Caleba Posted November 16, 2021 Share Posted November 16, 2021 Hello, I am new to this hobby and had a few questions about how to start and build my first forge. What would be the best material to make it out of? I narrowed it down to Plaster and sand mix, firebrick, and refractory cement. Should I make it coal, propane or both? What companies should I look out for for best quality? Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goods Posted November 16, 2021 Share Posted November 16, 2021 Good place to start on the cheap is with the JABOD (Just A Box Of Dirt) thread. (The PoP and sand mix is a no go…) Welcome aboard, David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted November 16, 2021 Share Posted November 16, 2021 Find a fuel that is available in YOUR area, and cheap. Build a forge to use that fuel. A company will sell you anything you want to buy. It is up to you to select the item YOU want and purchase THAT item. The more research and reading you do, the less expensive things become. A 2 pound hammer will do everything you want to do for several years. An improvised anvil will serve you well for many years, or until you are have researched and read enough to know which anvil weight and style will work for the projects you are going to make. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swedefiddle Posted November 16, 2021 Share Posted November 16, 2021 Good Morning, I took an old Bar-B-Que, removed the Aluminum housing and made a V-shaped container that fastened to the Bar-B-Que frame with a 1 1/2" pipe laying at the bottom of the Vee. Use split bricks on the sides, add an old Hair-Dryer to the end of the pipe, drill some holes in the pipe. We used a reostat from the Hardware store to control fan speed, slowest worked best. PRESTO, a wood burning Forge!! It doesn't seem to matter whether you use hard or soft wood, we used scraps from around a table saw. We were Forging, 15 minutes after starting the first FIRE. This is making and burning Charcoal at the same time. No Secret!! Simply Mahvelous, Darrling!! Neil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 16, 2021 Share Posted November 16, 2021 Basically you are asking: "I need to buy a vehicle; what's the best one to buy?" without telling us if it needs to carry 16 people; or 16 tons of gravel. Does it need 4WD? Should it be able to cross open water or even reach the international space station? Hard to give a good answer isn't it? So lets start off with; Which of the 100+ countries active on IFI here on the world wide web are you in? Even where you are in a country can make a difference with fuel availability. When I lived in Ohio, I primarily used coal: Sewell Seam Bituminous, beautiful stuff. Living in New Mexico I now use primarily propane as I can't afford to ship that coal out here. Charcoal, lump not briquette, has been used as a forge fuel for over 3000 years----but you need to build your forge to use it rather than coal. Some places you can access coke for smithing. Plaster of Paris and sand means you have run across an idiot on the internet. PoP starts to degrade at about 1000 deg F *below* forging temps so it's like building a house out of ice bricks in Florida! If you are in the USA; look up your local ABANA affiliate and attend some meetings you will learn a LOT faster and SAFER f2f than over the internet. (And if you want to go propane there are detailed instructions on how to build the burners and the forge on this site written by folks who actually know what they are doing and have been doing it for *years*!) If you are near New Mexico; give me a PM and I can direct you to local sources for training and materials. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted November 18, 2021 Share Posted November 18, 2021 Eliminate Plaster of Paris from ANY forge you build, it is worse than useless. It can actually be dangerous. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caleba Posted December 28, 2021 Author Share Posted December 28, 2021 Just finished up my first attempt at making a forge and had a few questions about how to make it hotter because it barely got the steel hot enough to glow. Do I need better matrials,materials, techniques and stuff of the nature. Contact me for more in depth information Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted December 29, 2021 Share Posted December 29, 2021 Not enough information to give a reasonable answer. What kind of forge for starters, what kind of materials? Where are the pictures? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted December 29, 2021 Share Posted December 29, 2021 Caleba, I’m not sure we’re you are located? if your close to Stilwell Oklahoma and you want to forge with coal then you can come over to my shop and we will build you a good working coal forge! If your somewhere else then you might want to update your profile to let us know where you are, that way someone locally to you might extend you the same offer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caleba Posted December 29, 2021 Author Share Posted December 29, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, Irondragon ForgeClay Works said: Not enough information to give a reasonable answer. What kind of forge for starters, what kind of materials? Where are the pictures? My email is email removed per tos it will be a whole lot easier to talk their and the pictures I took don't like this forum very much. Edited December 29, 2021 by Mod30 Excessive quoting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted December 29, 2021 Share Posted December 29, 2021 Have you read this it explains a lot about using the forum may help with your pictures. READ THIS FIRST Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted December 29, 2021 Share Posted December 29, 2021 (edited) I apologize for my misunderstanding your post, Edited December 29, 2021 by TWISTEDWILLOW Misunderstanding Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted December 29, 2021 Share Posted December 29, 2021 I thought he meant his pictures didn't like the forum, like he can't upload them. Really Caleba we do want to help you, just need more information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caleba Posted December 29, 2021 Author Share Posted December 29, 2021 (edited) It's a relatively small forge about 14 inches long 8 inches tall and wide. It's made of plaster and sand with a hole all the way through about 1 inch tall and 3 inches wide it has a well at the bottom for holding charcoal and is being fed ozygen with a shop vac. Its being fueled with "barbecuing" charcoal. My problem is it either not getting hot enough or not retaining heat very well. I put a piece of mild steel in today for about 10 mins and it just barely glowed and cooled down in about 15s. Do you think it's the building material, the fuel, or my lack of experience. Check this about quoting... The quote feature Edited December 29, 2021 by Mod30 Remove excessive quote. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted December 29, 2021 Share Posted December 29, 2021 Mostly the material and fuel. Charcoal briquets are not very good for forging, lump hardwood charcoal is better and plaster and sand are not the best for a forge. With charcoal a shop vac will supply too much air so you will have to find a way to control the amount of air. If you are having problems uploading pictures these threads will help with that. https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/64594-unable-to-upload-photos/ https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/67970-adding-photos-from-a-cell-phone/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caleba Posted December 29, 2021 Author Share Posted December 29, 2021 (edited) i do have a way to regulate the air it's out of view in this picture put it's a pvc vqlve Edited December 29, 2021 by Mod30 Remove excessive quote. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted December 29, 2021 Share Posted December 29, 2021 Sorry but a hole in the ground would make a much better forge than that. Plaster of Paris is NOT an insulator and starts to degrade about 1000 degF below proper forging temperatures. Whoever suggested you use Plaster of Paris doesn't know squat about forges; I'd disregard anything they say. Briquettes are *engineered* to not get very hot. There are ways to use them but plain lump charcoal has been used for forging iron and steel for 3000 years now; so it's a lot easier to just use it. Japanese swords and Viking era swords were forged with lump charcoal! (You can make your own for FREE!) The depth of the fire will need to be such that you can stick the workpiece horizontally into the neutral/reducing part of the fuel stack---yes the workpiece gets buried in the fuel stack for a solid fuel forge. In cold weather it helps to preheat your anvil and forge too! (Of course if you are in Australia or Chile it's the middle of summer!) Stop by tomorrow and I'll let you use one of my forges to get an idea of how they work! Have you looked at a JABOD as a cheap starter forge that WORKS! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnut Posted January 5, 2022 Share Posted January 5, 2022 Welcome aboard, be safe, and remember it's supposed to be fun. Pnut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.