NoGoodWithUsernames

I had read of anthracite being cleaner coal but I think perhaps that was specifically the smoke. I will use it up and at some point make the hour and a bit drive to Loomis and get some good coal from John McLellan. But this was free and it will burn!

Got about 300-350lbs of anthracite Friday AM. Free of charge except the cost of gas to drive up and pick it up. Maybe not the best forging coal ever but should be a step up from charcoal. Now just to finish remodeling our house so I can get back to smithing!

Just a consideration to make it easier to navigate, what does the series number indicate? Could each be called for example "BP400, Tooling"? Also it seems some of the series I am able to look at and some I do not have permission for. 

Thanks for all the work so far in bringing these back again!

How is this turning out? I wish I could contribute something but all of my equipment is still stored away after moving last year. This forum is a great reminder of Glenn and his legacy and I hope we can put together a nice bouquet for his family. 

I will do some calling around for a chimney sweep. I was hoping that we could have a fire on Christmas morning, thus the small test fire over the weekend. But that's also exactly why I did it sooner, to see if there were issues that needed fixing first.

I don't think there is anything blocking the chimney, as there were two 3" flex ducts running the whole length from the gas insert up to the chimney cap. Those got pulled out so there is at least that much space, and the insulation around them top and bottom was removed. Some may have fallen down though, it is a possibility. 

The fireplace/chimney was built in the 60's as far as I can tell, and was most definitely intended as a wood burner and was later converted. So the potential is there.

GeorgeNM mentioned the damper and smoke shelf. It does look like there is a smoke shelf after doing a quick "google". There are some metal bits and pieces I hadn't looked at much that might be the dampener, I'll have to poke around and have a closer look at that.

I don't have the money to have someone else fix everything that's potentially wrong, but I will pay a pro to at least inspect it and give things the "okay" or "here's what needs to be fixed"

Figured there would be some folks on here more experienced than myself that could help me out with a smokey fireplace in our new house.

When we moved in it had a gas fireplace insert that we shut off and removed because that's not a real fire. We also removed the "fascia" (what I'm calling the non-structural decorative front) of the fireplace, which was some tacky looking painted fake stone that was built to take up a lot of space in the room. We are remodeling the living area so now was the time to do it. 

Part of the "fascia" I think was acting as a hood of sorts, which I think needs to (and will be when we do a new brick fascia) be replaced. I was thinking a sheet metal hood in the meantime then when we do the brick work leave the sheet metal behind the bricks as support. The upper lip of the fireplace is about a foot higher than it was before we took the fascia down. 

Also on top of the chimney is some sort of lightweight sheet metal draft preventer it looks like, it had two flex hoses hooked up from the gas fireplace which I removed. I left the draft preventer though but am wondering if maybe a real fire needs additional flow? Is there a difference in that between a gas fire and wood fire? 

Am I on the right track at least with those two items?

Welcome, a bit of an unusual first post on here since it's not really blacksmithing related but I got mine from my grandfather when he downsized his yard work tools while moving. Can probably be found at pawn shops that carry tools, or yard sales/estate sales etc. Assuming a new one from your favorite hardware store wouldn't work?

Also check your local craigslist or FB marketplace for pavers, can often be had for much more reasonable prices if people are tearing them out or order too many for a project etc.

Mikey, would one of the Frosty Tee Burners be an improvement over that style of burner? Easy to build and materials should be readily available pretty much anywhere in the world.

Also would it be helpful to try and induce cooler air from the sides somehow and avoid sucking in hot, O2 deficient air from the front and back where the dragon's breath is? 

I would think any suitably sized shop vac should work and get some old school style vacuum bags too, as that will add an extra layer of filtration. That's what we do at work for vacuuming fine fiberglass dust from our CNC router that we use to cut out electrical enclosures for the buttons that get installed. Don't want to be breathing that garbage! Bad enough when you get some on your fingers. Bonus is that you don't have to clean the vacuum filter as often when you use the bags too.

Goods' suggestion is a good one, this is a worldwide forum so if you can track down your state's blacksmith association(s) that would be a good way to get in touch with someone actually local to you. Out here we have the CBA (California Blacksmith Assoc.) so that seems like it is fairly common nomenclature, just change to whatever state you are in. A couple emails and/or phone calls from there should get you in touch with someone I would think. (Our CA one even has a "find a blacksmith" map with contact info which makes it super easy!)

That is a lot of wire to run! I was hoping you had some ingenious way of hiding a solar panel somewhere. They do look very nice though. 

How do you power the lanterns? Did you run low voltage wiring or do you somehow integrate solar lights into them? Would love to see more detail of that to use around our yard/garden at some point.

It looks like he last logged in Feb 2022 but perhaps sending a private message would put an email notification in his inbox and you could get in touch?

Cool thank you!

TW: Do you know who sells that? I've not seen that kit before but would be interested in that. Functionality is foremost but whenever possible I like to have things look authentic, just part of the fun for me to try and have things look the part of ye olde timey blacksmith. 

For it to be technically food safe you will want to bring it to a reasonably high polish. You don't want areas that can harbor bacteria and such. For industry it is much more strict and has things like automated cleaning in mind where you have hundreds of feet of piping with various valves and pumps and sensors in line that all must be easily sanitized.

For something like a ladle that will be washed by hand most of that can be ignored. Just make sure it is reasonably smooth and doesn't have cracks or crevices that are difficult to clean after use. A quick google search looks like most riveted ladles have that connection point just big enough to get two rivets in up by the brim, so a pretty small overlap that will dry quickly and not allow growth in there. If you're really worried you could always fill it with some braze or solder material so nothing can get between the steel and brass, but I wouldn't bother personally. 

Edit: George was posting as I was, a good warning to not use with acidic foods. I had not thought of that aspect.

Frosty, might very well be a CA thing. And yes I learned the hard way that it doesn't work so well on the larger fishes ha! The two cats enjoyed the lesson though since they got a lot of scraps!

Steve, I will give filleting a try next time, might have to bust out some you-tube to learn how. Why scale them if you leave the skin in the pan? I guess maybe if you don't the skin will not stick to the pan?

I probably will stick with lemon pepper and butter for seasoning, it just brings back memories of being up in the mountains with grandpa, and that's worth as much as any flavor in my opinion. 

How do y'all cook larger fish? I grew up creek fishing for said "pan sized" trout and when cooked you can just peel them off the bones and you don't even need to worry about scales since they're small enough to not be a bother. Lately though I've been going out on the lake trolling for trout and have been catching bigger fish and have been having a hard time cooking them. 

Very sorry to hear this, I had several phone calls with Glenn while I was working on getting started and he was incredibly helpful and generous with his time. I remember asking about making punches and chisels at one point and he sent probably 15-20lbs of higher carbon steel like tie rod and springs packed in with my order of forge making materials as I had not yet learned how to acquire such things easily.

I hope that somebody will keep up the small scale sale of the forge materials, I would not have been able to get into the hobby nearly so easily without that resource that Glenn offered. He was a great asset to the community and will be missed. Prayers for his family. 

Looks great! Would you be able to use epoxy to stabilize the interior part of the horn for handles as well? That looks like it would make a very interesting looking piece as well. 

George has a good point with cutting speeds. Might be alleviated by using carbide as it generally wants higher feeds and speeds than something like HSS. 

Definitely check a feeds and speeds chart to see if you can get it in the ballpark when ordering a cutter.

Very cool, those massive cast brackets supporting the drive shaft on the wall are not something you see every day. Thanks for sharing!

Yard sales, Craigslist, Facebook marketplace, flea markets, etc. You'll usually find a lot more carpenters claw hammers but there are plenty of suitable hammers out there. Just gotta keep an eye out and take some time looking. 

I think if you can find a masonry disc for an angle grinder and score it like Scott recommended might work well. Maybe combined with the masonry drill bit you could remove just the refractory around the fire pot and not have to re-cast the entire thing when you're finished.