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Londonderry, Vermont
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Manageable Fix for a newb? Beautiful door straps
LemonAden replied to LemonAden's topic in Blacksmithing, General Discussion
Thanks guys! I likely won't have my set up done by your visit in July JHCC, but if you are in my area maybe you can give me some advice when you are up my way. I have an idea of which building I want to use but don't really know yet the best way to set it up. -
Manageable Fix for a newb? Beautiful door straps
LemonAden replied to LemonAden's topic in Blacksmithing, General Discussion
Yes. I never thought I would end up in VT, but I found this old farmhouse on 150 acres and fell in love with it. Can't wait to get my forge set up here. -
Manageable Fix for a newb? Beautiful door straps
LemonAden replied to LemonAden's topic in Blacksmithing, General Discussion
I just logged back on for the first time since last year. I put in another post that I relocated my home and farm to Vermont. Found a property I couldn't say no to. We finished the door and I was so glad to be able to make a major and final change before passing the home on to the new owners. The strap modification worked beautifully and I used pine tar for blackening (my favorite out of everything I tried, even after deciding on the used motor oil I went back and did pine tar). With the door handle I posted last year, I ended up deciding to keep it and take it to Vermont with me because I loved it so much. I haven't used it up here yet, but the one I ended up putting on the new door worked great also. Here are the photos of the door and hardware before and after. (I modified the straps and curled them in on themselves to fit the door by taping them together while forging to keep uniformity). I made the hook holding the leather bell collar on the inside of the door, and also some of the door bolt hardware. I used lag bolts to hold the straps on to the door, but I put them in the forge to hammer and blacked the exposed head so that it looked old, hammered and matched the door straps. -
Much has changed since I posted this last year. I found a property in Vermont that I couldn't resist so I relocated my farm over the winter. Fortunately I didn't spend the money on the 8" flue prior to moving (would have been a big waste of money) and kept bringing my forge outside while I was working. The new property has a great building I am going to set my forge up in and I have been told by countless people since my original post that 8" would be a bad idea. I may try to do some sort of powered side vent with the new property so I can avoid having to run pipe up through the new forge area as it is 2 stories and has a metal roof. Unfortunately I am still bringing my forge outside until I sort this out at my new location but it gets the job done.
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I asked them what coal it was and got the below response. Looks like I might be placing an order soon! What do you all think? Pocy low vol Smithing coal, we've never got any complaints about quality and we have alots and lots of repeat customers. The coal is very soft so it can have a lot of fines, maybe 20% with the Pea size, but that's the low vol nature of the coal that makes it almost smokeless. It's high BTU, nearly 14000, low sulfur 0.6%, low ash approx 6-7%.
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I sourced some bituminous out of PA and can get 50, 50LB bags on a pallet delivered to me for $800 (including LTL freight). It comes out to a little more than double the amount of what I am paying for my anthracite but the good thing I can just sell it locally as you can't get it around here. It would take me a VERY long time to use a pallet! haha
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I considered propane however most of the things I want to make would be too large to fit inside of a propane forge. I want to make hangers and hooks and things with scrolls. I also don't want to hear the sound of propane burning while I work. I do hope to grab a cheap one to have on hand once I get much better at coal forging. For some reason I really enjoy starting up the forge by lighting the coal.
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You hit the nail right on the head Thomas! We both run our businesses out of the farm we own and adding to the constant work we have two senior dogs, one with cancer and it makes things tough. Haven't had a vacation in 7 years but am not complaining. Love the property we have so very glad to be able to call it home.
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I agree! I wish I had the option of going to watch a pro but its impossible for me to leave my farm pretty much all day, every day. I mounted a nice flat screen near my forge so I can watch YouTube videos and learn but I do hope to have someone with a lot of experience come out at some point and give me some private lessons.