cracks you can stick a finger in.

How to avoid it?

Drumroll .... taratata tata ... mix lawn clippings from when you mow the lawn with your mud, nice an even in a paste. No more cracks

Oh and poking the grate? Sure it works ... for a while. 

i have a slight problem with getting lawn clippings at the moment. its slightly cold here but its getting warmer. the passed week has been around mid high 50s and its really nice out

Before you go adding clay, consider making yourself a bullet grate, which will help avoid major clinker issues:

 

so i just drill the hole in the cap and put the cap over the holes then put the clay around it

Basically, yes. You want the top of the bullet standing proud of the bottom of the firebowl, so that the clinker can flow out and around it. The problem with having the air hole(s) at the very bottom of the firebowl is that the clinker blocks the airflow as it flows in and down.

Whats clinker exactly. Is it like scale from

the metal

Scale + all the unburnable elements in the fuel; most biomass fuels contain silica for instance + excess flux if you are welding + possible contributions from the forge itself.

Oh ok that makes sense 

Clinker is the impurities in solid fuel ( more so in coal) that don't burn up and collect in the bottom of the fire pot. they tend to block airflow and absorb heat from the burning fuel. When hot they can collect together and be a softer consistency but once cool are usually hard almost like a lava rock. 

 

So do i clean them off after i get done forging 

Depends; with very good coal I get a couple of tablespoons of ashy clinker after a half day of forging. I clean out at lunch and end of day.

With bad coal I get massive amounts of glassy clinker I clean out ever 15 to 30 minutes by stopping the air flow. letting the clinker solidify a bit and then pulling it out of the fire with the forge rake and starting the air again. Learning to remove clinker without killing the fire is done by experience.

If they are not blocking airflow I often just clean them out before getting the new fire started. With the coal I use I sometimes have to kill the air and dig them out then kick on the air again abc continue forging. I don't believe charcoal produces nearly as much.