capnroo Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 Ok, here is a rundown of starting corn in a forge. what actually burns hot enough to forge is not the kernel, but the black, charred clumps of kernels that are stuck together. to start the fire, having a clump of this to start with is very nice. you can either use a propane torch on a handful of kernels, or build a fire and suspend the corn on a grate above it to get it burnt. Once you have a clump to start with (about the size of a 2 year old's fist or a little bigger), place it on your grate above your air hole. place balled up paper on top of it, and small wood strips (kindling)on top of that. i used small pieces of broken pallet wood, and split them lengthwise. light the paper. once your wood has caught fire and burned about halfway, turn your blower on. let it run for about half a minute. when your clump has started to glow a little, dump corn kernels around it. keep adding wood strips if it has gone out at this point. the flame will help you clump up more corn. when more has been clumped, break it up with a poker and add it on top of your air hole. this will flare up when it gets hot enough, so be careful. dump more corn around the center, and voila! you have a white-hot volcano of corn that sounds like an acetalyne torch! I went through corn very fast. about 3/4 of a 50lb bag in about an hour. this probably has something to do with my fire management skills, though, which will improve. Here are some pics. the piece of heated rod is either 3/16 or 1/4" stainless rod. I heated it up to near white-hot temp, flattened it with a hammer on the sawed (flat end) a piece of 2.5inch diameter 12L14 steel (I dont have an anvil yet), and twisted it with hammer blows. I am hooked on smithing now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capnroo Posted September 12, 2013 Author Share Posted September 12, 2013 My purpose for posting this is to help people who are in the same boat that I am- there's plenty of people on the web that say corn acts like coal and charcoal mixed, but nobody seems to say how to get the corn started. I have to say, it was pretty hard to get going at first. I tried it tuesday evening, but didnt have any luck, and tried it again yesterday afternoon. hopefully this info will help you guys who dont have good access to coal, and dont want to go through the trouble of a charcoal retort. also, a 50lb bag of feed corn is what I used. it only cost me $10 here in extreme lower Alabama. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThorsHammer82 Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 did you leave the blower on the whole time? once it's burning you only need the blower going when the metal is in the fire, otherwise you're just wasting fuel. Also, the size of the fire, especially for the stock you were using was huge. As mentioned in your other thread, you need something to reduce the size of the firepot. bricks, or clay, or watering the outside edges are all common practices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 Also, it's common proactive to start coal fires with a bit if charcoal, it's a cheat but it gets it going easy. That is in the absence of a bit of coke. I don't see wy corn woul be any different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capnroo Posted September 12, 2013 Author Share Posted September 12, 2013 Thor.Yea, I had trouble managing the fire. I will modify my forge to make management easier, and with practice, I believe corn would be a really good fuel. And the stock was just what I had close at hand. I also stuck a piece of 5/8 hotrolled rod in there, and it was cherry -yellow in about 3-4minutes. Really, yesterday was to prove to myself corn would, in fact, work. And that my basic forge design would work. I blocked the air from my blower off while hammering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustyanchor Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 My blacksmith buddy, Frank Jackson, gave me a pearl that has served me very well lighting my coal. He used pine cones to get his forge lit. Only takes a few good sized ones or a few more small ones. 1/2 sheet of news paper, a few dry cones, some fine coal and a bit of air will get you a good fire pretty quick. Not sure how well it would start raw corn, but the cones burn hot and will get green coal going. I have a little shell corn and may try to get it going with the cones.Never hurts to have an another fuel source. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry W. Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 Looks like you can multi-task. Forge and feed the chickens all at the same time.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 I always like some kind of "dead man's switch" on electric blowers, just as simple as a air gate you have to hold open will suffice. Nothing like having the fire grow wile your back is turned. On the other side, when you have multiple irons in the fire you need to be able to keep it open unattended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSW Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 On 9/12/2013 at 5:17 PM, Jerry W. said: Looks like you can multi-task. Forge and feed the chickens all at the same time.... I think it's referred to as "Bait". You lure the chickens up on the grill that way instead of having to chase them around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmccustomknives Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 That's pretty neat. did it throw off fireflies like charcoal? I'm impressed it got as hot as it did. I'm curious if the oils in the corn aren't the reason for the hot fire and if there might be any detromental effects. I'll have to try it some time. Oh, the pine cone thing works real good. Just make sure you are using open cones, the closed ones don't work. And I thought I was the only person doing that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustyanchor Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 I read on here in a form about some of the methods people were using for starting coal: gasoline, kerosene, fuel oil, napalm, etc. and that pearl Frank gave me came to mind but I didn't have a coal forge at the time. I finially got a small forge built and have just started getting the hang of it, but I did remember the pine cones. They have to be dry but work like a charm and I don't have to worry about blowing myself up using 2 gallons of gasoline or a flame thrower to get the forge going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThorsHammer82 Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 I haven't had a hard time starting coal with just paper and some small piece of kindling. I do have a damper of sorts that kills of the air and drowns the fire so I'm left with good coked up coal for the next fire so that helps. just lite the paper pack the coal around it and turn on the fan. and away she goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustyanchor Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 I'll give it a try with just paper. The other question is: If I don't have to use pine cones, what am I going to do with the bag full I collected???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 Christmas is coming, it is something you can put in there stockings, instead of your precious coal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capnroo Posted September 13, 2013 Author Share Posted September 13, 2013 So, yesterday after work I went back to it. Set 2 thick blocks of steel on either side of the firepot in an attempt to cut down on fuel consumption. It helped a lot. I would like to point out that the coke actually Burns out a cavern beneath the layer of unburned corn, and this is when it's hottest. I got a piece of 5/8 hot rolled rod to yellow heat in 3-4 minutes. With corn, there is plenty of 'coke' left over I have 1/8 of a 5gal bucket of the stuff after 2 fires. I probably need to quit playing with the fire for a bit and work on my table setup, build something to use as a decent anvil, etc. Lol. But I love fire! Also, the corn doesn't burn until it has all moisture burned out of it, so I doubt the oils have much to do with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 Sounds like corn acts a lot like coal, in the regard to burning hallow. Nice thing about having the forge up and running is it can help build the rest of the table and stand. I bet you can find your self a big chunk of steel to beat on. Even use a slege or a splitting maul until you find something better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capnroo Posted September 13, 2013 Author Share Posted September 13, 2013 I've got my eyes on a block of hardened steel that's about 60lbs. Maybe weld some other bits and pieces to it for added mass... I really want to forge my first set of tongs, but need to build a better setup before I can do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 60# of hard steel bedded solid on a good stand will search well, find a heathy peice of shafting to make a bick and your gold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capnroo Posted September 13, 2013 Author Share Posted September 13, 2013 Is a bick the same as a horn? (Sorry if it's a newbish question) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 Yep, untile recently most anvils had no horn, and a bick was used. As to getting fancy, you can also use a peice of heavy wall square tubing, with a coller welded to it for a hardy hole (think small receiver hitch) If you have a square or rectangle for an anvil, some of the knife makers will radius the edges to act as fullers, and you can go as far as makin the other faces in to swages. If you look at a modern anvil, the feet, form swages, as do the under sides of the waist under the horn and the heal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capnroo Posted September 13, 2013 Author Share Posted September 13, 2013 Aah. Will do, Charles thanks for the idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3DistinctKnocks Posted September 25, 2013 Share Posted September 25, 2013 You can pick up a "grill chimney" from walmart for very little $. Just pour in your corn, charcoal, or coal. Twist up a sheet of newspaper and drizzle some cooking oil over it. Light it with a match and give 'er a few minutes to let it get burning. 10-15 minutes later, you have a good heart. No air blast necessary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThorsHammer82 Posted September 25, 2013 Share Posted September 25, 2013 but if I used the blower I've got forging temps in 5 so where's the benefit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobody Special Posted September 26, 2013 Share Posted September 26, 2013 I like light paper, add a handful of lump charcoal (homemade, naturally :) ), turn on blower, add coked material. Ready to forge in about a minute or two. I asked for coal for Christmas too.....and a bigger anvil, and a welder, and a .......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3DistinctKnocks Posted September 26, 2013 Share Posted September 26, 2013 but if I used the blower I've got forging temps in 5 so where's the benefit? Just throwing out a suggestion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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