chester5731 Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 I have a rivet forge I am getting ready to install in my shed. I had a hood made but I need to cut an opening in it. What size should I make the opening so it draws good but has enough room to work? It will be hooked to an 8 inch pipe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 Depends on information you haven't supplied, Style of hood, location, chimney length---8" dia is usually considered too small to draft well for a forge, what fuel are you using? etc and so on..., Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chester5731 Posted August 14, 2014 Author Share Posted August 14, 2014 Chimney will be about 18 feet. I will be using coal. I am in the thumb of Michigan where the wind is usually blowing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 So is it a side draft hood, an over the top hood, an enclose the forge hood, ... I'm sure you have it in your mind's eye but the mind control lasers are on the fritz again... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chester5731 Posted August 14, 2014 Author Share Posted August 14, 2014 Right now it is an 18 inch tall band with a top that has an opening for an 8 inch pipe. I need to cut an opening in it but don't want to get it too big. I hope that describes it well enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 Nope, not a description we can use. At least answer Thomas' questions, trying to anticipate them is more harm than good. I'll repeat them one at a time, is it: A side draft? Overhead hood? Enclosure type hood? Okay, now I have to anticipate a question. What are you talking about referring to an 18" BAND? Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 Does it rest on the table of the forge covering the firepot area and you are asking how large to make the working access? If so make it adjustable.For my larger than a rivet forge coal forge I have a 10" spiral seamed duct pipe leading off at about an 75 deg angle through a convenient hole in the pro-panel wall (the hole was for a fireplace chimney in it's first incarnation---before the hailstorm)The pipe terminateds about a foot off the forge bed and over the firepot. I then have a piece of 22 gauge steel bent into more than a semicircle that fits around the pipe and slides down to the forge table---except for odd shaped pieces in the fire when I slide it up leaving the forge table bare. The pipe "sings" when I'm going for a weld.Now repeat after me: "I will probably have to adjust or change my set up MANY TIMES as I use it to suit *myself* and what I'm doing. I have opposable thumbs and I know how to use them! Nobody's opinion matters but *mine* for *my* set up." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chester5731 Posted August 14, 2014 Author Share Posted August 14, 2014 An 18" tall band of steel that goes all the way around and sets on top of the rivet forge. It needs a hole cut in the side so I can put a piece of steel in the fire to get it hot. The top for it tapers up to an 8 inch opening. I don't know what type you would call it but I hope that describes it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 So cut a hole larger than you expect to need and make a sliding cover for it---don't forget to have a "mousehole" on the back opposite the opening to allow long stock to be heated in the middle.Right now I can tell you it can be only 2"x2" because all you will ever be doing is welding up 1" sq billets right? Or it needs to be 3' wide and 4" high as you will be putting gate elements in it. Or make it adjustable or tell us what you will be forging? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chester5731 Posted August 14, 2014 Author Share Posted August 14, 2014 Well Thomas I don't know exactly what I will be forging. I am just getting started. I just want to make sure I don't totally mess it up. Making it adjustable does make the most sense. It shouldn't be hard to do. Thanks guy for your help. I know it probably seems like you were pulling teeth to get answers but sometimes I have a hard time writing what I am thinking. Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 Blacksmithing is an iterative purpose; you learn with every hammer blow, every bend/twist, every forge you build or tweak to suit yourself. I've certainly made enough mistakes to be worth some money when they get scrapped as "unrecoverable" or even "quick hide it before someone sees it!" I have a forge pot getting ready to go into it's 4th forge; each one a step closer to what *I* think is just right.Getting started is often the hardest step in the process; take it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chester5731 Posted August 14, 2014 Author Share Posted August 14, 2014 Thanks for the encouragement Thomas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 Considering that you can do excellent blacksmithing using a hole in the ground for a forge and a sledge hammer head set in a stump as an anvil I sometimes think people worry to much about their kit.Start with the idea that you will modify things as you go along---just like you modify your workpiece with, hopefully, every hammer blow changing it towards your goal. The first one is just the first one; lots more to come! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 Another part of getting started with any craft is learning enough of the craft and terminology to ask good questions and understand the answers. It's one of the main reasons we recommend a person pack a lunch, something to drink and start reading the subjects archived here on Iforgeiron. There are probably a couple tens of thousands hours of good solid experience speaking in the archives. There's a lot of chaff by youngsters who's experience is playing online games. That's another reason to do some reading, it'll really help you tell who to listen to and who to be amused by. On rare occasions we get a real trouble maker but the Admin guys usually handle those rarities well enough. You're a pretty normal new guy and seem a nice enough fellow looking for a glimmer of light in the dark. New language, big heap of new tools, looking for some help but not knowing quite how to say what you want to. Don't sweat it, nobody was born knowing this stuff, every darned, soot covered, black booger blowing, burnhole clad, one of us had to start and asked allllllllll the questions. We're actually pretty good at getting you up and rolling so just relax and listen up, we're pulling for you. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chester5731 Posted August 15, 2014 Author Share Posted August 15, 2014 Thanks fellas. I am really looking forward to getting started. Hopefully this weekend I will be able to get everything ready to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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