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I Forge Iron

Kettle BBQ Forge Hood


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Hi all.

I've gone through many plans of my JABOD forge, (In the amount of time I've spent thinking about it I could've built it 5 times). My main issue is that I wanted a steel box rather than wood, and cannot weld. I've just come into an old kettle barbecue which I'm going to line with fire clay and make into a side-blast JABOD forge (for charcoal).

My plan is to use the lid of the barbecue as a hood (cut in halfish) with a 10" chimney pipe as crudely shown in the sketch attached.

My questions are:

  1. Will the BBQ lid work as a forge hood? One thing I don't really understand is smoke shelves and what their purpose is (I've read through a lot in these forums). Also whether I'll have to block off some of the opening to make it smaller or whether the lid cut in half with a bit of an overhang over the firepot will work without making the opening smaller. (The BBQ bowl diameter is about 22", 7" deep and lid about 7" high)
  2. For the spiral tube, stainless steel is very expensive, while galvanized mild steel is really quite cheap. Is there any easy way to make the galvanized suitable for this as its right over the fire and will burn? I realize airflow should take all the internal gasses outside, but the exterior of the pipe I imagine would still give off fumes. I wish to take NO risks with galvanization if possible, it scares me a little.

20190527_153453.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

I wouldn't spend money for fire clay to line it, just damp garden or ditch dirt works just fine. 

I don't know how well a hood like you sketched would work, it's awfully open to develop much draft. If you just lower the pipe to the dirt and open the side facing the fire you'll have a side draft hood and they are VERY effective.

I'm not fond of putting galvanized anything that close to a fire so maybe find a plain steel box of some description for the close fire section. 

Leaving the existing lid as is so you can lift the stack clear and close the forge completely will go a long way towards fire safety. It's hard for a fire to get away if it's completely enclosed in steel, even if it doesn't put it out it will contain it.

Frosty The Lucky.

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