I know, I know, you all say that a 6" flue is way too small for a coal forge. I live in the middle of town and have an existing 6" flue in my shop. I am kind of restricted to one of two options. 1) Make the 6" work. or 2) Put the forge outside and not have a stack at all.

I plan on using charcoal, or maybe the corn method I just learned about 5 minutes ago. Is it possible that the 6" flue might draw well enough for charcoal or corn. I plan on doing smallish work, not building cannons.

I am also wondering about $/hr for burning charcoal.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

The forge I have is a Canedy (sp?) Otto forge with a Royal Chief blower. The other option is the small riveter's forge with a champion 400 blower.

Thanks

Rob

its not the matter of what fuel its the issue of the volume of air moving in with the exhaust of the forge. If you add an inline fan, it might get you by, Add a CO/CO2 detector to keep you safer to monitor the gasses not being removed from that small chimney

As for the $/hour that depends on the cost of fuel, the specifics of the forge, how big of a fire you work in and those sorts of things. With the proper set up you can use about the same weight of charcoal per hour as coal.

ron

Charcoal won't be making smoke so it's only the CO level you are worried about, fan assist may help as would lots of shop ventilation.

Cost per hour: somewhere between nothing and too much depending on information you didn't supply.

I would suggest a side draft hood VERY close to the fire. Pre heat the chimney with a couple pages of newspaper set on fire, followed by two more, then build a SMALL fire with a hole in the center for the fire to escape. This will help create draft and help burn the smoke. From there you will have to play with the set up to see just how large a fire you CAN use and how much smoke (exhaust) the 6 inch pipe will capture and take out of the shop. You may have to look into the 55 Forge with the supercharger attached or alter the plans to fit your situation. Straight chimney with no bends is best and you need all the draft you can get for this to work.

Hi Glen, thanks for the advise. I was told that you are the guy to see about getting some coal. I live about 50 minutes north of Riply.

Thanks for the advise. my shop has a door at both ends so I can get a pretty good cross wind going with a fan. I will definetly install the CO/Co2 monitor before I move inside. I have been meaning to install one for a while now.