srrwhistletalker

David, i work at a coal fired power generating plant. I tried using some of the coal I scooped up....it burns very hot and cokes almost immediately but it has a lot of sulfur and smokes like crazy. A frend of mine bought a house that was once heated with coal and has a bunker full in his basement.its been there for years and its free so he and I moved a 5x8 trailer load (there are several more loads!) It is aggrivating to light,I have to use lighter pine kindling so start it. It burns clean and hot but refuses to coke and leaves very little ash but has lots of clinkers....hey,its free! Mr.Reynolds, as soon as I figure out how to post some pics,I'll send you some...electronic devices and I dont get along sometimes.My hands are more suited to tools. It tickles me that some smiths regard these littlt forges as usless or toys...i find this hard to swallow because they sold a boat-load of them back when. my Granddad was a blacksmith by trade in the 1920's and did a lot of farm smithing and probably farrier work too. He passed before I was born. My Dad had all his stuff in an old barn and it slowly walked off as the years went by. The only thing I have left is a Buffalo blower. It works very well but needs new legs. I just found out my new Peddinghaus #12 anvil will be here tomorrow! It'll be a busy weekend...one more night shift and I'm off for the weekend. Thanks for the help,Brothers... Dave

Jim, that sounds pretty close. I had the leak on the underside of the pan due to the broken bolt loop. It will look somewhat janky but it can be fixed with an oversized washer and a new bolt. The grating on the top side appears to be somewhat warped and allows air from the blower to excape around the sides. It dosent seem to create a problem unless I crank the blower hard to get the fire real hot...It starts to lick flames 6 to 8 inches outsidew the center of the coke. I'm still learning and really need someone to teach me good fire fundamentals. So far, what I have learned is by trial and error. Its good to see that there are some folks that still tinker around with these old small forges! Thank you, Rob, for your reply as well. Dave

Hello! I am new to the forum and to blacksmithing in general. A co-worker had his grandfathers Champion #75 ag/rivet forge and acouple of Buffalo blowers. It only took me a year or so to talk him out of them. After forging some ornamental items for my wife, I decided to tear the forge down and give it a once -over cleaning and inspection. I replaced the legs with some 3/4" black pipe and welded some feet on the ends. While working the blower, occasionally, I would get a waft of smoke around the bottom of the pan. I noticed that one of the bolt hole loops is broken and not allowing the tuyere to seal against the bottom of the pan. I took the tuyere off and cleaned it, the pan, and the distributor/grate. as soon as the weather dries up, I'll shoot a coat of paint on them. Is there supposed to be any refractory that helps to seal the three together? The grate doesnt sit flush against the bottom of the pan and allows air to escape underneath it. Has it warpped from the heat or is this normal? I hadnt noticed any problems while firing other than the smoke leakage from underneath the pan when green coal was raked in. Does anyone know what model blower fits this forge? Thanks for your help, Dave