Albert A Rasch Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Gentlemen, I am considering,purchasing the this firepot. (Well, almost convinced.) The specifications are as follows: Tuyere has a 4" outlet and mounts in two different direction Weighted ash dump and cast iron clinker breaker Fire Pot 11 inches x 14 inches x 3-1/2 inches cast iron Minimum Thickness 1" In your learned opinions, is this a good firepot for a general purpose forge. I'm thinking my son and I will spend quite a bit of time just learning and making tooling before anything more specialized or intricate ever comes out as anything but burnt metal... I do like that it is heavy duty and apparently built to last a lifetime. Now, forgive my ignorance, but will the inlet/outlet be too large for a hand operated blower? I do not wish to use an electric blower until such time as it is deemed necessary... if ever. I have read in many posts, articles, books, that fire management is the single most important facet of smithing, and a good hand blower helps to reinforce that. Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Blythin Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 I happen to have purchased one of these recently. It is a fantastic piece of equipment, and is of the highest quality. It's also so thick, an heavy, that I doubt it will ever wear out. Your grandchildren and possibly even your great-grandchildren will still be using it! As far as the 4" intake is concerned, if you are using a blower with a different size port; then you can just use some kind of a reducing coupler. On mine, I used 4" flexible vent pipe. On the blower end, I slit the vent pipe along its length for a few inches and squeezed it to the smaller diameter with a pipe clamp. Worked really well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert A Rasch Posted January 28, 2013 Author Share Posted January 28, 2013 Thank you Neil, I had assumed its durability would be exceptional, after comparing to the other offerings. I've made a couple of makeshift forges in the past, but as i am on a mission to get my youngest interested, I am going to splurge on a few items and minimize some of the difficulties encountered with home brew stuff. That, and I want to build a traditional forge this time. Now, if I could only find a source of met coal I will have the next part of my plan squared away! Thanks again for your time and response! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaughnT Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 What do the locals in Afghanistan burn in their forges? Charcoal? Dung? The listed firepot is very good stuff, and you're right to splurge on good tools from the outset. Buy once, cry once! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert A Rasch Posted January 29, 2013 Author Share Posted January 29, 2013 Vaughn, I have asked, and though I have not actually observed any smithing, the answers I have gotten throughout my travels here are the same; Charcoal. It's the same whereever I have gone, "There's a Smith in the next village, valley, town! What do you need, I take and get fixed!" "No, No, I want to go see the Smith, talk smith buisness with him." "Ohhh... No good sir, no good sir. Bad people in that street, village, valley, town - you no go there! I go I get for you. Special price! You like brother to me..." Yeah, right. Brother you'ld shank if I turned my back on you and you thought you could get away with it. Charcoal is a huge buisness here, as it is in most backwards, last-place-you'ld-want-to-be places. Take care fellows! Albert A Rasch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaughnT Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 Sounds like a lot of the places I've been to here in the States! If charcoal is big business there, you might want to give serious consideration to using it for your forge. Great works have been done with charcoal, so don't think that you're setting yourself up for problems. Everything that coal does, charcoal does the same and is "cleaner" so you don't have to worry about getting metallurgical-grade. And you can make a sweet charcoal forge for minimal investment with local materials. A cast-iron firepot is nice, but certainly not necessary. Just my thoughts. I'll look forward to following along on your adventure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert A Rasch Posted January 29, 2013 Author Share Posted January 29, 2013 Oh hell no! I'm getting the #$%^ out of here as soon as is humanly possible! There is nothing here, and I mean nothing, that any of us is going to do here that will make one bit of difference! All my plans are for when I get back home! Short story: I'm also a beekeeper. I'm working with one of the PRTs (Provincial Reconstruction Teams.) I suggest to the USAID officer that I could teach some classes in beekeeping as a volountary addition to what they were trying to accomplish. Well, he says, we already have a apiarist here, and he's doing that. Long story short, I get with said apiarist, who was really just a biologist, and he tells me they importing several thousand hive boxes and frames for traditional Langsforth hives. Langsforth hives are your typical white hives you think of when you think about bees. They also require precise measurements for all components so that you maintain what is called "the Bee Space." The problem is that there is no such thing as precise anything here in Afghanistan! How on this earth can an illiterate, donkey riding, Afghani farmer get frames or boxes made when he needs them? Where is he going to get dimensioned lumber? I suggested Top Bar Hives that can be made of almost anything from plastic drums to old pallets. USAID guy tells me it's not their problem, they're just following and administering the program. Just walk away Albert, just walk away... Don't even get me started on the rice growing program in the high desert area and the 6000 foot well they had to drop in order to get water... Best regards, Albert A Rasch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dale M. Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 Charcoal was used long before coal was even discovered..... It works, I did not have a lot of success with it, but I was spoiled by using coal a couple of times at local BS meet and greet.. So when I made my forge I did not have any coal and tried over the counter charcoal (US product- not briquettes) and was a bit disappointed, but that does not mean if you can find some good charcoal and if you can find best way to produce heat, it can be a viable heat source....Dale Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert A Rasch Posted January 29, 2013 Author Share Posted January 29, 2013 Oh, Yes that is so, my first forges were all home-brewed and i used home made charcoal in all of them. Coal is difficult to get in Florida. I mean it takes driving over yonder to do so. I'm hoping to get together with a Smithing Group that is fairly close and adding a substantial order to their coal order whenever they order, if that is what they do. Thanks again! Albert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert A Rasch Posted January 29, 2013 Author Share Posted January 29, 2013 OOPs, Double post... Albert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borntoolate Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 we could almost start a dedicated apiary section since beeswax is something useful in the blacksmith shop???? Glenn? The honey is a bonus! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Blythin Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 Hmm, honey can be used to make mead... A mead drinking blacksmith (at the end of a hot day, not while actually smithing of course) would be the most popular guy at any Ren Fair or similar type of event. Sounds like a win-win situation to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert A Rasch Posted January 29, 2013 Author Share Posted January 29, 2013 Fellows, I would be happy to answer any of your questions with regards to beekeeping. I you start a thread in the oddball thread forum let me know, or I can start one later this morning. It's not hard to do, but it is like any other livestock, you have to take care of them properly. BTW, There are lots of Beekeeping forums and websites, and again I can answer all sorts of stuff and what I don't know off the top of my head, I can usually find in ten mnutes! Albert PS: I'll start a thread in the "General Discussions" "Everything Else" forum a little later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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