Johannes Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 Hey gys, Im currently Designing my new forge, I will post the building plans later on. It is going to have a masonary base, with an old mold frame (i nikt at work) made of 1.5 cm thick steel, I'm going to cut (with a grinding weel because I have no plasma cutter or annything, or does annybody here now how to make one? or even better, does annyone know of a way to cut with a stick welder?) And insert a cast firepot witch I made from a drain pot, with a thick cast iron pipe under it, my airstream wil be regulated with an electrical switch.. but now my question is, I have no idea how to put a klinker breaker in this, does annybody have an idea? and even more, is it nessesary to have one in the first place? I have acces to good coal so do I need a klinker breaker, and how would you make it? thanks, Johannes greetings fro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Patrick Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 One) It is completely possible to cut with an arc welder. you can buy rods that are made for cutting, or use normal rods and turn up the amps. Either way, beware as your cut may not be as smooth as a torch cut, or plasma. Two) as for a clinker breaker, stand on the shoulders of those before us who knew alot more than us. My forge is a pretty old cast iron affair. The clinker breaker looks like a sweet roll about 80mm in diameter, with a rod through it to spin it over to break up the clinkers. It is mounted in the bottom of the tuyre, in the throat. I will get a picture tonight and post it if that would help ya. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yesteryearforge Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 a lot of forges do not have a clinker breaker usually the more industrial type forges were the ones that had the clinker breaker. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irnsrgn Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 Clinker breaker is that long handled thing that you poke the fire with also. Clinker usually forms around the outside of the bottom air inlet. By the way the so called clinker breakers are made they adjust the air and serve as a dump gate for ash in the bottom of the firepot. I plan on doing a Blueprint on them sometime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 If your coal is really good stuff you may not get a coherent recognizable clinker after a full days work; but rather a bit of "clinker sand". My travel forge does not have a clinker breaker instead I use a piece of expanded metal to cover the hole and at lunch and the end of the day clean the fire. (which usually requires removing the "screen" and breaking the borax stalagtites off it. Thomas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmercier Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 A lot of older forges, particularly from europe, were designed for using charcoal and not coal, and thus dont have clinker breakers. A simple breaker is so easy to add to a forge that i see no reason to not have one. Good low-clinker coal is not always easy to come by, and iv'e seen some clinker plates so large you could practically use them as archetectural elements. The clinker breaker in my forge is just a circle of metal 1/2" thick with a rod through it so it can be turned up to let ash and clinker fall through while breaking up some of the smaller pieces. Large pieces of clinker still need to be broken up with a poker, but that's just good fire maintenence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrogPondForge Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 Clinker breaker? The tool was a gift. My forge has no "breaker". I have not had a clinker issue yet. TOM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philip in china Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 I have a diagram of a clinker breaker on my other computer. I will try to remember to send it to you. (The diagram not the computer). I have a masonry forge almost exactly like the one you describe. I had to make the fire pot etc. in a tremendous hurry so did not actually put a CB in mine and I have never felt the need for one. It is basically a steel Toblerone which you can rotate with a handle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Martin Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 Nice clinker breaker Tom, tell whoever gave it to you, they did a really good job. My forge does not have clinker, and the only thing that i ever git is a bit of dust or ashes from when i doused it and it smothered itself out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johannes Posted January 18, 2008 Author Share Posted January 18, 2008 Thanks for the info guy's, I added some pics of what the the old pacement sink that i'm gonna use as a fire pot loks like, it just a drawing, cause i don't have pictures of it here (i'm at work). I used to have a highe ridge in the midle around the hole, but I alreddy grinded a part of that out. Its made of fairly bridle cast iron, and I have a cast iron pipe that fits over the end snugly. How would you fabricate a breaker in this? Thanks for the repley phil, do you know how those cutting rods are caled? Philip from China; those diagrams would be greath, nice to so somebody from china here! & greetings from belgium to all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Leppo Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 When I built my coal forge, I tried to add a clinker breaker - forged a steel ball about 2" dia, then forged flats into it. I couldn't get it to work, the gap around the ball was to large. Otherwise, the forge works great, though. I ended up using a replaceable piece of perf. steel for a grate at the air inlet. When I'm forging, I occasionally rake the top of the fire off to the side, probe the inlet area with the poker tip, and pull out any clinker in one or two solid pieces. I do this maybe once per hour. However, I regularly poke down to the bottom of the fire to keep the air inlet open while heating work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 Goatman Go to the top of the forum page and click on User CP click on edit profile Go to the bottom of the page, enter your location and save. We would like to know where in the world your located. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Leppo Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 Glenn Profile edited, per your request. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walking Dog Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 Clinker Breaker I use an old railroad forge with a clinker breaker and coal. During a full day's forging, or when welding, there comes a time when using the CB is very helpful to "freshen up" the fire and restore its heat output. There also comes a time when it's best to pull the fire apart, clean it out, and rebuild it. My CB used to be a cast iron triangular piece. When it failed, I fabbed a replacement using a 1/2 inch rod (the handle) with three 3/4 inch round pieces arc welded to it. I used a lot of rod and a lot of penetration to try to get a very solid mass. This is to allow the heat on the corners to flow into the whole CB so it wouldn't burn out in a hot fire. I used only mild steel and did this over a year ago. It is holding up quite well in heavy hobby use, including a lot of welding fires. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferrous Beuler Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 Johannes, Allo! I use a fairly large cast iron firepot about 14 inches square. It has a flanged shape to it, like looking into the end of a trumpet. The outside is square, the pot is round. It does not have a clinker breaker and I don't feel it needs one. I get the "sand" which others have noted on this thread, also the occasional nugget of crust may appear here and there from time to time, easily picked and flicked with the rake. I use "Pocahontas #2" coal which is very good quality, as good as it gets. Perhaps you could do a comparison of this particular coal to what you may have available to you on the continent. Search "coal" on this forum, coal sold here in this country is accompanied with a written description of its elemental content. See what you have available locally and get the best coal you can obtain. Make your pot without a clinker breaker, see how you like your fire and go from there, perhaps contemplate while enjoying a Franziskaner Heffe Wiesse. You may find you don't need a clinker breaker at all. Dan:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johannes Posted February 11, 2008 Author Share Posted February 11, 2008 thnx dan, I think i'm going without one, I'f done some testing, and I think its not nescesary with the coal i use. the desing of my the forge i"m building is on the forum. kind regards, Johannes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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