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I Forge Iron

A. G.

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Gonzales, Texas
  • Interests
    Wood working including sawmilling. Eletronics i.e. microcontrollers and coding. Graphic design. CNC.

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  1. So I got the chance to evaluate the anvil further. First I got it of the dirt and sitting on dry 2x6's. Then I brushed the crud off the face so I could tap it with my forged 3lb that I know to be hard and know how it reacts on the peddinghaus. I didn't have a chance to get a ball bearing and the 1/2" bearing I have I'm pretty sure I torched years ago. The anvil face is hard and rebounds great and has a good ring. The hammer that was laying there from the previous visit is indeed soft. I inspected the "anomaly" under the face and it doesn't seem to be a crack. I tap all along and around it and didn't hear any change. It overhangs the side and that corner is well used. It really does look like the way a chisel mushrooms from use. Also I think I can make out Soderfors on the side. So now the hard part is coming up with an offer. She de-valued it in her mind regarding it's condition. I do intend to pay her a fair price as I do like this neighbor and would like to buy her property later. I paid her more than asking for the wood working tool collection as a show of good faith and to build report. I'm going to do some looking around for anything comparable but I'm thinking $1,100 or more.
  2. Is the hardie being set down in a circular depression the key indicator that it has had a plate welded to the face (not sure of the proper terminology for such a treatment)? I didn't have a lot of time to inspect it but the crack near the face almost looks like the way metal mushrooms on a chisel. Sharp and downward pointing. My next visit I'll clean it up and put a couple 2x6 under it. If I don't aquire a ball bearing by then I'll take a hammer I know to be hard that bounces like crazy on the peddinghaus loaner. I need to get an anvil so I can return the loaner by Feburary. Worst case, how much would a dead 412lb anvil suck if it was priced accordingly? Then later get something better and retire the dead weight to being a cool place to set my coffee.
  3. My neighbor is now willing to let go of her late husbands anvil after seeing how I appreciate his wood working tools. It is clearly cast so I tapped a small cross peen laying nearby and it seems fairly dead. So I'm guessing cast iron but could sitting on dirt hide something? After brushing the waist I could read made in sweden. To the left of that there might be something but I can't make it out. Any idea what I might be looking at? She said to make an offer.
  4. Y'all got me motivated. I dont have means of weighing it but I estimate 200+lbs of oak. Judging by volume and moving it around. Cleans up around the sawmill too!
  5. Thats seems like a convenient design. Any qualms with having side walls attached to the larger grate follow the slope up the walls of the fire pot and then go straight up from the top of the fire pot. It would have 3/16 plate instead of fire bricks allowing for coal depth.
  6. Thanks for the greetings. The charcoal making was born out of having waste from the sawmill and plenty of brush and cedar waste to burn. I moved out to this 15ac about a year ago and it has been vacant for 30 years so I have a lot of work available for me. So every time I light a burn pile I throw a 55gal drum full of oak on the fire. After this next batch I'll fill a feed sack and see how much it weigs and calculate my yield. Might get a fiew more drums too.
  7. Pnut your read my mind on the grate that would sit higher. The heart of the charcoal fire I made was indeed too low. I'll probably make a couple different size inserts and see what works best. I think 2-3 inches higher should do the trick. No fire pictures yet as I was having too much fun to think about pulling out my phone. As for the fan it is what I had on hand. I'm one of those hard headed individuals that is reluctant to buy something until I know first hand that I can't make what I have work. Even though it is over kill I think once I put the dimmer switch on and in combination with the blast gate I will be happy with it. It is very quiet and moves enough air that it could keep the fire hot and me cool, maybe... I also like the Idea of placing it further away. Just to be clear about how my brain works. Don't take me "forging" ahead (see what I did there) as not listening. I hear the advise but sometime I work towards failure so I can gather full comprehension as to why something doesn't work or not work as well as something else. It is a trait that has infuriated many a mentor. Either way it turns out, I will post in detail for everyone to learn from. Jasent, you know that trick with the screwdriver and air compressor blower. Let's just say levitating 3/4" coals is a good way to clear out onlookers!
  8. So my first forge was a cobbled together proof of concept made of less than ideal materials. But it convinced me to persue blacksmithing further. I am very fortunate to work for my best friend who has a succesful welding operation. Long story posted in the intro section. Short story I run his CNC plasma table. Even though though my first idea was only charcoal the forge was designed for coal as the main fuel and oak charcoal when I make a batch. Making decisions from no experience with a lot of research and pro's and con's lists is daunting. I like the density of coal and figure there must be a reason why it became a preference. So I jumped the gun, put pen to paper and came up with a crude sketch and dimensions based off the scrap plate available for use. Once I had an idea of what I wanted, I designed it in the computer and got the machine cutting parts. The table is made of 3/16" mild steel 33" wide and 20-3/8 deep (2 tenths short of the golden ratio) and 30 inches tall with a tool well on the right hand side. The fire pot is 10"x10"x5" also 3/16" and the tuyere pipe is 4" square tubing. The tuyere grate has 5 3/8"x4-1/4" slots positioned over the pipe. I'm starting to think this is a bit over sized. The fire pot drops in and I can easily modify or rebuild if/when needed. There is an ash pot and a blast gate to help control the flow. The blower is a large squirrel cage from an A/C. I will be wiring it with a dimmer to really be able to dial in the air flow. So far I only have the blower duct mocked up with cardboard to make sure the blower will work as intended which it did. Full fan and full gate is too much and full fan and cracked gate worked well with charcoal. Coal will arrive soon and despite my Tim the Tool Man Taylor air blast I am optimistic. I will be cutting the duct out of sheet steel and wiring the dimmer switch soon. And for the record I will dress the visable welds and paint the legs. I'm hoping the high heat header paint from the auto parts store will stay on the table (not the fire pot). Thanks for your time and any input.
  9. Hello to all. I wanted to announce my presence and introduce myself. Below is a synopsis leading up to the last couple of weeks that prompted me to join this forum. It is also in the about me section of my profile cause it seemed like a logical thing to do. I will be making detailed posts with photos in the near future under the appropiate sections to help keep it organized. If there is anybody near me please reach out. When I was in high school I did a lot of fab and welding. Tried to get a start in blacksmithing back then but my resources wew limited. For the last ten years I have honed my rough and finish carpentry skills and now turned to fine woodworking. I bought a sawmill (woodland mills hm126) for my wooded 15 acres (eastern red cedar and post oak) and my neighbor say I can take all the cedars I want so long as I don't leave limb piles. I started making charcoal for the grill out of the undesirable parts of oak from the mill, burning cedar to heat the retort. The branches become cord wood for the pit and smoker. With this new found excess of hardwood charcoal I began to revisit blacksmithing and the use of wood. My reasearch was encouraging and I built a test forge out of a boiler cap and some pipe I had. Lined with clay refined from the property. It worked! It was inefficient but it worked well enough to burn the 3/8 bar I had left for a project. I made a couple hooks to mount on a live edge piece of mesquite for use in the house and the bug bit me. I work as needed for my best friend who started a welding buisness straight ou of high school. He had the dream for some time to have a cnc plasma table. With my 3 years of electronics and cnc hobby and 6 years of graphic design experience we got it going on a used table, new torch and new controls from CandCNC. He let me take from the scrap and drop piles and build a real forge. With details I liked from other smiths coal forges and some of my own design I got it put together and I am very pleased with the results. More importantly I am very fortunate and gratefull to have acess to his tools and material. At the time I'm writing this I still need to finish grinding some welds and make a sheet metal duct for the blower now that I know it works well. It is a cardboard mock up right now which works as a proof of concept. With all I read about the short comings of squirrel cage blowers with small fins I didnt want to waste too much time on something I had doubts. The blower is salvage from a central A/C unit and needs a dimmer. There is a blast gate to aid with air control so once I have the dimmer I should really be able to fine tune the air. I built one fire in it and made a crude coal rake with point at the end of the rake for cleaning the tuyere and operating the blast gate from a safe distance. My current anvil is on loan from the aforementioned buddy until I can source my own. He never uses it but it is sentamental. It is a 75Kg peddinghaus, not sure of the date but is electrically welded at the waste. What a great friend! My hammers need dressing and my skills need developing but what little I have done has been so enjoyable. Google brought me to this forum several times during my research and it is a valuable resource. I wish to post my progress and failures for myself and any others who could benefit. I look forward to the journey of learning this incredible skill. Thanks for reading.
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