Most efficient charcoal forge design?

[JZknives]

Putting a hood over it seems like a good idea, but in actuality it increases the heat so dramatically it literally melts steel before you even realize that's what has happened. Keep in mind, you need to read the steel, by the color, (and at night) so when you enclose a coal or charcoal forge and apply air to it you have absolutely no way of reading how hot you are getting your steel.

Also, not all charcoal is the same. I've made my own charcoal, and no way it looks like store bought stuff.

After re-reading your last post about limiting consumption, it all depends on how fast and how much air you apply, but I'm sure you know that. What I do, rather than actually hooding the charcoal with some sort of metal or refactory, is I simply create a hood with split fireplace wood. In other words, I have a firepit of charcoal with two split logs on each side, and then I place one to two spilt logs over the top. You get a very efficient firepit, and one that needs very little forced air.

wish i could visualize exactly what you are talking about

 

[A.McPherson]

JZ, think "oven made of wood". Like building a little house over your coals... Out of split logs.

 

[Whitlox]

any other suggestions?

The Whitlox Wood-Fired Forge is similar to Tim Lively's, but a little more sophisticated-- http://youtu.be/mWw3bRO_ADI

I can't figure out how to get images on here, but you can also see it at whitloxhomestead.com.

 

[JZknives]

The Whitlox Wood-Fired Forge is similar to Tim Lively's, but a little more sophisticated-- http://youtu.be/mWw3bRO_ADI

I can't figure out how to get images on here, but you can also see it at whitloxhomestead.com.

I am going to buy this as it looks really good. how powerful is the "fan" you sell and does it reach forge welding temp?

 

[Whitlox]

I am going to buy this as it looks really good. how powerful is the "fan" you sell and does it reach forge welding temp?

Yes, the blast is a 50cfm light duty fan, and it works fine for forge welding--you may even find that you need to throttle it down because you don't want it blowing your metal cooler. We've used it for forge welding with raw wood. Plenty of dry wood (we use fir), cut to 6" long by 2" square, heaped high, do cover the flame to reflect the heat like they are discussing here. You can use pieces of wood or metal or kaowool for this cover. The V shaped opening at the end of the forge allows you to watch for the metal to match the yellow flame color. You don't want to wet or pack down your fire like you would for a coal fire.