I have heard that people used to make forges (both portable and stationary) out of wood and coat the inside with clay. Would this be safe to actually use?:confused:

About 35 years ago I made a wooden forge and lined the bottom with fire brick. The air source is a pipe mounted vertically, capped at the end with a slit in the cap. It worked OK but you run the risk of the wood accidentally catching fire from a stray spark or the air pipe getting too hot. Once in a while one hears about someone's shop burning down. My goal has been to eliminate flammables whenever possible from the forge area.

I've made a couple of forges from wood and they work fine but you really need a thick layer of clay (3" min) from any flammable surface. It also works well to use a piece of steel plate around the fire pot and then construct the rest of the forge bed, body and legs with wood.

It would be a great project BUT I don't think I would use it as my everyday forge.

I use one like that for my main one just the bottom is steel sheet.. the wood burns at the bottom, other than that it hasn't burned down ( I only forge maybe 3-4 times a week on a good week).

ya that will work well heres a sorta video of my first forge YouTube - forge tour

why not give it a go? I made a side draft forge hood out of metal studs and drywall, the guys laughed when they saw it, until they watched it draft every bit as well as their metal ones, whatever works!! I may give it a try, no clay around here that I know of however, you know of any in upstate New York??

There's some good info here:

Wooden Forges

Don

Thanks for the good info! I think I'll get to making a portable one soon:D...

It'll do if you get the lining thick enough. Granpa just used dirt in his since clay wasn't handy. Sweany made one with river clay and it cracked. No big deal except at the end of the day he loaded to go home and when he pulled in an hour later, his forge was mostly gone, embers were in the cracks and lit the wood while driving.