Yesterday I fired up my first forge for the 3rd time yesterday, each time using bituminous coal.  I know the firepot is shallow, and maybe a too large in width and length (Depth 1.5", base 8"x6", top/opening  11.5"x10")  so I am looking for recommendations to remedy my forge situation.

 

My first attempt was to pile coal and try to keep steel at least 5 inches from the bottom of the firepot; I burnt nearly everything because I let nearly everything get to low (2-3 inches from the bottom). For my second attempt, I made a wire frame above the firepot as a visual marker to keet the steel ar or above 5" and thereby outside of the oxidization area. Yesterday I put a parameter of bricks around the firepot, effectively raising walls to 5 inches.  This worked much better, so the only times I burnt anything was when I failed to recognize a large clinker had formed.  I do think that the brick solution increases the effective size of the firepot to much, and it limits cokeing of the coal outside of the firepot and maks it difficult to pull in new coal/coke into the firepot. 

 

I think the best solution, besides buying a new firepot, is to build a clay duck's nest that reduces the volume and has an external ramp for feeding new coal/coke into the fire pot.

 

Please let me know if my idea is good, or if you recommend another route. 

 

   

You could cover the entire table in bricks. That would make it easier to coke the green coal. You want about four inches of coke under the work and about two above. You need to figure a way to bring the walls of the firepot to that height the bricks seem like they would work, but If they're concrete pavers they may spall. You might be better off with clay bricks or hard firebrick for the firepot. Then fill in the rest of the table with bricks or even clay from the backyard. You could also fill the whole table with clay to bring the depth of the firepot to about four or five inches.

Pnut (Mike) 

OK, I took and modified the advice.  I built a fence to the hight of 4 inches above the bottom of the firepot. I then built a ducks nest, also to a hight of 4 inches above the bottom of the firepot. Unfortunately, the skills I mastered while making hidious, asymmetrical crap out of clay in school a few decades ago did not transfer to the duck's nest. I fired it in place by burning firewood over it. I should have baked it in the oven on low to ensure all of the moisture was driven out before firing at high heat, that would have prevented it from exploding into a thousand pieces.  

I think I will just try it with the fence, keeping the outer coal wet. At least this will help keep the coal from falling off of the edge. I believe this setup is similar to Roy's forge (Youtube channel Christ Centered Ironworks, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXwqMpSYsCI), but I have an electric blower.

Hopefully during my leave the next two weeks of leave the weather will allow me to try some forge work done. I will keep you all posted, Thanks for all the information you have provided me.  

Remember your workpiece needs to go into the fire pretty horizontally and not at a steep angle. Be sure to form your forge/firepot to allow that.

ThomasPowers,

Please correct me if my thought process is incorrect. Assuming that the fire is properly maintained, the ideal location to heat steel is about 4 inches above the bottom of the fire pot, with a few inches of coal covering it. Since the fence top is 4 inches above the bottom of the firepot, this should make it so the steel to be heated should be able to rest on the fence while parallel to the ground. Am I missing anything?  

Also, do you see any advantage in using the bricks to "extend" the firepot as in the first set of pictures?

Yes you are totally missing it.  The proper location for heating stock is *generally* in the neutral or reducing zone of the fire which may be 4" or 12" or some other depth depending on the fuel, air supply, type of grate, shape of firepot, etc and so on. THERE IS NO ONE SIZE FITS ALL!

(I had to say generally as I have used an oxidizing fire to create very heavy scale that when removed left a surface texture I wanted on a a piece I was forging.)