Glad you got it harder this time. One of the problems with your heat source may be that it sounds like you are just building a plain fire. It needs to be a hotter fire than just some charcoal in a grill, or some burning wood. You need to pipe some air into the bottom to make the fire hotter. A very simple forge can be made from an old truck wheel rim, brake dru, wash tub, etc..
Here are some simple plans to give you the idea::
http://www.anvilfire.com/index.php?...m&titleName=anvilfire.com Blacksmithing FAQs
http://64.176.180.203/washtubforge.htm
Will Levitt posted this a couple months ago:
.... my first forge was an old barbecue grill I found on the side of the road, it was one of the rectangular shaped ones. I made the clay/sand refractory and made a "v" shaped lining. The air pipe ( called a twyere) was a piece of 1 1/2" black pipe that had 1/4" holes drilled every 30mm in the part that would be under the fire. I put an end cap on the end opposite of the air input end. Make sure the pipe extends out at least a foot or more past the "forge" body so you won't melt the air supply hose. Use some old dryer vent hose or wherever you can find ( PVC pipe?) to connect the pipe to the air blower. You can use a hair dryer or something similar for a blower. When you put in the adobe, just cover up any extra air holes that you don't need. You can make the adobe fire pit the size you need that way.....
( I edited some of Will's post to make it clearer)
Some people have made an adobe forge in a hole in the ground. It will have to be re-made each time that way, so making it in some sort of tub, wheel rim,old BBQ, etc. will be a better idea.
As you can see, the basic principal is a depression in some sort of refractory clay. The air is piped under the charcoal ( bets to use real charcoal, not briquettes) and this makes the fire hotter. The heat is regulated by how much air is piped in. An old electric hair dryer will be enough for a small forge.
There are many recipes for adobe, but the basic one is clay, sand, and ash - mixed into a thick mud. The clay is the type of sticky grey stuff you find in a river bank or a big hole dug in a field. The starting mix is 1/2 of clay,and 1/2 of sand, add to this mix about 1/10 of of ash. Mix with enough water to make a very thick mud. Spread this about 8cm thick to make the forge lining, and let it dry well.Build the first fire small, and without any air from the blower. This will let the adobe bake and get it ready to use .
回头见
Stacy
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