Here is the progress of my first forge. Ill update it as I go.

Materials:

Recycled Freon tank

2 1 1/2X 1/8 steel flat bars 25" long

1 1 1/2" black iron tube

2 sheets of 1" kaowool or inswool

itc-100

5/8" kiln shelf

Heavy duty fire bricks

Hybridburners 1/2" Shorty or 3/4" T-Rex burner (tbd)

This is the freon tank post handle and valve removal. Used a hack saw and some prying, it was only spot welded in a couple locations. The outline has been drawn for my front opening 2" in from the outer wall.

I'm hoping the kaowool will line up nicely.

Here is the front cut out. I drilled out a starter hole then cut it out with a jig saw and polished up the sides with a grinder

This is the tank after I have burned off the the paint and hit it with a wire brush. I really like the brushed steel look but am still going to paint it with black high temp rustoleum.

To punch out the burner mount hole I traced the black iron tube, drilled and cut with a jigsaw then ground down to a nice circle. The fit was a little tight so I had to spend an extra bit of time on grinding.

I hand bent the 1 1/2 X 1/8 steel with a vise mostly by eye. The shapes work out pretty well, and I like it having a low wide base. Its also aesthetically pleasing to me, its starting to look like a forge! Now for finding some welding help...

I forgot to post when I put together the burner mount so here it is after it was welded onto the body. Its made from some 1 1/2" black iron plumbing pipe. I was a little concerned the T-Rex wasn't going to fit

because of the larger circumference tip it will work out just fine. I wire brushed it up, drilled and tapped 2 sets of three holes all equidistant around, cut off the threaded ends, and chamfered the corners.

Here she is all welded together! I dropped her off at a welder on the other side of town, gave him a outline of what I wanted done (feet on distal ends, just before the curves and the seams of the burner mount and the body to line up).

He charged me a reasonable 25$ (or maybe he ripped me off, I'm new to this sorta thing). Today my VHT flame proof clear coat showed up so Ill most likely paint it tomorrow. Hopefully it won't change its look too much, but if it does I'll throw up another picture. I'm just starting the process of ordering the T-Rex, and should check around town for insulation suplies next free day I get.

Something interesting happened when I was curing the VHT.. I would have preferred it as just a clear coat but this works. Just before painting I decided to open up a window in the back so I can fit longer stock through. Barring any back pressure problems with the more than adequate T-Rex, I will just block the rear window with kaowool and a kiln brick when not in use.