coal forge supplies

[tim pion]

Hi, I am building a forge but we are stuck with the air supply.
we want to make swords and axes so, our forge quite big.It is made in stone, 1m on 1m with a concrete plate at the bottom.(I just don't have enough room to make something bigger)
on the concrete we put some clay just to protect the concrete from the heat.

in the concrete there is a hole for the air supply.
now my question is... what ventilator do i need for the air supply how many pressure do i need?
do you think the forge is good enough?
and how do i have to make a grate for the air supply?
i ve seen a forge where the air supply grate was a ceramic round stone with several holes in it but where can i get such a thing?
I tought of a metal plate about 1cm thick with holes in it.

tim

[Bob Warner]

I would not make a forge out of stone and concrete. Neither can take the heat. Your concrete could explode if there are air pockets in it.

I would think twice before proceeding with this design using these materials.

I am assuming you are making a coal forge. You can use metal for the bottom. The grate can also be thick metal with holes drilled throught it.

[tim pion]

but the flame will be on the grate and the concrete will be next to the fire, below the clay
do you think the concrete will get hot enough to explode???

[Bob Warner]

Concrete can explode, not really likely but it will crack and fall apart with that much heat. It is your call but with my experience, I would avoid it.

I made my coal forge bottom out of 1/8" mild steel sheet and it lasted five years before finally rusting through. Read the coal forge tutorial I did that is posted in the "How To" section and see if that helps any.

[tim pion]

thx

tim