I only have about another day or so worth of work on my forge and was thinking before I start the whole priming painting bit if there aren't some good ideas for attachements that might be nice on a coal forge. This way I can add them before I shoot paint.
I have a rack below and on the side of it but since i've never used a coal forge I don't really know what kinda handy accessories or things might be nice to have on it. It is basically a firepot inside a very stout bbq. I'll show pics very soon.
Should I build a hammer/tool rack? hooks to hold a quench tank? or something else? I'm just wondering who here finished a forge and then went back and added something that i may have missed
far from an expert on this but the only tools you really need at the forge are a drip cup, tongs for the steel and a hook to pull out klinkers and push the coal around. Everything else should be over by the anvil.
Sean Powell wrote:far from an expert on this but the only tools you really need at the forge are a drip cup, tongs for the steel and a hook to pull out klinkers and push the coal around. Everything else should be over by the anvil.
Yep. Shapes the fire/hot area as desired, and saves some fuel for a bit later when the heat dries the dampened coal. Works better than trying to pull the fire apart -- where'd you put the coals you don't want? Also, some methods of making oven-like shapes of the coal end up being stuck together by getting tiny bits of coal wet and sticking them together like building sandcastles.
I'll take some pics tommorow. The coals I am not currently using I can just store inside the forge and the ones i'm buring actually go into the firepot. The drip cup as suggest I can use just in case the fire were to spread out of the pot. Anyone have a good idea of how deep the fire engulfed area of coals should be 2"? 3" ?
Note that all 3 of Alexander Weyger's books have been released in a single book "The Complete Modern Blacksmith" about US$20 and my favorite getting started book as he has a real scrounge or make it meme going on.
If your forge is on wheels it makes it a handy place to stick stuff.
My traveling coal forge has a removable rack to hold 2 hammers and a bunch of tongs. It's built so it arcs away from the forge to keep things "cool".
When I was using Poco 3 coal I pretty much never used water on it. With the stuff I get out here it gets soaked in a bucket before using.
A real handy thing to have is a "third hand" for long stock. A very traditional way of making one is to have it hinged to the body of the forge with a leg wrapped around the middle loosely. It hangs down along side the front or back until needed and then you pull it up and adjust the leg to hold it up.
I've never painted any of my forges and tend to add on stuff as I feel the need for it.
Thomas
Yep, my teacher's is set up as a side draft. (www.beautifuliron.com). It works really well when built with brick as a permanent chimney. It's good to see someone using coal - most people seen to want propane.
Welcome to Des Moines....This is what death is like.
It would work with out the shelf inside.
A butterfly valve is nice but optional.
Be sure to light a rolled up newspaper and vent the flame and smoke up the chimney to start the draft.
This will keep it from smoking up the place.
Hal
Ps: I used your extra flat wide modified vice-grips tonight.
Thank you for the fine tool.
Interesting use of small angle iron and a welder.
I used them to hold tabs as they were given a ground radius on the 2x72 belt sander.
Halberds wrote:It would work with out the shelf inside. A butterfly valve is nice but optional.
Be sure to light a rolled up newspaper and vent the flame and smoke up the chimney to start the draft. This will keep it from smoking up the place.
Hal
Ps: I used your extra flat wide modified vice-grips tonight. Thank you for the fine tool. Interesting use of small angle iron and a welder. I used them to hold tabs as they were given a ground radius on the 2x72 belt sander.
60grit.
sweet i knew they would come in handy sooner or later. I have to make myself a pair.
For people who don't know what in the world were talking about they look like a much stronger version of these
okay here are some precursor pics. I still want to add a small hammer rack, some hooks for holding quenching tanks and hanging tools and perhaps an overhead hood.
*Note that I don't have the circular disc installed at the bottom of the pan which will have the holes drilled in it and then the grill will sit ontop of that circular disc.
Who thinks I should put a small visor over the front to direct the smoke and exhaust into the shelter? Also if I do that I was thinking of welding on or making a removable attachement for a smokestack flu. Is this necessary? Will it help keep the smoke out of my face?
Also kinda off topic, i was just wondering if you get more carbon content from a coal forge as opposed to a gas forge?
As you can see I made some sliding shields that expose open sections so I can push stock right through the center and heat a specific area of whatever i'm working on.
Avadon wrote: Also kinda off topic, i was just wondering if you get more carbon content from a coal forge as opposed to a gas forge?
Do you mean for carburizing? It depends very much on the CO2 level in the gas that hits the metal. You will want that very low and that can be done in a coal forge with low airflow and in a gas forge with low air/gas mix.
My take on your forge is that you will want to use the front slide door almost all the time. Have you considered cutting away the whole front?
Avadon wrote: Also kinda off topic, i was just wondering if you get more carbon content from a coal forge as opposed to a gas forge?
Do you mean for carburizing? It depends very much on the CO2 level in the gas that hits the metal. You will want that very low and that can be done in a coal forge with low airflow and in a gas forge with low air/gas mix.
My take on your forge is that you will want to use the front slide door almost all the time. Have you considered cutting away the whole front?
I considered cutting away the whole front but then thought I can't exactly store cole in it easy if I do that. Unless I cut out a huge amount of the front and rebuild a gate, but if it's always open then why bother with the gate idea.
Side draft flues work very well and are almost the "standard" in the blacksmithing community.
OTOH my travel forge does not have any flue---I try to set it up so the smoke doesn't blow my way and I have learned to hold my breath when it eddies. When I get the coal forge addition to my shop built---hopefully this fall *all* coal forges in it will have side draft flues!
As has mentioned carburizing is mnore a function of the fuel/air balance in whatever forge you use . I can run a charcoal, coal or propane forge fire carburizing or oxidizing.
Some propane forges are harder to adjust to carburizing due to poor design of their burners; others are easier to do than a coal or charcoal fire.
OBTW there was a typo in that post it's CO not CO2 that makes for a reducing fire. So if you tend to work in a reducing fire VENTILATION is MANDATORY!
My smithy right now has 2 10'x10' roll up doors, one on either end of the normal wind pattern out here and they BOTH go UP when I'm using one of my propane forges.
Thomas Powers wrote:Side draft flues work very well and are almost the "standard" in the blacksmithing community.
OTOH my travel forge does not have any flue---I try to set it up so the smoke doesn't blow my way and I have learned to hold my breath when it eddies. When I get the coal forge addition to my shop built---hopefully this fall *all* coal forges in it will have side draft flues!
As has mentioned carburizing is mnore a function of the fuel/air balance in whatever forge you use . I can run a charcoal, coal or propane forge fire carburizing or oxidizing.
Some propane forges are harder to adjust to carburizing due to poor design of their burners; others are easier to do than a coal or charcoal fire.
OBTW there was a typo in that post it's CO not CO2 that makes for a reducing fire. So if you tend to work in a reducing fire VENTILATION is MANDATORY!
My smithy right now has 2 10'x10' roll up doors, one on either end of the normal wind pattern out here and they BOTH go UP when I'm using one of my propane forges.
Thomas, smithing for 27 years now.
So do you think I should bother with constructing a side draft flue for an outdoor forge like this? Or is it just not worth the trouble. I was wondering also about just placing a metal fan at the rear of the shelter like in a square metal box to pull the smoke away. Maybe that would be easier?
Well it depends on your particular needs and environment.
Since according to Dante the abyss is characterized by strong swirling winds (2nd level?) I don't think any flue system would work well there.
Personally if it was easy to do I'd do it as any help is an improvement. The curved back piece looks like it will try to funnel smoke right towards you unless you remove it somehow.
If you weld another bar close to the ones on your "handles" of the forge it would make a hammer/tong rack built in.
what welder did you use for this project? there is a slightly odd look to your project. also is the base stock mild?
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Thomas Powers wrote:Well it depends on your particular needs and environment.
Since according to Dante the abyss is characterized by strong swirling winds (2nd level?) I don't think any flue system would work well there.
Personally if it was easy to do I'd do it as any help is an improvement. The curved back piece looks like it will try to funnel smoke right towards you unless you remove it somehow.
If you weld another bar close to the ones on your "handles" of the forge it would make a hammer/tong rack built in.
sha-ul wrote:what welder did you use for this project? there is a slightly odd look to your project. also is the base stock mild?
I used oxy/acet for some of it and then went back when I had my Tig and did a good deal of it. The clean stuff is tig the messy stuff oxy/acet. The bbq was mostly either formed mild and I didn't bother taking the paint off/stripping before welding cause i'm to lazy. But everything will hold, i'm not worried about the looks, as long as there are no sharp ends or burs. I'm going to hit the whole thing in black bbq high temp paint.
Thomas Powers wrote:Well it depends on your particular needs and environment.
Since according to Dante the abyss is characterized by strong swirling winds (2nd level?) I don't think any flue system would work well there.
Personally if it was easy to do I'd do it as any help is an improvement. The curved back piece looks like it will try to funnel smoke right towards you unless you remove it somehow.
If you weld another bar close to the ones on your "handles" of the forge it would make a hammer/tong rack built in.
Thomas Powers wrote:OBTW there was a typo in that post it's CO not CO2 that makes for a reducing fire. So if you tend to work in a reducing fire VENTILATION is MANDATORY! .
Not really a typo, but i know what you mean, CO is the carburizer, and there will always be lots of it in any forge setup. But if there is also a modest amount of CO2 it will instead decarburize the steel.
Can someone tell me what kind of hole pattern I should use on a Tuyere? I just drilled 4 equallateral 1/4" holes near the center and a fairly good amount of hair blows through them when I tested it. Is that enough or should I make a second or third pattern of holes to get a wider area the air will get to as opposed to just the center?
Either type of side draft hood will work. With my wider forges I will be doing a "traditional" side draft and have a hinged piece I can let down when first starting the fire.
I picked up two 10" diameter 10' long pieces of spirial seamed vent pipe at the restore for US$4 a piece to use for the chimney. Having some height to the chimney really makes these hoods suck! They work by having a good updraft to pull the smoke horizontally into the box..
As for grating: I generally use a cast iron drain grate or some expanded steel for a grate---lots of air space; but then I am using a hand crank blower so less pressure than electric. Also I don't want an extremely hot oxidizing blast right in the center of the forge a receipe for burning your metal. I want a more mellow generalized hot fire for most of my work.
Thomas Powers wrote:Either type of side draft hood will work. With my wider forges I will be doing a "traditional" side draft and have a hinged piece I can let down when first starting the fire.
I picked up two 10" diameter 10' long pieces of spirial seamed vent pipe at the restore for US$4 a piece to use for the chimney. Having some height to the chimney really makes these hoods suck! They work by having a good updraft to pull the smoke horizontally into the box..
As for grating: I generally use a cast iron drain grate or some expanded steel for a grate---lots of air space; but then I am using a hand crank blower so less pressure than electric. Also I don't want an extremely hot oxidizing blast right in the center of the forge a receipe for burning your metal. I want a more mellow generalized hot fire for most of my work.
Thomas
So does that mean a tight pattern 2.5" around is too tight? It seems like the grill might dissipate a lot of the direct blast. I guess i'll know when I fire it up. My Tuyere is hookable and removable so I can always add more holes, less fun to plug lots of holes with the welder.
*EXACTLY* you need to fire it up and tweak it to suit your needs and working style.
Don't think of it as a turn-key item but something you will tweak and remake over time. My current Demo Forge firpot has been in 4 different forge bodies so far and I'm about ready to build #5.
