pragtich

Ah, Latticino, just noticed your comment. Yes, I'm sure that's what's going to happen. I'll be building a proper steel box some time in the future, I'm sure. But a helpful proof of concept for the flue, and it might last a little bit. Thanks for your comment.

Haha, it is indeed a significant motor. You should have seen the motor it came with, that one was even larger! Still, an induction motor runs a fixed rpm, so the pulley sizes determine the speed of the blower. I made up a (wooden) motor pulley that got me roughly in the ballpark. It seems that the previous owner put a motor in when the crankshaft for the pedal drive had worn down too much. It looks like they were using the clinker breaker as a crude gate valve. They added a locking screw in order to be able to set it to a fixed position. Since it closes quite tightly, that works (sort of). I went for a more high-tech option and installed a small VFD that I had gathering dust. Very satisfying :-)

I was driven to action the last months, due to the rainy spring that we have had here in the Netherlands. Good for the farmers, but it kept me from enjoying the open air setup that I was using. So it became time to install the flue that I have been planning for a year now, into the shed. I figured that it might be helpful to share an experience, perhaps it might help someone out. Having originally planned to go through an available masonry channel, I had purchased some 250mm single-walled stainless flue pipe. That didn't work out: the channel wall was too irregular to fit. Reading on this forum told me that 250mm or 10" is considered to be the minimum feasible diameter. So I changed the plan to a through-roof solution and it turned out surprisingly nice. In total I used 5 x 1m length of 250mm pipe, 2x 45 degree corners, a rain cap designed for wood stoves an a blind cap at the bottom. For the side draft opening, I chose to follow the sizing that was published by Jim Guy for his 10" Super sucker, which uses an 8 1/4" (21 cm) square opening (89.5% of the flue area). I simply cut two doors in the side of the lowermost tube, just above the end cap ~3" above the level of the forge table. This will need some finishing as the walls are terribly thin and sharp. I did a test firing this morning, and it really is surprising how well the flue draws. I started the draft with a small paper fire in the bottom of the flue, but I doubt that it's really necessary. In contrast to experiences from others, it seems that my standard rain cap is sufficiently open to allow for good draft. The only smoke that escapes, is the smoke that gets wafted out of the fire by my movements, or by wind gusts through the open window. All in all, I'm really happy with this solution, so I figured that I'd share.

Hi all, and thanks for the warm welcome and top tips. Really mucht appreciated! Shainarue, it's cool that you caught the joke in my username! For the others: "prachtig" means beautiful or splendid in Dutch. My family name contains the same letter flip (we descend from the province of Drenthe with possibly some connections in Groningen. The 'g' seems to be more common than the 'ch' around there maybe? At least in the pronounciation that difference is quite significant. I got to college in 1997 and those were the days that you could still hope to find unique-ish usernames and this one turns out to be quite universally unused. The workshop is, as of yet, a 100+ year old anvil and a German style coal forge ('feldesse') which has had an electric motor fitted in a past life, outside in the garden. Since the rainy months we have had recently, I have started work on an inside space. Converting a corner of our disused barn. Yet another distraction from the actual forging, but it will get me out of the rain, that will be welcome... Swedefiddle, I appreciate the comment around finding a group to join. I'll do that. Just the workshops, and chatting to the sellers that sold me the tools, has taught me to greatly respect the history and depth in this craft!

Thank you, Frosty, for the insight and encouragement. I happen to have scrounged some smaller wire size spring recently, so I'll definitely give it a go. Best, Pragtich

Hi all, Nice to meet you. I'm a forty-something guy from a rural (relatively) area of the Netherlands. I came to blacksmithing due to a fantastic workshop with Kees Klaassen at The Green Circle, an astoundingly cool crafts initiative not far from here. I'm feeling the learning pains, especially in the area of design and proportions. But it turns out that my body takes the hard work quite reasonably (despite being a full time office dweller during the work week), and I'm having a blast doing beginner stuff and trying to get regular practice in in my improvised home forge. I attached a pic of a beast of a rake that I forged some months ago. Lesson learned: 12mm (~1/2") square is really too heavy for this handle and drawing down (started at 17mm) will show you your inefficiencies quickly.