stuartthesmith2

and some shortcuts are epiphanies

I "store" my ten tons of coal in a big pile outside my shop. I sure hope it never spontaneously combusts, lol. Just kidding. Coal is virtually indestructable

somewhere between 1 and three dollars a pound, contingent upon condition

the guys in uniform look like prison guards...............possible that this was a trade training section of a prison?

looks like a good deal on a 200 lb peter wright on craiglist My link

cincinatti craigslist heads up My link

I personally would forge weld a bigger damascus billet, then use the damascus as the material for the tang.............lol, why complicate life?
I have forged many damascus blades, and have never ever forge welded a blade to a seperate tang,,,,,,,,,,,,,too much trouble!

at the bottom of each exhaust pipe, I have a t-connector with a cleanout. The cleanout consists of a cap, which I remove to clean out the bottom of the exhaust pipe. No rain water accumulates inside the pipe because they are always hot, evaporating any rainwater. Excellent question, though!

each exhaust pipe is 45 feet high. If you use similar exhaust pipes, make sure they rise at least four feet above the peak of the roof, to allow the turbines to catch wind.

I love hay buddens, I have four of them!!!!!!!!!!they range from seven hundred pounds down to 95 pounds

my philosophy is "in for a penny, in for a pound"...........I have used a 700 pounder for three decades, and LOVE IT!

At the factory where I served my apprenticeship, they had a 75 pound fairbanks. These hammers are excellent, one of the most well made that have ever been manufactured in america. Like a timex, they can take a licking and keep on ticking!

Thank you for the closeup pic...............this is EXACTLY what I use!!!!!!!!!!!! Those turbines could suck the hairs off a peach!

An Iforgeiron visitor to my shop remarked that he didn't smell smoke in my shop. I am posting this topic to explain the lack of smoke in my shop. If you look at the forge pipes going up the side of my barn/shop, you will see at the top of both smokestacks turbines like you see on the top of exhaust hoods at restaurants, which act like sails,catching wind and creating a vortex inside the pipes which suck the smoke right up the pipes.

thank you, I didn't know that................to err is stuart!

nice looking craigslist tripphammer(misspelled in advertisement) My link

oopsMy link

los angeles craigslist bargain anvil

horn to the left!

my bradley 75 pound upright helve

beautiful 402 lb anvil on craigslist at a good price indeed! My link

In this forum, I have discussed why I have zero smoke in my shop. I decided to take pictures of the turbines at the tops of my flue pipes. Each flue pipe is 45 feet tall, running up the side of my barn. The pipes are held in position by spacer rings that hold the pipes approximately 9 inches from the sides of the barn, to prevent my barn boards from catching fire. I haven't breathed any smoke in my shop for 33 years! I hope these pics will help folks installing coal forges from inhaling coal smoke. Good Luck!

I went hog wild this weekend with a camera, taking more pics of the triphammers in my shop. The 75 pound bradley pics I have posted before.....I took a pic of my 150 Lb. Williams and White, which is similar in design to a Champion. Enjoy!The bradley pics are on my profile.

I took some pics in my shop this week, of my anvils. The larger one is my 700 lb. Hay Budden. The smaller pic is of my 400lb. Fisher. Having never been abused, both of these anvils are in excellent shape, even though I have been pounding steel on them since the 1970's. ENJOY! The pic of the fisher also shows the tail end of my 300 lb. Peter Wright.

dragon, because the turbine at the top of my stovepipes is 12 inches in diameter, and the 45 foot high stovepipe is also 12 inches in diameter(my shop is in the basement of a huge cowbarn), a turbine that big draws the living daylights out of smoke, even though the pipes rise 45 feet high. After two right angle bends of this 12 inch pipe reach my cowl, believe it or not, the front of the cowl is approximately 30 inches above the forge, and it still draws like a vaccuum. "drawability" of a forge-cowl-stovepipe setup seems to be solely contingent upon how big the turbine is at the top of the pipes. Make absolutely sure that the turbine rises at least 3 feet over the peak of the roof. If you want, next week, I can take pictures of my stovepipes going up the side of my barn. One more thing.....my stovepipes are held by brackets up the side of my barn which have 8 inches of clearance from the side of the wooden barn, because they draw so well, the stovepipes get HOT!!!!!!!!!!! This precludes the pipes getting so hot that they catch your barnboards on fire.