got a forge built

[beaver#1]

well i finally got a forge built. nothing fancy,  made out of a big brake rotor.  i am having some pronlems and thought maybe some of you fine fellows might shine some light.  
1.  fuel,  i have used lumps of wood, and chare coal.  seems to burn up pretty fast. too cheap to hook up a gas burning system.
2.  i cant seem to get my steel hot.  if i do get it hot it takes a really long  time.

[beaver#1]

these are my main problems(right now at least).

[LAR43]

If you don't have something to force air through the coals, you're not going to get the steel up to working temp.

Look up Tim Lively's site & see how he builds a forge. He builds knives from truck springs & uses a charcoal forge.

Larry

[Todd Robbins]

I'll second Larry on the need for a blower of some sort.  I started out using a cheap hairdryer from Walmart.  A good small squirrel cage fan wired to a reostat with a baffle on the air intake to regulate the flow is about the best thing you can get for a coal forge.  I used to use blacksmithing coal, but switched to wood chunks and charcoal because they are cheaper and burn cleaner.  Coal does last longer, though.

Nowdays I use a homeade gas forge for most of my work, and it was pretty cheap to make, really.  A lot cleaner, too.

Todd

[Jeremy]

Funny, my first gas forge cost me less than $15 and is still going strong.  Good for knife work anyway.

Larry and Todd are spot on.  You need a blower of some sort and a way to regulate it.

Proper fire maintenance is an art all in itself.  If you're serious about going that route I recommend picking up a copy of "The Art of Blacksmithing" by Alex Bealer.  You can pick up a new hardcover copy for under $10 on Amazon right now.

[beaver#1]

i have an air sorce(cheap hair blower).  but after talking to some older men around here, they said that it sounded like i didnt have enough fuel in the pot.  im using charcoal right now, but that might change.