CNC-Fireman Posted February 9, 2020 Share Posted February 9, 2020 Hello all! So I have never forged before a day in my entire life. But, I have been watching this show on the history channel for a long time called Forged In Fire. I was quite fascinated with the metal working. I’ve also watched some folks forge from a coal forge and so now I have decided that I wanted to make myself a coal forge of my own and give it a good try. So, for the past week or so on my spare time I cut and welded my very own coal forge that did not cost me a dime except the materials on my property that was just laying around. I have never made one before so this was quite an experience that I think turned out well. The only thing is is it is extremely heavy. I still do want to add a few more fire bricks soon. I hope this new forge I made will work out so if anyone has any suggestions please let me know and go easy on me with my weld work. I’m a better wood worker than I am a welder, HAHA! Thanks everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted February 9, 2020 Share Posted February 9, 2020 Well, as coal Slag sticks to fire brick like glue there may be a problem off the bat. My suggestion would be to go to a blacksmith supply website and look at commercial fire pots. Typically they list the dementions, and as your pretty fare with a welder you can duplicate one. Then the fire brick become the top of your hearth. myself I am not a big fan of the bottom blast forge and would normally encourage you to go that route, but you have the bottom blast tuyere already built Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnut Posted February 9, 2020 Share Posted February 9, 2020 Are you planning on using coal? I know you said coal forge but when people are new that is a catchall term for solid fuel forges. As Charles pointed out coal slag is going to stick to your bricks. It will work fine for charcoal or even feed corn. You have the skills to weld a proper firepot for coal. It looks like a pretty simple project to make a firepot if you can weld. Good luck and keep us posted. A ducks nest might help but it's clay also so same problem, but it's easier to remake. Pnut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyBones Posted February 9, 2020 Share Posted February 9, 2020 What is the chain for? Pics of the fire pot, looks as if you covered it with the fire bricks. Littleblacksmith a couple days ago put up some pics of brake drum forges he just finished making. They are over in the "what did you do today" thread. May have to go back a few pages but i would suggest finding them and taking a look. Brake drums and the "top hat" rotors make decent fire pot but they have a tendency to burn the bottom out. Ask your local mechanic if he has any he would be willing to part with, i know my shop has a huge pile of them just sitting in the corner. Good luck and welcome to the club. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CNC-Fireman Posted February 9, 2020 Author Share Posted February 9, 2020 (edited) 9 hours ago, Charles R. Stevens said: coal Slag sticks to fire brick like glue Yea those are old fire bricks I had on the property for the chimney so I’ll look into what your talking about. I’m still new to this so any suggestion is welcomed. I’m having a hard time trying to find just a regular blacksmith store rather than getting stuff online but I’m afraid finding what I need online may be my only option. I can always repurpose the forge to fit a different dimensions so that’s no problem there 8 hours ago, pnut said: Are you planning on using coal? Yes sir, I’ve always enjoyed a good challenge so I thought I should start with just green coal/solid fuel. I can make a gas forge easy but that’s easy, haha. This thing I made here took me about a week to make. I didn’t know about the slag sticking to the bricks so I think I’m going to look around for a fire pot like Charles said. Thanks for the advise bud! Edited February 9, 2020 by Mod30 Trim excessive quots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CNC-Fireman Posted February 9, 2020 Author Share Posted February 9, 2020 (edited) 8 hours ago, BillyBones said: What is the chain for? Well it’s irrelevant to the forge, I just forgot to take it off. This whole thing is extremely heavy so I messed up by welding everything on top of some saw horses I had in my shop. I have to start with it being upside down then as I got the legs and pipe welded on I ran into an issue of getting the thing off the horses without dropping it to the floor. So luckily I had my hoist just above it and I used that to get it off and then to the ground. Thanks see if I can hunt down the thread and read over that. I’ve seen some videos on YouTube about folks using the brake drums as fire pits. Mine tho, is just a flat surface with a 3 inch hole for the air flow and I just have the bricks setting on top of that. So I think I have the right concept I just need to tweak the design a bit to fit the fire pot. Edited February 9, 2020 by Mod30 Trim excessive quote Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnut Posted February 9, 2020 Share Posted February 9, 2020 A ducks nest made out of sand and clay might not be as apt to get slag stuck to it as a bare firebrick. I haven't used that method before so you may want to get another opinion first. When I burn coal in my jabod I made sure that I had plenty of wood ash in the firepot and it seemed to help. Pnut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyBones Posted February 9, 2020 Share Posted February 9, 2020 If i may offer a little tip on posting. You do not have to quote the entire post. Just left click on the relevent part, or parts, and a little box will appear that say "quote selection" .It will then quote just what you high lighted, like copy and paste. The reason i say this is that many of those here are in far off countries that do not have the bandwidth and the like that we have here. Some are still using dial up. Anywho, the mods kind of frown on it. The only real difference is the tuyere is attached to the drum and a hole cut to fit the drum in the table. Would not be hard to modify what you have to fit any style fire pot you go with. I am a mechanic by trade so i use the brake drum/rotor becuase they are free for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted February 9, 2020 Share Posted February 9, 2020 Welcome aboard... If you are in Carrollton AR, you are just down the road from me and are welcome to stop by my shop. I always suggest reading this to get the best out of the forum. READ THIS FIRST It will help you stay off the moderators radar with many tips. PS, You will need a way to control the air blast from the hair dryer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 Just keep clinker and ash between the bricks and the coal fire. They look and work good as a hearth. As others have said, adobe can be molded to make a fire bowl , a ducks nest in the case of a bottom blast. Literally you want a bowl about the size of your two fists nested together plus about 2” deeper. Adding some coal or wood ash to the 1/3 clay to 1/2-2/3 sand mix keeps the clinker from sticking. The mix isn’t hyper critical tho, most subsoil will get you started. A quick bit of playing in the dirt can help you get your fire going wile you learn before building something permanent that dost work well. One commercial fire pot is 11”x9” and 3-1/2” deep having sloping sides and about a 4” square bottom. This should get you started. Myself I prefer side-blast forges and can throw one together pretty fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 These are good plans for a bottom blast fire pot, I've used several forges with them and when I have to rebuild mine I will be using one. http://www.bamsite.org/firepot.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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