Good evening everyone,

I am new to the site, and this is my first post. I hope to learn a lot from the veterans here and maybe give back a little knowledge where i can.

Recently I found myself in need of a larger coal forge, so instead of trying to make do with what I had on hand i went and built a full-size forge. The photo was taken before the edging was put on to show her size better. What do you think?? Fire pot is 5" deep and 14"x12" Shes 38"x46"x36" Tall. Also has two built in tool racks. 

The whole project cost me $200 +/- a few bucks. I wanted to post this to get some feedback and to ask a question. I usually use coal but I would like to try my hand at Charcoal. I've used it before but never in a pot this large. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

~ Fox

 

Beautiful job on the forge!  A work of art as well.  Have fun with it.  Post pictures of your work when you get it up and running.

You will be getting loads of suggestions, and you have probably already planned to do it, but a fire proof panel of sorts would be advised behind the forge such as sheet metal, cement board, etc. to ward off errant sparks.

Nice work! I love it. 

For charcoal you night want to make the pot shallower as to not burn as much fuel un neccesarily. You could do that a bunch of ways but simply build up the floor of the fire pot. 

If anything I think I would have sang in the table part a bit to hold extra fuel easier from falling off the edges. Minor thing that could be remedied for such a beautiful forge.  

0welcome aboard from 7500' in SE Wyoming.  Glad to have you.

Very nice work.  I agree with Arkie that you will probably find that you need some sort of a rim to keep fuel from falling off the edges.

If you put your general location in your profile it will be a help.  This is a world wide forum and we don't know if you are in Lapland, Tasmania, or Kansas.  

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

Welcome from the Ozark Mountains. I really like the forge and the tong rack built in. The planned edging could be something simple like the stock used for the tong rack with short sections of 1/4 inch round stock welded on, that will drop into holes drilled in the brick or u shaped brackets on the sides to keep it from falling off, but easily removed if needed.

I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sail’s.
Semper Paratus

 

Not afraid of commitment are you Mr. Fox? I've always thought a masonry forge would be a fine thing in my shop but it's always there, right THERE. It's a beauty, I love it but I have a weak spot for masonry of most kinds. 

I believe the edging you mentioned is a single brick rim around the edges?  If so I'd make it taller on the back end and a little way up the sides to hold more coal. 

Frosty The Lucky.

Thank you all for the positive feedback, the encouragement and the warm welcome!  

Yeah I figured i needed something behind it for safety, might take your advice Arkie and just use a large scrap of sheet metal.  I like your idea IronDragon and i actually have a ton of the tong rack material left over! I was playing with the idea of a removable rail but didn't know where to start! Thank you!!  Good idea George, apologies everyone for not giving a shout out from North Florida  Yeah, I'm committed now Frosty, the forge weighs just over 2,100#s. Same here!! I always wanted to make one but never laid a brick in my life before this attempt. Honestly can't believe it worked haha

Thank you DasWulf for the Firepot tip!!! I will give that a try!! I will be firing it up tomorrow and attempting my first project with it. I will post the results....no matter how it turns out haha

~Fox 

Take a couple pics of that beauty's first fire for us please. An old Iforge tradition being, If we don't see it it didn't happen. 

Frosty The Lucky.

Alright guys! First fire! It is obvious I will need some practice using charcoal haha but it did go better than I had hoped!

Check it out!  

Made a new set of pick up tongs from a RR staple I had lying about  

Are those charcoal briquettes? If that is I'm not seeing things of course. They're bounded with lime and it make for a very dirty not very HOT fire. Lump charcoal is more expensive but burns hot and clean. You can make a retort and cook your own from scrap wood, branches, pallets, etc. 

Nice looking pickup tongs.

Frosty The Lucky.

haha yeah, i wanted to wait till i had some lump charcoal but i had 3 or 4 bags of older charcoal so i figured they would be sufficient for a small test forging  i really want to try making my own lump charcoal! anyone here ever have any success with that??

A lot of the members have made a lot of lump charcoal. There is a few threads about it in Solid Fuels. Here is one I have bookmarked.

https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/59604-charcoal-she-retorted/

I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sail’s.
Semper Paratus

 

That looks AWESOME!!! I might be making this in the near future  Thank you Irondragon!!

I kind of figured you just didn't want to wait to build a fire in that beauty. 

Gee thanks Randy, it's been almost a year since Ohio logged in and now I miss her posts. 

Frosty The Lucky.

I do too, hope everything is OK with her.

I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sail’s.
Semper Paratus

 

I PMed her. Hoping for a comeback, or a check in.

Frosty The Lucky.