ThorsHammer82

When I worked in retail, I was working truck one morning and the keys sent for the lock on the truck were not the right keys (Mistake #1) so we had to run to the walmart on the other side of the parking lot to get a pair of bolt cutters (mistake #2) While trying to cut the lock off the truck (Mistake #3) the tip of the cheap bolt cutters broke off and shot 15' ish straight into the eye of one of my coworkers. She ended up being fine, but yeah. that wasn't a fun day at work. Eye injuries are not something to be lazy about.

Thomas,

got any pictures?

I may consider building a retort after we move in 4 or 5 years. but for now at $0.12 per lbs. it's cheaper to buy coal than spend the time creating the charcoal.

Don't forget it doesn't have to be a drop. finding things like rail car couplers, or large excavator teeth and such work just fine. Weights a big deal. get something heavy. 70+ minimum. otherwise you're either fabbing up something to hold it down onto something larger, or chasing it all over the place as you're pounding on it.

no reason for the blower to be so far away either. get a hair dryer,  or a $13 bathroom fan and mount it to the base of the forge. some flexible ducting and you're good to go.

get rid of the galvanized metal before you give yourself heavy metal poisoning. other than that. not bad.

and now that I've read you post, you should know better. and my warning stands.

I've been pointing out the congruence of BS and abbreviating Blacksmith for I don't know how many years. You only just now noticed? Oh my feelings are crushed! <sniff sniff>

 

Frosty The Lucky.

Notices a while ago. just never asked.

the slope in a bottom blast forge is to allow the ash to fall into the pipe, and thus out the ash dump. It keeps it from building up in the fire pot. It also forces a deeper fire which, as mentioned, reduces scale. Basically, the deeper pot uses up all the oxygen before  it can reach the metal you're working on.  along with making the pot deeper it also shapes the fire. different shaped pots = different shaped fire. There is no one forge that is perfect for EVERY job. so working small material in a large forge wastes fuel and working large material in a small forge wastes time. etc.

It sounds like you're more concerned about using fuel to it's fullest rather than being concerned about keeping the material in the best shape possible. Fuel is cheap, material typically isn't if you compare the two.

Not sure what you're asking. The pipe is the chimney in that set up. and the casing would just be the hood. at that point.

The way a chimney works is the hot gasses raise up through the pipe creating a low pressure area behind it sucking more air and gasses into the pipe. these gases are also hot and thus rise up through the pipe creating low air pressure behind it. a metal chimney will heat up and thus create more suction as the air around the pipe warms up and rises.  

"Frosty, ...If I don't have a good answer, make up something entertaining"

Frosty, is that why we don't abbreviate Black smith to BS, it would reveal our true nature? but also I guess if we did abbreviate it a lot of beginner/novice black smiths (I count myself amongst the beginner group) would be elevated to Master BS far before we master the art of the Black Smith

So glad to see someone young interested in this. No offense to the older folks, but the ones that start young truly carry on the craft. as they have the opportunity and time frame to become truly gifted in the skill.

You're going to find far more information that you can digest on here. and finding someone local to you that can answer questions for you or that you can run things by before you start is a HUGE help. As in everything, you want to start small. You didn't drop into a half pipe the first time you stepped onto a skate board.

If you're good at scrounging you should be able to acquire everything you need for blacksmithing for little or no cost.

Here are the basic things you need.

a fire

fuel for the fire

air for the fire

something to heat up

something to beat hot metal on

and something to beat hot metal with.

after that it's a mater of technique.

everything on that list besides the fuel for the fire can be obtained for free if you ask nicely of the right people. Remember, an anvil doesn't need to look like an "anvil" it just needs to be something heavy (preferably metallic) with a decent flat area and some curves and corners.

a pipe, a pile of dirt and something to blow air into the pipe are all that are needed for a forge.

You don't need a large hammer to start with. a small ball peen hammer can get you started.

Most of the tools you need for blacksmithing you can make yourself once you've got the basic tools.

Very nice. did it come with an anvil and tooling?

If it's a two man shop, and they are filling orders and such, I'd either email them, or drop off a materials list and just let them know to get it to you when they aren't super busy. If it's a good outfit they'll get back to you in a day or two at the most. but the really good ones will get it to you same day. most of the time it's just a matter of looking at charts. Which isn't that hard of work for them.

you really need to talk to your supplier. There is a big difference between each one. Local vs local, and local vs website. just have list of materials and lengths and they'll be able to tell you the cost on that given day. Prices rise and fall on a daily basis.

Brasilkilt, just be bad this Christmas and santa will leave you some!!

Not sure he's been on this thread since 2011.... Dave dug up an old post.

Central fuel in Chehalis, WA carries blacksmith coal at $0.12 a lbs. it's about a 1.5-2 hour drive from Portland but it's real Blacksmithing coal and cheap compared to buying by the bag, though they do sell bags bringing 5 gal buckets or like I did a 35 gal garbage bin. I paid $24 and change for just shy of 200 lbs. after tax. and with Oregon ID you don't have to pay the tax.

I would have picked the same axe he did. beauty of an anvil you've got there. I'm sure she'll sing and dance well with you.

Master Thomas has powerful "Google Foo" infact his ability to research a subject is enviable in general.

I'll second this motion and move to vote.

I got #200 for $25 so $250 a ton for Utah Bituminous here ins western WA. I want to say the price was .12  a lbs which would come out to $240 + tax per ton. I haven't used much, and it's the my first forge so I don't know if it's good or not. It gets hot enough to burn metal, not to much ash, but I've had some issues with clinkers, but that could just be user error. but it seems to be decent stuff.

... they sell 50 lbs. bags at lowes for less than $8.

that PB Blaster in the picture is going to do a better job freeing up stuff that the diesel will.

we've actually become good friends with all that set of daycare parents and the dad's brother and wife (also daycare parents). He can take a joke.

you're paying to much for that. In your area you should be able to find a place that will sell bulk coal for a lot less. I paid $24 and change for 198 lbs of coal in western Washington. in NC you should be paying even less because of the lack of shipping costs.

lol, I'll have to keep an eye out when I get to the bottom of my bin, but I doubt I'll find anything fun because I hand shoveled it into the bin to begin with.

on a side not, I found out that one of the dad's of one of the kids that my wife watches isn't a fan of spiders. So I bought a drop down spider Halloween prop yesterday. Not going to set it to drop for a week or so. Just wish I could be there to see the reaction. lol.

why do you prefer the larger lumps?