Forge Build Day One

Base & First Course

First I needed to lay out the fire brick.This was to get some idea of the real size. I had sketched it before I got the bricks to get an approximation of the number of bricks.
It immediately became apparent that I needed to cut the brick so that I could stagger as many seams as possible. I split a few cross wise and a couple length wise. I used my tile saw. A dry cut skill saw blade could be used or you could use a brick set.
A brick set is a wide flat cold chisel. Once good shot with the hammer and most bricks snap pretty cleanly. If you are using a brick set I recommend that you use it on a flat hard surface. The idea is to keep the force of the cut as linear as possible. If the brick is stressed in other directions the crack will travel in the direction of the highest stress vectors. 

Tile Saw Used To Cut Bricks

Next it was time to cut some steel. I happen to have some 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 angle iron handy so I used that. I got it for a storage project in the garage. I got this at Granite Expo in Emeryville on Hollis. They have this great selection of all the basic steel shaped up to about 4 x 4 tube. They also have sheet, expanded metal, and a bunch of those cast shapes for fences if you like that stuff. I don't.

Angle Notched At Corners

Here is how I notched the angle iron after I cut it to length. I could have mitered it, but with the saw I have, that's not a good option. I'm doing the cutting with a carbide steel cutting saw in a standard 7 1/4 inch DeWalt circular saw. I've used it for probably 25 feet of cutting. So far so good. It is starting to get dull. I think I went too fast on the angle iron. Getting these saws too hot is the death of them. So going slow is key.

Base Frame After Welding

Base Course In Frame

After that I welded it all together. I had some plate handy so I used that as a support in the middle where the bricks will come together. At this point I fit the bricks back in the frame. They were tight so I had to trim a few more. I trimmed bricks I had not cut before to make for more straight seems. The bricks are slightly rounded as they come.
That's it for the day one. This all took about five hours from getting out the tools to getting cleaned up. Next will be adding some vertical corners and sizing up the lid.