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I Forge Iron

Putting out a Charcoal Forge


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Hello everyone,

 

I've recently made the switch to charcoal, and am enjoying it for the most part (except the cost and the finicky fuel selection).

 

However, when done for the day, I have been treating the charcoal fire as I usually do a coal fire: just rake the coals out onto the table to cool. Charcoal acts a bit differently though, in that it burns itself to ash rather than extinguish itself like coal or coke, and it can take more than an hour for it to stop glowing. How do you folks who burn charcoal deal with your fire after you are through?

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Usually when the forging session is about to finish, I get a smaller fire for small jobs and then I let it burn down to itself. I start big and finish small with charcoal fire.

I tried to water it down one day and whooff!! there was so much steam and ashes in the air that I never did that again lol. I hope someone has another way to stop the fire so I can learn something too.

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Greetings Miz,

 

When finished shovel your coals into a small pail.  Put a cover over it and cut off the oxygen.  The outside will be hot for a while but when you return you will have some starter coals left...

 

Keep forging,

 

Jim

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Since you don't need coked up fuel to start up a charcoal forge, I would just let the fire burn down smaller and smaller until I was done. Getting small pieces warm enough to apply a finish. getting some heat onto ground or filed surfaces, etc.

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Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I think that is the way to go. I'll have to keep a few small projects (1/4in maybe?) on hand for when things are winding down. If only I could finish these durn tongs. I DID get the reigns to stick first try without flux, but it later came apart in the fire as I brought them up to heat again. It takes a lot of charcoal to get a welding heat! :P

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I agree with one of the other guys that suggested shoveling out the coals and putting them in an ash bucket with a lid. I also do that and it does smother the charcoal.

 

As for the cost of charcoal you could make it yourself and then your only out your time. I make my own charcoal. I start a wood fire in an old 55 gallon barrel that has the lid removed and a blower putting air into the bottom of the barrel. After the wood seems to be all glowing and converted to charcoal I remove the blower then close the blower hole with dirt and put the lid on the barrell. The next day I take the lid off and unload about 1/3 to 1/2 of a barrel of charcoal.

 

It helps to start out with wood that has been split or cut down to be about all the same size and maybe no more than 2 1/2" thick. That way it all turns to charcoal at about the same rate.

It also helps to start the fire with about only the bottom quarter of the barrel full and after the fire is going good gradually fill it up to the brim.

 

I started out forging with charcoal and then switched to propane and coal once I found a local source.

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As for the cost of charcoal you could make it yourself and then your only out your time.

 

I'm not.. *ahem* --allowed-- to make charcoal. At our house at least. I've been meaning to ask my boss if I might be able to do it at work though. Now that I have time off from school and actually have time to work the forge, I'll be sure to ask.

 

After deepening I'm amazed at how little fuel is consumed.

 

Really? I need to deepen mine for sure then, since my firepot depth was barely adequate for coal. I've been putting it off because of the cost of charcoal, thinking it would increase the amount of fuel that I use, which is right around 8lbs-9lbs an hour. (about 8$ an hour)

 

Thanks for the advice, guys!

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I remembered a video where you can see a rather small firepot for charcoal. You can inspire yourself with this forge. I had a similar one when I started to forge with charcoal and it was surprising how you need less fuel than with a regular firepot. In the second video, the guy is welding billet with almost the same setup.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TyS2t1fFm0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_709493&feature=iv&src_vid=rV7dFp4IkZM&v=gi1f2dd_dMM

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Depending on your type of forge you might be able to put a lid on it.  I use a mixture of charcoal and coke, when I get close to the point that I'm going to stop I put less fuel on the forge and when finished put a heavy cast iron Dutch oven lid on my brake drum forge.  I'll loose some charcoal to ash, but it smothers it fairly well.

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I only have a small rivet forge with fire bricks to deepen the sweet spot, but I just set a 2# coffee can over the coals & water around the outside.  Stuff a dry rag in the blower inlet & the coals extinguish pretty quick.  Less digging around & moving the hot stuff & saves me enough coals to start the next fire.

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Hey, cool videos. That forge is remarkably similar to the setup of a Japanese bladesmith's forge, save the type of bellows used.

Thanks again for more suggestions. My favourite is the grill method! The dutch oven lid sounds pretty good too. Today I decided to use up the ashed practicing going from square to octagonal, as mine always twist.

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I usually let it burn out and use the smaller fire for little things, like heating some stuff to a couple hundred degrees for some straightening. Or I use the last heat for annealing stuff and letting it cool off slowly in the furnace. You can't really stop it without dousing the charcoal with water. And predictably, pouring large quantities of water in a forge is not terribly gentle on the lining. :)

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