Hello from Alaska

[Resident_Within]

Greetings from Alaska

I must say having watched those Forged in Fire shows and Iron and Fire, my interest in blacksmithing was born. I recently (and with the help of a friend and his property) made a forge out of a semi truck drum from the brakes. We fashioned legs for it from an old ladder rack. and I bought a hand crank blower from Amazon. We even built a 150lbs anvil out of old rail road track supports and plates. 

We got the forge working and it does ok with charcoal. Its all we had but I know we need real coal. But aside from watching you tube videos and tv shows, I have no experience in smithing. But it has been fun so far. I have made two blades out of rail road spikes although neither are finished yet. I have a little bit left to do on them before I harden them.

So just saying hello and introducing myself. Looking forward to learning all I can from the rest of you guys.

 

 

[ThomasPowers]

Do you have slots cut out of the sides of the drum so that you can put your steel in horizontally?  Semi brake drums are usually much worse for forges than pickup brake drums with a sheet metal fence in them.

Coal did not start to be used in smithing until the high to late middle ages, (Gies & Gies, "Cathedral, Forge and Waterwheel") so all the viking pattern welded swords were done using charcoal, (real charcoal NOT briquettes!!!!); Japanese swords are forged using charcoal till this very day.  Probably more people around the world using charcoal to make a living forging than coal.  Why do you think you need coal? (The sulfur in coal is not good for your steel; not real important for most ornamental work but a concern for bladesmithing which is why blades should be forged in well coked clean coal fires if you are using coal.)

BTW if you edit your profile to include your location as Alaska it will stop a lot of location requests when you ask questions that have a location specific aspect---like where to get steel, fuel, local smiths, etc.

[Frosty]

Welcome aboard, glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in the header you might discover Iforge members living within visiting distance. I'm in the Mat Su valley.

You'll do WAY better losing the semi drum, they make crummy fire pots, especially for charcoal. Good smithing coal is a matter of having it shipped in from outside or mining it yourself. There are HUGE reserves of coal in Alaska but getting to it is a challenge and then you have to find out if what you found is worth using. I have probably half a ton of not worth using coal I dug my own darned self.

The next club meeting is 9/24/16 in Palmer, you just missed the July meeting in Anchorage last Saturday.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Resident_Within]

Thanks for the tips on putting in my location. I live in Anchorage.

The idea behind using a semi truck brake drum was for two reasons. 1. lack of knowledge/available resources. 2. because my friend brett who made the forge with me is also using it. The drum works well at retaining heat and allows room for both of us to heat metals at the same time. Sadly right now I only have access to charcoal from Lowes which does "ok" but we simply used that to see if what we had made for a forge was even going to work.

Where do you suggest getting coal? I've been meaning to get out past Sutton because I've been told by several sources that coal is just "lying around" out there lol As long as it can be gotten to off a trail then I shouldn't have to much issue getting it. But I would like to know some local sources where I can purchase some good smithing coal as well.

I'll mark my calendar for the next meeting.

 

[Frosty]

Join the crowd, most of us thought bigger was better when we started making forges, turns out a great big fire pot is mostly a better way to burn lot more fuel for the heat we get. Semi brake drums just seem so useful, it's hard not to bring them home but I've only found a couple things other than stopping trucks they're good for. I have a couple thoughts but don't want to bring any home.

Charcoal wants a fire pot deeper than coal but not a lot and really works better with a side blast than bottom blast forge. What are you using for a blower?

Acquiring coal is actually really easy you can find it all over the Talkeetna Mtns. finding good smithing coal on the other hand isn't a simple thing. You can have it shipped in from the lower 48 I believe there are guys or maybe a company in Fairbanks shipping coal in. The other option is drive up the Glenn Hwy. turn left at Chickaloon, turn left on Mine rd. Follow it up onto Castle Mtn. and start looking at all the exposed coal seams in the mines.

In the trench I've collected coal from there are at least 37 exposed coal seams and I did my best to pick one I thought was good but it's clinker city coal. HOT but crummy for smithing. I've used coal dug from that very "ditch" and it was as good as it gets I just don't know how to select it and I'm not going to go through the process to find it. The coal rights are owned by an energy company who allow blacksmiths to dig up to one ton per year for personal use. If they find out you sold a bucket full they'll file suit against you in a B-A-D way. I spoke with a couple fellows who dug some and split the costs and load with a couple other guys, they won't even talk about coal.

Anyway if you don't know just what you're doing selecting coal you're just tossing the dice.

It's the main reason I burn propane.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Resident_Within]

I bought a hand crank forge blower off amazon. Its a Zomax. I really wanted to try and give this blacksmithing a shot from as much of a down to earth approach as I could. So coal or charcoal forge with a hand crank blower. I was looking at a propane forge but in the spirit of the old arts I wanted to try it with fire heh.

The one thing about the semi truck brake drum is that I have it filled with fire brick and have a screen on top. Its really only about 3 inches deep so the charcoal doesn't fall out. Gives a nice area to place metal on the coals as oppose to having to bury the metal to get it hot. But even with my very limited beginner skills I know charcoal does not get hot enough. I can get a rail road spike glowing just about yellow on the outside but it turns cold quick under a couple hammer blows. The charcoal just can't produce enough heat to get the metal hot all the way through.

 

And I guess I might just be tossing dice. I don't know the first thing about how to tell what coal is good and what isn't. But thanks for the tip on the energy company allowing smiths to take up to a ton per year for personal use. I have no plans to sell coal myself. Not even sure I will sell anything I make. At least not as a business or anything. This is a hobby for me and I'm enjoying it a lot.

 

 

[Frosty]

You maybe should do some more reading. You really need to bury the work in the fuel for a couple reasons: First to get it HOT, red is NOT HOT, it's barely workable red hot. Secondly being exposed to the atmosphere while heating causes it to scale rapidly, basically rust away while you watch.

Look around and look at various solid fuel forge designs. There's nothing wrong with charcoal nor wood for that matter they just have different fire management techniques. Charcoal has been used for refining, casting, forging, etc. mellenia longer, coal is a recent fuel.

Frosty The Lucky.

[ThomasPowers]

Coal stated to be used by blacksmiths around the high to late middle ages, (Cathedral Forge and Waterwheel, Gies & Gies), and real charcoal NOT briquettes has remained in use in parallel to coal through modern times---most third world smiths are using charcoal right now.  Viking swords and Asian Kris and Japanese katanas were/are forged using charcoal.  So if it's not getting hot enough; the problem is with *your* set up!  So if people try to help you I would not push back so much...  I started with charcoal 35 years ago and have made pattern welded blades with it. Note When I use charcoal nowadays I generally build a fire in the firepit and shovel hot coals into the forge---I'm cheap!

You generally want 5-6 inches of fuel under your piece and 3-4 minimum above your piece.  As all charcoal in a forge tends to burn; making a  V or U trough is often suggested for things like bladework to conserve on fuel.  To retrofit that forge to work better I would suggest putting a sheet metal "fence in it that sticks up over the rim by 6 inches of so with a vertical slot at the working side and a mousehole opposite to allow longer work pieces to slid through the hot spot for working on the middle of them.   That allows you to pile the fuel higher without it spilling on the ground and to be able to put pieces in horizontally in the hot spot.  I would also add some clay up against the fence to shape in a trough rather than having a lot of fuel burning away from the active zone.

You might want to search on the Tim Lively washtub forge for examples of folks making simple forges burning charcoal and making some very nice blades with them!