I have been way to quiet lately so here's what i've been doing.
I finaly got my own forge running! I installed it in the cultural workshop "r10". I'm doing my aprantis ship period for my metalsmithing education here. on the left you see our power hammer. the man in the picture is my curent master(he's good!).

I'm building a gas forge right now, but one thing I'm not sure about is what the CFM parameters for a forge blower should be. The forge I'm making is a tube forge based on a modification of Tim Zowada's design. 12" dia. steel pipe 12" long, 1 1/4" insulation lining, refractory blanket wrapped, 3" x 4" doors at both ends. The gas and air inlet is side mounted toward the top of the cylinder. I need something I can consistently holding welding temperatures with.

Does any body know if it's possible to build a little shelf inside a forge that doesn't melt/disintegrate? I'm looking to get little pieces off of the bottom of the forge to make it easier to pick them up with the tongs. I used fire brick from a ceramic shop which worked pretty good, but they slowly started to break apart and crumble. Any ideas?

I'm planning construction of a small forge with a friend inspired by this one

http://ronreil.abana.org/minifor1.shtml

by Ron Riel. In researching Kaowool, I can't find a source for all the technical specs I want. For instance, what is the practical difference between #6 density and #8 density? I've ordered some ITC 100 for another project and plan on using it to treat the Kaowool inside this forge as well, but I've seen reference to needing something like ITC 200 to coat the "wool" first to toughen it up ...others make no mention of any need for such. Can anyone point me to a good source of info on these questions?