I would like to make a coke/coal forge

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Bo T

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Feb 12, 2011
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I have my old gas barbeque grill that I have decided to use to make a coke/coal forge.

I have seen a number of designs but I am unsure what type would work best. I have several cubic feet of vermiculite and a couple of bags of kitty liter (clay). I might have access to some high temperature fire blanket (2300 F). The design with the clinker breaker and ash dump looks great for utility, but a little tough on the fabrication part (for me). The simplicity of a pipe with holes drilled in it is appealing, also.

Things that I am shooting for (sort of in order); efficiency, weight (portable would be nice), durability, construction time, and cost. At this stage, everything can be modified or changed (except the coke/coal part). Heck, a used one might come up for sale (but the last one I saw with a blower was well used and the seller wanted $350 for the antique!).

Anyway, thanks in advance. :)
 
Do a search for the Tim Lively Tub Forge. That could probably be modified into a BBQ forge.
 
I will chime in on this one because I have been using charcoal recently. I have a brakedrum, and a reasonably large one I think at that. It doesn't work well for largeish knives. Small knives would work, but the biggest issue is that you are making a round fire for a thin, long piece. I am working on a smaller version of a tim lively forge and it works well.
 
bladsmth said:
Do a search for the Tim Lively Tub Forge. That could probably be modified into a BBQ forge.
Click to expand...

This is one of the designs that I considered. But, it seems to be designed as a charcoal burner. How well will the tuyere last burning coke/coal? How difficult is it to clean the fire box (get rid of the clinkers) while forging? Also, is having refractory material in the fire box as important as it is with the gas forges?
 
bladsmth said:
Do a search for the Tim Lively Tub Forge. That could probably be modified into a BBQ forge.
Click to expand...

This is one of the designs that I considered. But, it seems to be designed as a charcoal burner. How well will the tuyere last burning coke/coal? How difficult is it to clean the fire box (get rid of the clinkers) while forging? Also, is having refractory material in the fire box as important as it is with the gas forges?

Sorry for the double post.
 
For my charcoal forge i started with an old grill. lined bricks along the side (normal bricks, not firebricks. You may have to replace them every once in awhile but mine have held up fine.) cut a hole at each end of the bottom and ran a 2 inch pipe through. I drilled holes throughout the length of the pipe, plugged one end, and attached the other end to my shop vac. It costed me a whopping 0 dollars and it works great. I'll post picks if you need them. I'm going to upgrade to propane though because making/ buying charcoal gets old after awhile.
 
Thanks Stacy and Danimal6513. The Tim Lively tub forge looks to be a near ideal adaption for my old gas grill. The fire box will be @ 12" x 18" and with a fire brick covering up part of the tuyere I can make it 12" x 12" the depth with 2" of liner in the bottom will be @ 4".
 
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