tjdaggett

This is the beginning of my stump. My neighbor, my BIL, and I split the sides off. It's green ash (species; it's halfway between green and dry otherwise). Looking to knock just the corners off and leave the sides reasonably flat for tool holders. Couple of other acquisitions for scale.

SharkBait, I love the ingenuity. I'm going to send a picture to my BIL for inspiration.

TP, that's going to be quite the pyre/pour. You might need to start working on the smelter ahead of time the way ancient Pharaohs worked on their tombs.

My wife texted me pictures from a garage sale. There were some older hammers, mostly claw, but I noticed what appears to be a punch or drift that I wanted badly. It's a little mushroomed on top and bottom, but I can clean that up. She also bought a lovely pickaxe for $5; beautiful steel, very little rust. The handle is in great condition too. The sledge is less pretty; when she brought it up to the seller she yelled to her husband, "Someone bought the sledgehammer!" "Really?!" he shouted back. It's rusted, the handle is shivered, and there's a chunk of the head missing. The sign on the handle reads "A real man used this tool." But it was almost free; I'll burn the handle and see if I can salvage the head. Lastly, the stump! A neighbor down the road chatted with my wife and I while we were out walking. I brought up the forge like I do, and mentioned I still needed a solid stump. He was about to take down his green ash, said he'd have the guys leave a stump for me. I thanked him and we kept walking. A month later he and his wife showed up at our front door (they did their research) and told me the stump was ready. I made it over a week later, thinking I'd heft it into my trunk. Nope. It was about 2'x2' and wet ash. I could barely roll it. I had car problems and couldn't even access my trunk for a bit, but my brother-in-law and I finally made it over there on Saturday. We brought a sledge, a splitting maul, and a hatchet. We tried lifting it once--NO--and then started taking the sides off. The wood was so hard we couldn't even get the maul to set. The neighbor jumped right in, apparently deciding that he was on the team after having met me twice and my brother-in-law not at all, and set to work. He brought out his chainsaw to make a little divot for the maul, found his old splitting wedge, and was generally amazing. He charged me nothing. We even got a three-man hammer ring going like I've only seen on Little House on the Prairie and some of Alec's old tool class videos. It was an absolute blast. When we were done, the stump was forty pounds lighter, almost square, and small enough to sit in my trunk with the hatch open. We helped the neighbor with a couple yard things, being large young men, and headed home. I'd say it still weighs at least 150 pounds. I need to knock of the corners just a bit, flatten the top, and get some linseed oil in there. But it's going to be a beauty.

I'll see what I can find. Thank you kindly. This is a vague question, but what kind of fire would you suggest? I'm burning mostly maple. Would you put the bucket on at full blaze, or let it go to coals? I'm always happy to hear, "Doesn't matter much", but I'm finding the devil to be in the details on a lot of the blacksmithing things I'm learning.

We're a few batches further in. I've confirmed that my fire circle--and fire ordinances--can support four coffee cans full of wood. If we're out there for a good hour and adding wood to the fire consistently, it pyrolizes through beautifully. I've got maybe five gallons so far. I'm pondering more efficient methods that stay within my city's fire ordinances.

Jealdi, that is downright gorgeous.

This was educational to read through, and I loved seeing the feedback put into action.

Latticino, code is all the way out of my wheelhouse and across state lines, but if I'm going to be doing this for the next forty years I need to gain some understanding. Where does one usually find information on building codes? I'm sure it varies by state, I'm just looking for a place to begin.

Thank you all! I found some roof sealant for about $4 that's rated between -40 and 180 degrees. My chimney starts about three feet below the roof, so I doubt the outside of the pipe will hit 180. Time will tell. Now to go cut a hole in my roof...

Specific question: how do people seal the area between the hole and the chimney pipe? My roof is shingled. I will be forging mainly during the winter in Minnesota. I'd like to avoid a leak if possible. The gent at Home Depot said that he doesn't know of a sealant that would hold up to the temperature changes and the small movements you're going to see in even a well-secured chimney.

CHRIS! Congratulations! I'm excited to hear you've gotten started.

Ya, comedy videos, that'll really help his abdomen heal! At least his tear ducts will get exercise. I'll be praying. Daughters are good medicine.

Grandpa has been cleared. Grandma is home, but weak and on a very restricted diet. The antibiotic she's on is very expensive and, by all accounts, not working very well.

Shabumi, that's a beautiful song. My daughter would be absolutely delighted; chimes are her favorite.

You guys are stoking my dreams, but welding is in the dim, foggy future for now. Hopefully when the guild gets back to meeting in person I can connect with a welder. For now, I'm going to hunt down some black stove pipe at Home Depot.

IFC, bless you. Yet another thing I just didn't know yet. I'll go visit Menards and Home Depot and see what they have to offer. Wirerabbit, looks like your fire might not be hot enough. See if you can source some local magma or pure magnesium.

Chris, this year's Toastmasters' champion (not sure if national or international) spoke on "The victory is in the try." You have made one more charcoal forge than you previously had, and at least one more than I have. Selfish question, since I'm a few steps behind you on the path: what did you learn?

Alexandr, beautiful work on the yard. It feels good. Friday I learned that I didn't have to move the shed. That was a combination of learning that the air in the chimney is cooler than I imagined and getting the neighbor's permission to trim the maple that grows next to my shed. Not having to move the shed was such a fast-forwarding of my timetable that I couldn't sleep that night for imagining all the things that were now possible. Sunday my wife and I said, "You know what sounds good? Trimming a maple tree." So I climbed on top of the shed with a bow saw and she was my ground crew with loppers. We now have a clearance of about twelve feet above the shed, plus more future charcoal. Monday my sister and BIL came over. We hadn't planned anything more than a fire, but we ended up doing little things while we talked in the back yard and ended up emptying the firewood out of the shed, putting an improvised roof on my wife's new firewood holder (not quite a shed, not quite a stack), splitting and sorting all the wood, and putting it away. We even ended up with a bin full of birch bark and another full of wood chips. The chips will fuel my attempt at forging with wood. The fire (the only planned part of the day) yielded another four cans of decent charcoal. Next step: I need to find myself some 12" black stove pipe. I'm hoping to avoid splitting 7 or 8" stuff up the side and splicing it together, but we'll see. I'd take stainless if I could get it. I also need to find a way to get the plywood floor out of my shed without removing the studs.

Heck no! I appreciated the idea. Without you and JLP I'd have had to replace the bottom pipe next spring at the latest.

Red Shed, Menards does indeed have black stove pipes in stock! This is why I ask questions. I am very inexperienced with most things hardware; my dad's gifts lie elsewhere. Looks like they only carry up to 9", but Glenn's tip about combining two smaller diameter pipes should solve that problem. Thomas, I will probably end up using some kind of a sheet metal skirt in addition to the suspended stack. Does anyone have doubts about a 10' straight run at a 12" diameter? I ran out over lunch and confirmed that I can trim the maple tree sufficiently to accommodate such a chimney.

Smiths, Good morning and happy Friday! I've come up with a plan for my forge's chimney and I wanted to run it by you. Hoping to weed out beginner mistakes and make it a decent first chimney. I'm going to cut a hole in the shingled shed roof, allowing for a 12" 26 gauge galvanized steel pipe (model #10112616bb on Menards' website) to go straight up. There will be no elbows etc.; straight stack. Since the material available at Menards is galvy, I plan to put the pipe that will be closest to the forge in a 5-gallon bucket vinegar bath. I know zinc fumes aren't released until the metal is quite hot, but I'm all about meeting my grandchildren. I'm going to ask the guys at Menards about a caulk that can stand up to both MN winters and the hot air rising through the chimney. From another post, it looks like a forge at full welding temp gets the air 14 inches up the chimney to about 400 F. Because I'm working with an old rivet forge for now, my fire pot is only 8" wide, so I don't plan to use a hood. The 12" pipe opening seems like enough. I'm planning to suspend the opening 14" above the forge, but I'm going to double-check that distance against some forum articles as well. I know that it's a balance between draft and room to work. FYI: I'm aware that the 12" pipe is overkill for this size forge, but I'm looking ahead to a larger forge within the next couple of years. Thoughts? As always, I appreciate the help getting started.

Grandpa is inches from being cleared. I got to see grandma on the family Zoom call yesterday. She looked weak, but not in the way of one who won't make it. She enjoyed seeing the family. My wife--may she be blessed quite thoroughly--mailed them a puzzle to help my grandfather stave off madness. I've been sending letters.

Sending a hug in the only way I can: through prayer.

Prayers sent, Charles. Glad to hear there are signs of recovery. How's your dad?