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I Forge Iron

Working on my first forge. A question or dozen.


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Straight sand will blow out of the forge when it dries. 

Don't get fancy plain old dirt works fine and is affordable to replace if it gives you problems. Everywhere is different, what works here may not work there. Beware of specific recipes they can be very location specific. Charles's is popular because it has a high probability of working without too many problems. My suggestion of 3-4 pts sand to 1 pt clay is just a starting point though I recognize now it has issues. I line my cast rivet forge with whatever comes out of the ground sifting out pebbles. I shape and control my fire size with fire bricks. 

A clay forge table and pot isn't a precision instrument it's a depression in dirt to hold and control a fire. Yes?

Frosty The Lucky.

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Frosty will blow the charcoal out of the fire pot as well, lol

Being from the southwest I think in terms of Adobe, Frosty thinks in terms of road base. A simple jar test will tell you what you have as far as mineral soil (the stuff under the good top soil that lacks organic material) put a hand full or two in a jar (I find about a third full works) and fill about two third with water. Shake and let stand 24 hours. It will settle out to a layer of sand, then silt and finally clay on top. Anything over 10% clay will work. Making bricks one wants 20-30% clay and 50-70% sand. The addition of wood ash helps keep the slag from sticking and stabilizes the clay (keeps it from taking up water) dry sweep and kitty litter are made from an expansive clay, but you can mix sand and clumping cat litter any were from 2-3 to 1 and put it in a bucket with a lid with a bit of water and make passable forge Adobe (not house brick tho) 

to further complicate maters one can mix clay slipand perlite or vermiculite  to make a light weight fill for a mobile forge topped with regular clay or abode mix. This isn’t for insulation unless your making a bread oven...

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I made the mistake of overthinking it the first time I built a jabod. Any clayey soil will work. I don't usually even add sand but I think I got lucky with the local soil. I'll be building a new forge in a few days when I get back from a music festival. My last MARKIII type grill jabod got thrown away mistakenly by the guy who cuts the grass. I'll post some pictures when I get back and have a day off. If it's not raining. 

Pnut

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I've been back since Sunday night but it's been hotter than a twenty dollar pistol outside so I haven't gone outside unless absolutely necessary. When this heat wave breaks I'll make sure to post a pic of the new forge Turby. 

Pnut

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