IronFist

Afternoon everyone- I'm in the Charleston area and need to know if there is a closer source for smithing coal to home than Centaur Forge. I don't have a bad taste in my mouth from buying from them, it's just the cost. I spent more in shipping from Wisconson than the xxxx bag cost! Maybe a place in N. Carolina? Thanks and have a good day.

Thanks for all of the recommendations from everyone. I nipped it in the bum by routing the flue straight through the roof. Havnt had the same problem again. I do still have a bit of smoke when adding green coal, but its my first coal fueled forge and I've to teach myself how to properly use it. Thanks again!

I could possibly enlarge flue diameter pending cost. I'm using the blacksmithing coal from Centaur Forge. Would anyone recommend a straight through the roof flue versus one with bends?

Have you thought about preheat coils for tubing? I used to rebuild trash incinerators for a living and when we had to repair the feed header pipe, we would wrap it in industrial ceramic coiling. They manufacture them to plug into a 220 welding machine or hard wire into the circuitry of a building. I've also heard of lower voltage ones too, but have never seen any. I do not recall a brand name, but an industrial welding supply/ rental business may be able to help or at least point you in the right direction. Good luck!

Seems to be a very formidible blade. Very good work on both blade and scabbard.

I know this has probably been asked/ answered before but I cannot find anything on it here. I lit my first fire in my coal forge this morning and it burned great with heat escape thru the flue but it got extensively smokey in the shop. Bad enough to have to walk outside. The dimensions of my forge are: depth-27" front to back
width-24"
hieght-32"
depth from center of firepot to rr wall- 12"
flue diameter- 6"

The 6" flue pipe rises up 8" and then immediately turns 90 degrees to exit through the wall penetration, 90 degrees up to the stack cap. I can see that the start smoke and heat are escaping fine but once the fire really starts to catch or I have to add green coal, it smokes the xxxx out of me. Is it going to take time to "burn-in" or am I doing something wrong?

Like the aforementioned, it did die down once the coal got going hot and I forged 4 table legs fairly quickly. But when I loosened the heart of the fire and placed fresh coal around, it smoked again.

But, does that fire burn hot!! A lot hotter and forge temp was reached a lot faster than my blast forge. Thanks for any help.

In my years of welding I've had countless flash burn from either repair in a tank, boiler system, TIG welding in a superheater system alongside 4 others doing the same to just welding in the fabrication area on night shift. Thank the gods I do not have to do any of that any more. Anyway, the potato trick does work although I've never used it. I've also heard from a fellow weldor that one can put a thin layer of vapor rub over your eyelids. Havent used this one either. But I will say with any sunburn you can run hot water over it to take away the sting. Close your eyes in the shower and run the hottest water that you can stand over it but be careful, the eyes are sensitive to aftershock of this( pain in the eyes due to heat, which is what your trying to get rid of).

OR..... you can find a pretty cool doctor that will "turn his back" while the ponicaine is on the table.

Or just think about what the xxxx you are doing before you do it! Once you get in a rush, that is when you can screw something up bad.

Thanks you guys for help. Many answers I was looking for. This will not be a portable forge though. I forgot to mention that. The flue/ hood will be piped up and through the wall of my shop.
Material used:
Firepot- 1/4" plate; 12"x 14" overall
Pan and table - 1/8" sheet- 24"x30"x3" deep
Hood/ flue- 1/8" sheet

I 've a fellow blacksmith that I work with and he provided the firebrick to me for the hearth and back lining. And I'm currently seeking a blower/ motor assymbly if anyones looking to sell. The tuyere iron will be a pipe fitting that I have to hunt down. Its hard to find people in Charleston that know what the xxxx I'm talking about. I've yet to come across more than 5 folks who actually know what smithing means. Thanks again for the help and if anyones else has comments, please share!

I just built a coal forge and have a couple of questions.
1- Is the firepot lined with refractory or kept bare metal with refractory supporting it?
2- My hearth pan is 30" x 24"x 3" deep. Would I line all of this with refractory sloping towards the cutout under the firepot?
Anyones help would be appreciated.

This is rediculous! Watch out they may say that hammers are or could be considered weapons too.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll attempt what works best.

Afternoon Gents- My forge has not been as productive as usual, and I believed it to be the weather change. Its cooled down to only about mid 50s, and my tank is freezing up VERY rapidly. I thought it may have been the tank sitting on the concrete floor so I elevated it with wood- same problem. Then I kept it in a basin with warm water- same problem. The only way I can get it to produce enough heat is to shake the gas and it will run heat for about 5 mins and then back down.Any problem solvers have any answers for me?

Sven- those are quite the beautiful knives. How long did it take you to get the basic techniques of forming damascus? Are the wood handles precarved or did you shape them? Indiginous wood or ordered from some where? Thanks for sharing!

Guten tach und Willkommen Sven! The people hear are great at advice and helpful hints/ problemsolving! Hope to see some pics of your work.

I think that is awesome to be able to be that close to nature. Great photos, thanks for sharing!

Once again, you guys here are fantastic with the responces and information! All of your help is greatly appreciated and maybe I can offer some help in the future.

That sheds alot of light HW, thanks brother. I dont necessarily mean blowing material awy, but theres alot of pops and fireworks. Is that typical? If its to look like TIG, I just need some practice then, I'm xxxx good at that! I also forgot to mention that I'm using a number 3 tip. Is this too big/ too small?

I've only welded with gas a few times and I've some simple questions.
1- Is the flame supposed to whistle/ blow fairly hard? I believe that my flame is blowing my material all around. My result is fairly good, but it boesn't look like an arc bead, which brings me to my next question.

2- Is the bead supposed to look like an arc weld bead, barring my in-experience with this? I can arc weld like theres no tomarrow, but this seems to be a bit complex.

3- And last, the flux I'm using was sold to me by the guy at the local hardware store up the street and it says 'tinning flux'. Am I not supposed to be using brazing flux?

Thanks for listening!

Dan- I either use a dishing stump as frostfly mentioned but I also raise it using a forming stake that is a 5" solid steel ball ( various sizes at that) that I welded onto a 1 1/4" square stock, clamp in the vise, heat your material and shape away! Either is easy to make- out of the woods or from the scrap yard.

Evening fellas! There is a source from California named Sur-Fin Co., I believe. They carry all sorts of chems for metal. Faux bronze/ brass finish, ferric chloride, things like that. surfin.com, I think. Or sufinchemical.com maybe. Hope this helps.

Man, you guys are great!! All this info is fantastic. Keep it coming and THANK YOU!!!

I've also read of adding metal shavings/ filings to the weld to assist in the bond. Is this true? Does anyone use this procedure with any luck?

Thanks everyone for your responses. This helps out alot. I never realized that 20 mule team brand could be used. I have a gas forge, will this hinder the moisture evaporation as Torin and Rick stated? I adjusted my forge( previous posting) and it gets to a good heat for welding now.

Skunkriv- thanks for the link to Superior. I couldn't remember the manuf. names at all. Thanks again everyone.

Whats the better anti- borax to use for forge welding? I'm just learning to forge weld and I want to buy a can. My full time smithing job went right in the can yesterday:mad: and I can't remember the name of the one I used at work.

I agree with irnsrgn, but once you burn a few hundred rods, you will get your own feel for amperage considering your travel speed and thickness of material. Some people weld a bit faster/ slower than the other - nothing wrong with that at all. It's what works best for you, brother! Good luck.