Yes you can melt aluminum with it--there's a foundry attachment for just that. We haven't tried copper, but I'm doubting it.

I use raw wood in my brake drum forge. It's hard to get coal down here in Louisiana without having to order it which is an expense I would rather not incur. So my alternative is raw wood. I have plenty of trees and ready split fire wood for my fire place that I can process down smaller for the forge.

between heats while you are hammering, is it better to turn off the blower so that more wood can turn to charcoal and to consume less fine fuels? I was using 2x4 pieces on my first go around with some smaller chunks interspersed, but it seemed like my coal bed would disappear over and over and I would be left with a large gap in the bottom under the burning wood. This led to very long heat cycles and I was never able to get my metal to yellow heat. Any advise?

@lindseyzacek5211

6 жыл бұрын

Jon Durfee I Forge on a wood fire myself... Trick is to use ash Birch Applewood or hickory for best heat

Could I use this for smelting aluminum? Or maybe even copper ? Thanks,... greets.

Do you think that this forge could achieve enough heat to weld steel?

@Whitloxhomestead

8 жыл бұрын

+themusic928 Yes, it can. You need a deep fire with plenty of fuel that is in the charcoal state, and something to reflect heat back down (can be a piece of steel or wood or kaowool.) But yes, it is possible to reach welding temps with it.

Could i use coal in it?

@Whitloxhomestead

8 жыл бұрын

+Kevin Scurlock You can, but it isn't optimized for coal. There is no clinker breaker, so you'd have to break any glass out manually, and it may mar the brick lining. But if you wanted to add some coal to your fire, you could do that--especially if it were a very clean burning variety.

@getoverit4887

5 жыл бұрын

The best coal to use in it would be anthracite because of the lack of clinker. It burns hotter than bituminous, but that creates clinker.

Have you tried making your own charcoal?

@Whitloxhomestead

8 жыл бұрын

+Timberjack Thompson Yes. Charcoal works great, if you want to take the extra step.

@getoverit4887

5 жыл бұрын

In my personal experience making the charwood/wood lump coal burns up faster than just using raw wood

@lxmzhg

5 жыл бұрын

I make charcoal with a simple method I devised. I have a wood burning stove which I keep outdoors. I fire it up & get it really hot, then I close off all vents so that the fire will smother. The residual heat inside continues to heat up the wood, turning it into charcoal. I get a really good yield this way.