terminalxs Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 Hello all! This is my first post, so be gentle...hehe. I have never smithed before, and just but a brake drum forge. I have a hair dryer connected that puts out varying speeds of air, and it does heat steel to glowing red, but takes forever. I am using hardwood charcoal, but nothing home-made...kingsford...hehe. I can get coal, would that be hotter quicker, or is there some trick I'm just not grasping? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Lumpkins Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 Welcome to the site, If you got Air and good fuel you should be able to get way up there in Temp.... Where do you live. You can go to CP on the top of the page and update and never can tell you may have a blacksmith neighbor that lives around the corner from you.. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 First thing; try to get chunk charcoal instead of briquettes. Second how deep is your fuel stack in your forge pot? Third how are you controlling the air flow, even a blowdrier puts out way too much air for charcoal! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terminalxs Posted October 21, 2009 Author Share Posted October 21, 2009 I did try hardwood charcoal today. Its a pain to light. I pretty much fill the drum which is about 5 inches or so deep. I don't regulate the air with anything besides the hair dryer. I put it on high to start the charcoal really going, then put it on low. Is that maybe the problem, too MUCH air? I just thought that the more air the hotter the flame...please excuse my ignorance at all this...learning from ebooks, websites, etc. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terminalxs Posted October 21, 2009 Author Share Posted October 21, 2009 I do have pretty easy access to coal, which is likely cheaper than hardwood chunk charcoal anyway, is that a viable option? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 Well is it good blacksmithing coal or terrible blacksmithing coal? If it's bad blacksmithing coal then you are better off with charcoal---remember that the first 1000+ years of blacksmithing was done only with charcoal. How large is your tuyere? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terminalxs Posted October 21, 2009 Author Share Posted October 21, 2009 I made the forge using all 2" stuff. I assume that perhaps I should block some of the airflow, eh? Also, um, forgive me but the good coal/bad coal argument, I couldn't tell you if its good or bad. I live in front of a forest, perhaps I should just begin to make charcoal? I just don't as of yet know how...perhaps more investigation is in order... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 Well you are asking us about it when we don't know anything about what you have access to either. In OH you should be able to get some nice W VA sewall seam coal that is true bliss to forge with; OTOH I was once "gifted" with some heating coal in Columbus that you could see the yellow sulfur streaks running though the chunks---ugg better to take up knitting than use that stuff! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terminalxs Posted October 22, 2009 Author Share Posted October 22, 2009 I honestly didn't know there was a difference, I thought coal was...well, black. I didn't know there were varieties. I'll ask before I buy any. Thanks for the tip. Also, I'm going to try to lessen airflow today when I fire up again, hope that helps. I appreciate all the advice immensely! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigcity Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 i have a brake drum forge i use myself and i have used kingford match lite i think it was didn have much problem but i whent thru a hole bag in about an hour i also use coal dont know what kind it is i get mine from akron oh. i think i drilled a bunch of 3/8" holes for my the grate in the bottom and that works out for me i had drilled 1/8" holes and found that they were to small Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinetar Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 I don't have a forge yet but where in Akron did you find coal? Have you been to REX's? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigcity Posted October 27, 2009 Share Posted October 27, 2009 no i usely go to church's coal and firewood on tripplett ave behind the blimp hanger its not nugget coal so you have to break it up yourself the last time i got some was about 2 years ago it was 8 or 9 dollars a 100# sack i think Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigcity Posted October 27, 2009 Share Posted October 27, 2009 where is rex's at i never heard of that place Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c497 Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 i have a brakd drum forge to and i tryed the grate in the bottom over the air vent and it never did work for me so i just use a web of thck wire and it works great try that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hounddog Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 so if u have small holes it bruns up faster? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigcity Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 no on my forge the small holes i had drilled cloged up faster with coal or clinkers the bigger ones help with that and give more airflow and less resitance i have burned up hairdryers with a grate that has the smaller holes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 You will have to keep the coal, coke, fuel, etc from falling down into the air supply pipe, but the greater the opening for the air to move through the better. It is the volume of air that controls the size fire you have, and the heat you can get from the fuel. Try blowing air through a 1-1/4 inch pipe that sits on the edge of the drum and extends 1/3 the way across the diameter of the drum. (Think side blast forge here). There is no grate involved, just an open pipe. Pile on the fuel till it is 4-5 inches over the opening of the pipe. Add air as needed to get the heat you want from the fire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glyph250 Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 0. Keep in mind these are blanket statements with some exceptions. Blacksmithing has no hard and fast rules, but some pretty good rules of thumb. 1. The low setting is probably your problem, if you're using hardwood charcoal and not the grill stuff. Keep in mind that a fire goes from red to orange to yellow to white, with shades and variations of each color. If your fire is dull red, the hottest your piece will get is dull red. Technically that's hot enough to work with, but I wouldn't want to do it. Try to keep the fire somewhere in the orange to yellow range when you have your metal in it. Turn your air up and keep it up until the coals/charcoal in the fire are the color you want. 2. Never, ever use briquettes. They contain a lot of clay. Like the clinkers in crappy coal, that's going to suck a lot of heat from your fire. I tried forging with briquettes, years ago. It was so awful I was turned off from blacksmithing until a couple of weeks before my join date here (which was not very long ago). Please don't do that to yourself. =) 3. As someone else mentioned, the size of your air opening dictates the amount of air you're giving the fire. More air = more heat = less work when you're actually hitting metal with a hammer. 4. Coal is better than charcoal for most of the things you'll be doing at first. It's made out of the same material (carbon), but it's denser, so it's got more BTUs. As you've probably discovered, you'll use about three times as much hardwood charcoal as you will coal for the same job. Consider charcoal only when you can get it for much cheaper than coal (very rarely), make it yourself (possible, and fun if you like slinging dirt at bonfires), or need an extremely clean fire, like for welding. 5. You should have access to Sewall, which as somebody else has pointed out, is the coal of your dreams. My recommendation is that you don't buy it. It is bliss, but bliss doesn't come cheaply. I bought two fifty-pound sacks for thirty-two dollars in Louisville, which isn't terribly far from the mines. Industrial grade stoker will probably get you where you want to go. It'll have some clinker, but read a bit about fire maintenance and you'll have a good enough fire for most things. Some places have it as low as $.04 a pound, and you might use fifteen pounds of it in a day if you're trying hard and have a forge that always burns hot (which is the opposite of your problem). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.