Pancho07 Posted July 14, 2016 Share Posted July 14, 2016 Still needs some work but my new forge is coming along well I think. It isn't as square as I'd like but I think it will work well enough and if it doesn't spouse I can tweak till destruction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted July 14, 2016 Share Posted July 14, 2016 Looks like it's coming along well. How deep is the fire pot? And the table dosnt have to be perfect. It just holds extra fuel. It will help to add edging around it except where you set the workpiece in and on the opposite side it helps to have easily removable edging for when your working longer pieces. Tho you don't need it there, I like having it so when pushing shorter pieces into the fire you're not pushing fuel off the other side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted July 14, 2016 Share Posted July 14, 2016 Square? The fire doesn't care. If you weld a flat rim around the fire pot so it'll drop in the table and rest on the rim you'll find fire pot maintenance much easier. Makes it easier to assemble in the first place too. Looks good to me. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pancho07 Posted July 14, 2016 Author Share Posted July 14, 2016 It's about 4 inches deep and 12 1/2 x 10. Rail around the table and pot just haven't been put on yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pancho07 Posted July 15, 2016 Author Share Posted July 15, 2016 home stretch, just wish there wasn't a warp around the pot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted July 15, 2016 Share Posted July 15, 2016 Mine isn't perfect around the brake rotor I use. It just fills with fines and drops some but they go into a bucket I already have underneath for the ash dump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kozzy Posted July 15, 2016 Share Posted July 15, 2016 I was just monkeying with ideas about how I wanted to put a rim around my new one--had the seed of an idea that seems like it might work out. I was going to mount some 2 x 2 angle around the outside and either weld or screw it in place...with sections that could be removed for access to the fire pot where longer work might need to pass through the rim area. Lots of fiddly work. Instead, I flipped the angle and simply clipped it in place using binder clips as the clamps. It seems to hold quite well and takes a pretty significant bump to move it. By doing this, I have total flexibility as to where the entry gaps go--just use shorter pieces of angle where I want. No fiddling and if I want to change it later, I can weld it up then should I decided that's ever needed. It kind of surprised me how well the friction and clips are holding--will take probably about 5 or 6 per side (more if there are shorter pieces to hold). There are likely better spring clamps but these are cheap and I had dozens lying around the office. My design happened to work out for this as my table overhangs the leg/support structure by a couple of inches all around so other's mileage might vary on the idea. No I haven't tested it in use--this idea only came to me an hour ago and seems to work out *in theory*. Even if it's not great, the flexibility it gives me might outweigh the negatives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pancho07 Posted July 16, 2016 Author Share Posted July 16, 2016 Well I haven't tested it yet but I'm going to call it good now. I ended up using scrap angle iron for the rails till I can find/ build something better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted July 16, 2016 Share Posted July 16, 2016 Pancho: What warped the table top? I stitch welded 3/16" x 1" angle iron to the bottom of the 14ga. table of my large coal forge and it hasn't warped at all. The reinforcing angle stitched under the table would look like a V touching the bottom of the table top. The rim is 2" angle iron flange up to make an elevated rim around the table but it's stitch welded as well. By stitch I mean a 1/2" tack weld every 4"-6" max # of welds. Nothing in the fabricating sunk enough heat into the top to warp it at all. I'll think you'll be a lot farther ahead using something other than that long lever of a piece of pipe for the air supply, vacuum cleaner hose for example. I"m not sure what to say about your rim attachment system there Koz but what the hey. Check with welding supplies, shops, maybe trade schools about worn out or damaged ground clamps. They're designed to take heat the office spring clips probably aren't. Don't throw the clips away though I'll bet they're nice steel for a pattern welded billet. Hmmm? Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pancho07 Posted July 16, 2016 Author Share Posted July 16, 2016 I wasn't thinking when I cut the hole and used oxy acetelyne torch instead of plasma torch or a cutoff wheel. I would agree with the pipe, it probably won't work the best but it's what I had. It can always be changed later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pancho07 Posted July 16, 2016 Author Share Posted July 16, 2016 Well something isn't working right, don't know whether I need a bigger blower or different air pipe but I can't get a fire going in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Everything Mac Posted July 16, 2016 Share Posted July 16, 2016 Is it the table top that's warped or the fire pot? If it's the table then get our your hammer and beat that sucker flat again. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pancho07 Posted July 17, 2016 Author Share Posted July 17, 2016 4 hours ago, Everything Mac said: Is it the table top that's warped or the fire pot? If it's the table then get our your hammer and beat that sucker flat again. Andy That is a possibility, it actually smooths out as it heats up but it's the least of the problems at the moment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 If you can, run the pipe straight from your blower to the T. I think that angle is hurting your air. Also are you losing any air out of the ash dump? That should be a tight fit without air loss. Lastly what coal are you using? Bituminous and anthracite are a little different as far as how much air they require. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 All that pipe isn't going to help air flow shorter is better. What are you burning and how are you lighting it? Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pancho07 Posted July 17, 2016 Author Share Posted July 17, 2016 Anthracite and kindling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 Breaking it up to around peanut down to rice size helps. Here's how I light coal. I cut or tear a strip of cardboard about 12-18" long and 1.5" wide and toll it like a cinnamon roll. I lay it on the air grate and fill around it with coal and slowly let the pressure off it so it can open up some, say maybe 1/4" gaps in the center few coils. I pack around the first layer with fines making a crater with the coil at the bottom and partially cover it with coarse coal. Then I drop in a stick match and give it JUST enough air for the cardboard to catch. Once it starts I cover the cardboard with coarse coal and bury that with an outer shell of dampened fines leaving just a vent in the center top. Start cranking and soon you'll have a working fire. The coil behaves like a torch and directs the flame into the coarse coal while the fines contain the heat I've tried the two sheets of wadded news paper method, kindling works well enough if you get a good wood fire going, I found pencil size sticks made a good minimum once the wood lit. Charcoal is a good coal starter. I like the cardboard coil. NO accelerants! Of course if you catch it on video you can make the televised Darwin Awards on the net. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pancho07 Posted July 18, 2016 Author Share Posted July 18, 2016 I could get the wood burning good but I think I was just choking off the airway once I put coal in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Ling Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 8 minutes ago, Pancho07 said: I could get the wood burning good but I think I was just choking off the airway. well, I light my coke forge with kindling. I first put some vegie oil on a paper towel to make it burn longer and then light it, put some small pieces of kindling on, then medium, then large (large being about the size of my thumb). I wait for the medium to catch and start charring to the point where it is black and has some embers on it and not just flame. THEN I put my coke on top and turn on my blower (I use a electric blower, used to use a hair dryer). when I burned coal, I just used some balled up news paper. It has always worked for me, except for if I don't use large enough kindling or my coke is to wet. Littleblacksmith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 Wood's okay, try laying a ring of coarse coal only maybe an inch or so wide wide around the air grate with a gap of say 1.5'-2" over it's center. Now lay a small wood fire on the grate tinder, then kindling next sticks and stack it not terribly tightly but close say 2" deep. Now cover it directly with coarse coal and pack around the crater shaped mound with dampened fines. Drop a match in and give it just enough air to get the wood lit and cover the remaining hole with coarse coal. Crank till you have a proper fire. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gote Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 It depends upon what the forge is like. I do it very similarly to Frosty. I use a forge with a kind of valve in the air inlet. I open the valve and have the ash dump open. I then put a small ball of shavings from a hand plane over the hole and then smallish (yes pencil size or perhaps thinner) on top. I rake in coals/coke or whatever from the sides except at the very front so the little bonfire (which in size is close to what Frosty describes above) sits in a "tube" of coal. I usually start the fire with a little gas burner intended for kitchen work since the flame reaches down to the bottom of the shavings but a match also works. When the shavings starts to ignite the wood, I rake in more coal and start covering the top. When the wood is burning well, I close the valve (It leaks), start the fan and rake more coal over the fire. It always works and it is easier to do than to describe. There are some principles here. #1 I supply air from the bottom. #2 I do not force air through so early that it extinguishes the first feeble flames. #3 I rake in coal from the sides so that the wood fire is well contained and the flames are directed through the coals on top. #4 When I put coals on top I start the fan so that the air flow through the burning zone is maintained. My fan gives a relatively high pressure on the entering air and I regulate by strangling in the entrance valve. I think that is better than using a bypass since air flow is more independent of the resistance in the fire. There is also no risk of the entrance becoming blocked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pancho07 Posted July 21, 2016 Author Share Posted July 21, 2016 i haven't had the chance to try again since I got it "done" but I'm thinking that I don't have enough air pressure. My first thought for a fix is to straighten up the duct. I'm not real sure why but I'm guessing that the horizontal 90• before the vertical 90• is taking away a lot of my air flow. I'm thinking I'll straighten that up first, if that doesn't work then I'll try I stronger fan. Was given a small 12v squirrel cage fan. Won't be hard to run a simple test with that without too many modifications with all the slip fit connections I have. Does anyone have any air supply advice? Thanks in advance , Pancho Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SomeGuy Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 12 minutes ago, Pancho07 said: i haven't had the chance to try again since I got it "done" but I'm thinking that I don't have enough air pressure. My first thought for a fix is to straighten up the duct. I'm not real sure why but I'm guessing that the horizontal 90• before the vertical 90• is taking away a lot of my air flow. I'm thinking I'll straighten that up first, if that doesn't work then I'll try I stronger fan. Was given a small 12v squirrel cage fan. Won't be hard to run a simple test with that without too many modifications with all the slip fit connections I have. Does anyone have any air supply advice? Thanks in advance , Pancho I have problems with my wood forge. I burn raw wood in it. My problem is I didn't think to add a clean out and the ash fills up the tube. I thought it might blow out by itself but it doesn't all blow out. I have a straight pipe running across the floor of my forge. I built it after the Whitlox wood forge. Anyway, my temporary fix was to use a shop vac with a large PVC ball valve to adjust the air pressure, or flow, whatever. Maybe try that. I am going to build another forge, similar but with a clean out in front so I can blow out the ash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pancho07 Posted July 21, 2016 Author Share Posted July 21, 2016 I have a drop ash dump, doesn't show up well in the 3rd pic but it's there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 I use an exhaust flap cap clamped upside down on my tuyere as an ash dump. It hs a little extension on the counter weight to make it easy to flip open from out front. Works very well, fast, easy and cheap. Can't beat it. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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