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New coal forge build in progress


Camerican

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1 minute ago, Camerican said:

I have been tossing around ideas for holding down the anvil. I am thinking just some flat bar with a couple holes punched and lag bolts. Pics don't show it but I have magnets on the front side of the anvil which deaden the ring quite well. Those buckworth anvils ring like a bell. It really is a nice sound but probably not good for the ears all day. This was just an impulse day. Couldn't well fire up the forge without hitting any hot metal. Thanks for all of the positive feedback gents! 

I'm a strong convert to attaching anvils to stands with a layer of silicone caulk. Strong, and deadens the sound nicely. 

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23 minutes ago, JHCC said:

I'm a strong convert to attaching anvils to stands with a layer of silicone caulk. Strong, and deadens the sound nicely. 

Do you also bolt it down? Or is the Silicon caulk enough to hold it by itself?? And do you just put it on the bottom? Or run a bead all around the outside as well? It is an interesting idea indeed. 

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Some kind of hold down for the anvil is more for keeping it stable, and some for sound.  If you do much sideways hammering on the horn, you will quickly learn why it's a good idea to hold that sucker in place (unless it's 300-400 pound behemoth, which ain't goin' nowhere!!).

Your flat bar and lag bolts should work just fine.

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48 minutes ago, Camerican said:

Do you also bolt it down?

No. 

49 minutes ago, Camerican said:

Or is the Silicon caulk enough to hold it by itself?? 

Yes. 

50 minutes ago, Camerican said:

And do you just put it on the bottom?

Yes. 

51 minutes ago, Camerican said:

Or run a bead all around the outside as well?

No. 

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I don't consider it backwards---just set up for a right hander  Dominant hand on the blower crank, other hand on the tongs/work piece. When you go to the anvil the right hand is free to grab the hammer and the left hand is already in place on the tongs/workpiece.  No switching around needed!

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 Thomas, are you saying he built it backwards for himself? Seems to me if you crank the blower with your left hand you would have your back to the fire. Doesn't make sense to me ......but hey... I'm abit odd anyway. It's all good.                   Dave 

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1 hour ago, PapaDooks said:

see and here i thought you'd want your lesser hand on the blower. that way you ended up with balanced arms instead of one giant and other puny :D 

That was my thinking as well. The blower isn't attached. The bracket can be moved to the other side, but I was concerned with the lopsidedness as most of the work would be on the left side. The more you know...

Edited by Camerican
Typo
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Yes backwards for a left hander: your non dominant hand may be doing more work with the tongs and workpiece than the dominant hand with the blower---so I don't understand PapaD; unless you forge with the off hand not doing anything which is just weird!

As for doing it the "other way" may I suggest that for the next year you get into your car on the passenger side first and then get out and walk around to the drivers side *every* *time* to see what having to switch around to accomplish anything is like.  (The annoyance factor builds up fast; I've had to switch hands before when I was sited at Demos with no concern to which way the forge should be set up for *me*.)

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Under a spreading chestnut tree 

  The village smithy stands; 

The smith, a mighty man is he, 

  With large and sinewy hands; 

And the muscles of his brawny arms

  Are asymmetrical bands. 

  

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8 minutes ago, JHCC said:

Under a spreading chestnut tree 

  The village smithy stands; 

The smith, a mighty man is he, 

  With large and sinewy hands; 

And the muscles of his brawny arms

  Are asymmetrical bands

  

Point taken! Looks like I'll be moving the blower to the other side! Always glad to have you curmudgeons around. Your small notes and observations are worth their weight in gold. 

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i think the last word of Tom Powers post is the most important one. that's for him. i'm guessing everyone else's mileage may vary.

 

oh and i watch my wife constantly go to the wrong side of the car. 30 years in australia and she still defaults to getting into a canadian car at times 

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  • 5 months later...

Not to resurrect an older post..but I didn't see the need to make a new one being it wasn't that old.  When I decide to make the decision between gas or coal this is the set up I want to go with. It looks like your shop is similar conditions to mine.

How has that forge worked out for you since it was built? Anything you would change now that you have had it for a while?

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Well first of all, I am really flattered that you want to build a forge like mine! Here is an update after using this forge for 4 months or so...

Still have the blower on the right. It is nice to give the left arm a break while I am cranking with the right. I use sub-bitumous coal so it stays well lit even without the air going. Have about 1200 lbs of it so i am not needing to buy coal for a long while. Klinkers are annoying but a fact of life and I have learned to deal with them. 

The only thing I plan on doing with this forge is to upgrade the firepot. 1/4 inch is a little thin for my liking and at 3.5 inches deep I find it a little too deep. Will be replacing it this winter probably with either 3/8" or 1/2" and make it only 2.5 inches deep. I find the 8"x8" geometry about perfect for the work I do which is tool making. I only need to hear 4-6 inches at a time with being all manual on the hammer anyhow. 

The 6" pipe for the chimney has not been a problem. Even at 85F in the summer it draws fairly well. I will remind you that I have an ideal situation though. 15ft straight up and no buildings in the area to cause turbulence. When I build my new smithy it will be upgraded to a 10" flue. Other than that I am happier than a pig in s#!t with this set-up. 

Hope to see your build in the near future. I am really looking forward to it! Thanks for the interest!

 

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Well first of all, I am really flattered that you want to build a forge like mine! Here is an update after using this forge for 4 months or so...

Still have the blower on the right. It is nice to give the left arm a break while I am cranking with the right. I use sub-bitumous coal so it stays well lit even without the air going. Have about 1200 lbs of it so i am not needing to buy coal for a long while. Klinkers are annoying but a fact of life and I have learned to deal with them. 

The only thing I plan on doing with this forge is to upgrade the firepot. 1/4 inch is a little thin for my liking and at 3.5 inches deep I find it a little too deep. Will be replacing it this winter probably with either 3/8" or 1/2" and make it only 2.5 inches deep. I find the 8"x8" geometry about perfect for the work I do which is tool making. I only need to hear 4-6 inches at a time with being all manual on the hammer anyhow. 

The 6" pipe for the chimney has not been a problem. Even at 85F in the summer it draws fairly well. I will remind you that I have an ideal situation though. 15ft straight up and no buildings in the area to cause turbulence. When I build my new smithy it will be upgraded to a 10" flue. Other than that I am happier than a pig in s#!t with this set-up. 

Hope to see your build in the near future. I am really looking forward to it! Thanks for the interest!

 

Thanks for the info. I didn't really want to do anything bigger than 6" since I already have 6" pipe ran for my stove. The only down side is to tie in I would need a bend from the forge into the stove pipe. I have to go through a wood wall in order to get the pipe outside to stainless insulated pipe is required for that and get quite expensive above 6" pipe. I dont want to be too deep cost wise in this project. But then I don't want to build something that I can use either.

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Thanks for the info. I didn't really want to do anything bigger than 6" since I already have 6" pipe ran for my stove. The only down side is to tie in I would need a bend from the forge into the stove pipe. I have to go through a wood wall in order to get the pipe outside to stainless insulated pipe is required for that and get quite expensive above 6" pipe. I dont want to be too deep cost wise in this project. But then I don't want to build something that I can use either.

I think we covered sharing stacks with different fuel fires in another thread? It's not only dangerous it's sure to fail. 

Before you go cheap on the first build consider how much it will cost to rip it all out and do it right later. Coal forges don't generate a lot of waste heat so they REQUIRE a larger stack or it won't draw. This exact thing has been discussed since Iforge was launched and for many years before on other fora, email lists, all the way back to the bulletin board days. A 6" stack is inadequate, it WON'T draw and plumbing it into another exhaust stack is an invitation to a fire. 

How about taking a drive to a fire station in another neighborhood and asking them if what you propose is a good idea. If you ask your insurance agent your rates will probably sky rocket.

Oh, about insurance if the fire investigator discovers you've combined stacks like you propose they are NOT going to cover a fire, even if that wasn't the cause. Ask the FD, they'd rather spend all day talking to you than fighting a fire at your house. No foolin.

Frosty The Lucky.

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Thanks for the info. I didn't really want to do anything bigger than 6" since I already have 6" pipe ran for my stove. The only down side is to tie in I would need a bend from the forge into the stove pipe. I have to go through a wood wall in order to get the pipe outside to stainless insulated pipe is required for that and get quite expensive above 6" pipe. I dont want to be too deep cost wise in this project. But then I don't want to build something that I can use either.

You might look at this thread. We used 10 inch spiral HVAC duct work for the flue and it draws like crazy with no over heating problems.

https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/23197-bp1048-side-draft-chimney/?tab=comments#comment-235913

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You might look at this thread. We used 10 inch spiral HVAC duct work for the flue and it draws like crazy with no over heating problems.

https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/23197-bp1048-side-draft-chimney/?tab=comments#comment-235913

That looks like a nice set up however I would have to go through a brick wall to do something like that. my walls are all brick up to about 8' then wood in the gable ends and roof line. Not sure it would be worth blowing through the brick at this point.

 

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