Hello,
I tried using my "forge" today for the second today. I really don't know much about blacksmithing, just what I read from a popular mechanics magazine and from this site for the past couple of months.
It took me an 1hr. to light penn coal blacksmith coal and then it seemed to burn real fast. I used about 4 lbs of coal in 20 min. without getting piece of 1/2 rebar glowing red. Is this normal? My first attempt was with hard coal used to run a steam engine. It took over an hour to light the hard coal and then it only smoldered, so I broke down and bought the penn coal.
I lined the forge with a layer of coal, built a wood fire and then turned on a hair dryer for a blower and fed in more coal. Is there a better way? I could not get the hard coal lit with an oxy-actelyene set up.
The forge I am using is a brake rotor set into a pizza pan on an old aquarium stand, looks like a 55 forge.
So, my questions are how do you light coal? How much coal do you use at a time? How do you pack coal to form a bee hive? How can you tell if you have enough or too little air being fed to the fire?
Also, are there any smiths near Wilmington, Delaware that would mentor me.
Thanks,
Karl
