Flaming S Forge

Make a serious attempt to get my piles of blacksmith gold (metal) under control and organized. It seems to keep growing.

May the warmth of the forge and the ringing of the anvil usher in a safe, prosperous, and happy New Year for all.

Thanks for the tip, Hofi. Greatly appreciate it.

That is one neat looking piece. I like the twists the way they are. It gives an illusion of vines. No vines grow perfect. You and your wife can be proud of that.

Real good tip, Frosty. Thanks.

The customer didn't want to drill into his stone work for attachment so we came up with an alternative method. I attached 2 pieces of 1/4 X2" flat stock about 12" long to the bottom frame pointing inward. He placed some heavy metal weights on the two flats to keep it perfectly upright. He then used a type of cement which is normally used as a sealer around coal furnace stove pipe to the chimney flue. I can't think of the exact name for it but it gets hard but not rock hard. It is easily chipped out if you decide you want to remove it for any reason. I think his plans are to pull the doors out after the heating season and set his barnwood doors he made in the fireplace for the warm months. I actually used his wooden doors to get the pattern I needed for the uneven arch. They were a big help.

I finished this set of fireplace doors back in mid September. These were a big challenge to come up with a final design that suited both man and wife. The customer stopped by my shop and asked if I would be willing to make him some energy efficient fireplace doors. He said all of his room heat is being sucked up the chimney and needed a way to hold some heat. He told me he has had an idea for the last 3 years and nobody is interested in building them for him. When I heard that, I was eagerly awaiting to hear what he had in mind. He wanted two glass doors, 2 lower air vent controls hand forged hinges, latch, and door handles. So, he took me to his home to see the fireplace and get some measurements and input from his wife as to what she wanted. I walked in and there was this mountain stone fireplace with an arched top. Of course the top arch was jagged and uneven as stone would be. His walls were barnwood from the 1700

Paul, you asked if red anthracite is good for smithing. It works just fine. I am assuming the red anthracite is the same as what we call red ash anthracite here in Pa. I was told by a coal dealer that the red ash is the deep mined coal as compared to white ash anthracite which is strip mined. There is also a pink ash. I would assume that is located between the white ash and red ash veins. I have used all three types with satisfactory results. I have found the red ash to be my favorite because it gives less ash than the other two types. The only thing with anthracite, don't look for coke. It goes right from burning coal into ash. The nice thing, no smoke and no smell. Right now I am using pink ash and with the air cut back on my electric blower I am having very little clinker problems. However, when I put my larger blower on the forge to do heavy stock, it doesn't matter what coal I use, I get some dandy clinkers.

I totally agree with Mark

Here are my thoughts on the master of any trade. If a person is proficient with all the tools and knowledge he possesses within his shop and brain, he should be considered a master. In addition to that, he should be willing to do any and all kinds of work pertaining to the trade

Merry Christmas. Have a safe & happy holiday.

That's a fine looking piece for your first cross. I'm sure that gift will be treasured by your mom.

I really like the look of that braid formed as a circle or wreath. I've used that style braid as handles on fireplace tools and for handles on walking sticks. That's a nice looking combination. Great job!

Welcome. Sit down, make yourself at home and plan to stay awhile.

Welcome. I look forward to seeing some of your work. The wealth of information available within this forum is fantastic.

Don't be afraid to ask all the questions you have. The guys here have an abundance of knowledge and are more than willing to help. As far as starting your fire, here is what I do. I'll put some very dry kindling wood in the forge by itself with no coal. I take my propane torch and light the wood with full air blast. After the wood is burning well, I slowly start adding coal around the outside of the fire. Then slowly working inward towards the center of the fire I'll add a small amount of coal. As the fire gets bigger I add more coal. I can usually get my forge up to forging heat in about 15 minutes time. The key is to add a little at a time and be patient. You mentioned that it was foggy and misty there a few days. Coal fires are affected by atmospheric pressure. Dreary days you have low pressure which doesn't let your fire "draw" as freely as on a nice clear sunny day. I have heated my home with coal for the past 37 years and I learned alot about what coal fires like and dislike. Today we are having freezing rain and snow here. I had to increase the air feed on my coal stove in the house to have an efficient burning fire.

Check that your anvil is level. The reason I say that is based on an experience I had this past summer. I was doing a demo and just about everything I hit had hammer marks in it like I never saw before. No matter what hammer I used, my work was not up to par. I struggled along the whole day doing the best I could under the circumstances. As soon as I got home I put my anvil back in place in the shop and fired up my forge. (I left my other forge at the demo place because I was returning in a few weeks for another demo). When I started hammering, no hammer marks. ???????? I started thinking about this and what could have been the problem. The next time I went to the demo, I took a level along. Guess what, where I was setup the anvil had a slight tilt not visible with the naked eye. I moved some dirt around until I got the bubble dead center. Started to hammer and didn't have the hammer marks like before.

I really can't give you an accurate figure for corn consumption since I only used it that one day more as an experiment. When I'm using coal, I just shovel on more as needed and never really kept accurate account of burn duration. If I run my forge mainly wide open when heating large stock, I will use about 30lbs of coal in an 8 hour period. If I'm working with small stock, I don't need near as much air flow and I use less coal. For your answer on clinkers, that depends on the quality of the coal you use and the air flow. When I'm forging at a lower air flow, my forge burns the coal up into a nice powdery ash residue with no clinker problem. However, if I am blasting it with full air output, I will get some nasty clinkers which if not managed properly will rob the fire of true heat potential. I guess the best answer I can give you is do some experimenting yourself. Since no two forges and fuel combinations are 100% identical, you have to find what works best in your forge setup. You asked about coke. Since I only use anthracite (hard coal) I don't get any coke. It burns to ash. What I like about hard coal is virtually no smoke or smell. Only have some smoke when starting it with kindling. I have my forge vented with only a 7" pipe and my shop stays smoke free. I do have a constant flow of fresh air coming into the shop at all times because of the potential of carbon monoxide. Also have a carbon monoxide detector next to me in my forging area. I hope some of this rambling has answered some of your questions. Why don't you edit your profile as to your location. Someone might be close to you to offer additional help. One other thought, when you have a good fire from a safe fuel of choice, you don't need to add any accelerent to the fire. You will have more than enough of heat to get your job done safely. Good luck.

That's a fine looking knife for your first try. I especially like the fullering from the top view. Keep up the good work.

I tried corn one time. My coal fire was almost out when I decided to try some corn that I had on hand. I started putting it into the forge, turned on the air and in no time it was blazing away. No real smoke or harsh smell. For a little test of the heat output, I got out a railroad spike and put it into the fire to see how hot I could get it. It didn't take long to get to a yellow heat. I have a picture attached showing the spike. The only negative I found with the corn, it burns at a faster rate than the hard coal I was used to using. If I ever get a good deal on a large load of corn, I wouldn't be afraid to use it.

I'll take a wild guess that MC might stand for Mcmaster-Carr. They sell railroad spikes. I never got any from them. Hopefully someone else can give you a definite answer.

I've been using that on wood and never gave it a thought to try it on metal. I'll have to give it a try. I assume you would put it on cool metal based on the drying time you mentioned. That's about the right time for it to dry on wood also.

It's a great feeling to create something for a customer, have them give you the smile of satisfaction, and getting paid to do it. Good luck as this blacksmithing addiction keeps growing.

I have used hand forged nails many times. I little modification and trickery can turn a nail into a threaded nail which can be secured with a nut. If you can get to the back of what you are fastening onto, these "snails" (my name for them) work nice for a little extra security. I drill a round pilot hole just a tad smaller than the nail diameter, tap in the nail, and secure it with a nut. I have also reworked some modern bolt heads into the old style square head with a little worn look. If using new bolts, watch out for galvanized stuff. Also made some square nuts by slicing some square stock to the thickness I needed, drilled and tapped the threads plus a little light hammer work. Hope this gives you some ideas.

Krylon clear acrylic works pretty well.