ah1988 Posted January 8, 2013 Posted January 8, 2013 What are clinkers ? I hear people talking about them but I dont know what they are, and it seems like they are a bad thing to have ??? Quote
Francis Trez Cole Posted January 8, 2013 Posted January 8, 2013 it is the dirt from coal not black dust it is sand, metal scale and impurities that form globs. has a brown glass look takes up space in the forge reducing the amount of coke and so you can't get the forge as hot as you need. send me your address I send you some Quote
rthibeau Posted January 8, 2013 Posted January 8, 2013 at times during a forging session, you rake through the fire to remove any hardened clumps of assorted trash that mysteriously accumulates to clear the way for the air to get to the coal to burn. Several theories have been proposed to explain this phenomonon (sp). Perhaps one of the most widely held beliefs is that a Dragon sneaks by when your head is turned away from the fire and snots into the firepot. That is what is found as a clinker. A few think that a clinker is just the residue from burning coal, but they are a minority methinks. :) Quote
Larry H Posted January 8, 2013 Posted January 8, 2013 the heavier your air blast the more klinker seems to appear, I attribute that to the lack of patients, I knew a doctor that had to retire because he ran out of patients Quote
Frank Turley Posted January 9, 2013 Posted January 9, 2013 When a singer hits a sour note, it's called a clinker. The other kind which results from a coal fire can be used in a few ways. They can be sold at renaissance fairs as dragon caca. Clinkers are used to pave driveways. A few of the old Farmers' Almanacs recommended putting a clinker in the corner of your tilled garden before planting, and it was supposed to aid in plant growth and health. Quote
Glenn Posted January 9, 2013 Posted January 9, 2013 Clinker is the stuff in solid fuel that is not fuel and does not burn. It melts and collects in the bottom of the forge. Let the fire cool for a minute or so and it can be picked out, usually as a single piece of clinker. Get a good solid fuel fire going and throw in a double hand full of sand and dirt. You WILL have clinker in short order. Just pick it out, add more fuel and keep forging. Quote
WayneCoeArtistBlacksmith Posted January 9, 2013 Posted January 9, 2013 What is clinker you ask. Trash! That is the short version of what previous posters have said. Quote
ah1988 Posted January 9, 2013 Author Posted January 9, 2013 Thanks for all the responses I think I have a good understanding on what a clinger is. I am sure I will find a use for them like I do everything else lol. Quote
george m. Posted January 9, 2013 Posted January 9, 2013 About the only use I have ever found for clinkers is traction material when it is icey. It works much better than kitty litter or sand. It's unaffected by moisture and is sharper and has bigger fragments than sand. Really fine crushed rock works well but clinker is available to us and cheap. 60 or 70 years ago practically everyone had clinkers because nearly everyone had coal furnaces. Now, we're about the only ones with access to it or even know what it is. However, if you throw it on the sidewalk you'll have to sweep it up again in the spring. I keep a can of it in my vehicles during the winter months along with the rest of my "blizzard kit". Gritily, George M. Quote
HWHII Posted January 9, 2013 Posted January 9, 2013 Dragon CACA Frank? I can hardly stop laughing :D Next time I do a demo I am going to try and sell some. Quote
matto Posted January 9, 2013 Posted January 9, 2013 You can put them in a bowl and pour a mix of laundry bluing ammonia and salt to make a depression garden. Basically salt crystals. By adding drops of food coloring in different spots it will change the color of the crystals. Just do not do it on your wife's new kitchen counters. Quote
Woody Posted January 10, 2013 Posted January 10, 2013 I had clinkers once but fortunately antibiotics got rid of them B) Quote
Neil Blythin Posted January 10, 2013 Posted January 10, 2013 Great suggestion George! I never thought of using clinker for traction, but threw a pail of it in the back of my truck after I read this. And wouldn't you know it, a friend of mine got her car stuck this evening ... It worked wonderfully! Much more effective than kitty litter or gravel, and much lighter too. I'm so happy to finally have a 'use' for this garbage! Quote
Borntoolate Posted January 10, 2013 Posted January 10, 2013 well now you know what it is but what this thread needs is a pic. Quote
Frank Turley Posted January 10, 2013 Posted January 10, 2013 Hey Steve, If that's yours, you should be right proud. If there was a contest, you'd be a contender. Quote
Steve McCarthy Posted January 10, 2013 Posted January 10, 2013 I was proud Frank, that's why I took the picture. A couple years ago I bought a 55 gal, drum of heating coal at an auction for $12. After a couple clinkers like this I started mixing it with good coal instead of using it by itself. Quote
ah1988 Posted January 10, 2013 Author Posted January 10, 2013 Thanks for the pics ! I never thought about using them for traction, even though I am in Fl lol. I think I will just use them to make a floor around my work area. Quote
Pug}{maN Posted January 10, 2013 Posted January 10, 2013 I think I will just use them to make a floor around my work area. That's what I'm doing with then! Quote
thingmaker3 Posted January 10, 2013 Posted January 10, 2013 I have found clinker to be a superior material for filling pot-holes in our gravel driveway. It packs beautifully and proves durable. I've heard tales of folk cleaning the larger ones with LPA, spraying them with urathane, and selling them at ren-faires as "dragon dung." Quote
Frosty Posted January 11, 2013 Posted January 11, 2013 Welcome aboard Ah 1988, glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in your header you may be pleasantly surprised to discover how many of the IFI gang live within visiting distance. If a bunch start bringing you clinkers please feel free to throw rocks at them. Clinker is good on icy driveways in more ways than one, first it's good and scratchy so tires grip well but it's also not a neutral PH so it tends to melt ice for a double good thing when it's slick. It's good fill being largely glassy stuff and compacts very nicely and keys in excellenty. Keying in is a road, foundation, etc. design term for fill that is angular enough the bits fit together and don't pass by easily, like jigsaw puzzle pieces or a key in a lock. You can pull it out of the fire while it's still semi-molten and stick things to it, say stainless findings, say for: ear ring, loops and hooks, tie tacks, necklaces, etc. I really like the "dragon poop" that's going into MY product line. <grin> Oh heck, you could bill it as petrified caveman smoker's lung pieces. Or. . . Be imaginative and tell us what you come up with. It isn't so good as a concrete aggregate though, cement doesn't like sharp aggregate as much as smooth and clinker isn't PH neutral enough for cement either. Oh well it isn't good for everything. <sigh> Frosty The Lucky. Quote
SierraBladeAndTool Posted December 18, 2013 Posted December 18, 2013 So in short... 'clinker' = metal slag or sand crystalized into near glass like stuff. (ngls)... right? Now... "Spring Steel".... why is it better than Summer, Fall, or Winter steel? Quote
ianinsa Posted December 18, 2013 Posted December 18, 2013 Eric Sprado would be a clinker as the fiddle player ''The Clinkers'' Quote
ianinsa Posted December 18, 2013 Posted December 18, 2013 Now... "Spring Steel".... why is it better than Summer, Fall, or Winter steel? Cause it's followed by them silly. :D Quote
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