is it my coal?

[wulfgar]

I'm new to blacksmithing and am having troubles finding any help or direction. My forge is small and very very old. I don't have access to blacksmithing coal, so I've been getting some from my neighbor. I'm not sure what type of coal it is and he just uses it in a coal burner. I've been told that it is a softer coal. Anyways I am trying to get into knife and sword making. i recently tried to heat up some spring steal from an old broken leaf spring and even with my blower going full i cant seem to get the steel near hot enough, it also burns out my coal very quickly (or so it seems to me, I'm not sure how long coal should last) and I also have a very fast and rapid growth of 'clinkers'. Am I doing something wrong or is it mostly the coal I am using? Thank you to anyone who responds.

[son_of_bluegrass]

Pictures of your set-up would help. If there is a lot of clinker then there is a good possibility you have a dirty coal that will give you problems.
Where are you (city, state)? Have you looked on the ABANA site for a local blacksmithing chapter?

ron

[Glenn]

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 you are located.

[Glenn]

Go to IForgeIron.com > Getting started, and then to > Lessons in Metalworking > Blacksmithing. They should get you started. The IForgeIron > Blueprints are a great resource. You may want to go to IForgeIron.com > Blacksmithing Groups > GS0003 Blacksmithing Groups Look for a blacksmithing group near you and attend some of the meetings.

Keep asking questions, photos help show us what you are doing so we can provide suggestions.

[wulfgar]

I live in the small town of Trochu in Alberta Canada. i hope this directs you you my picture. the only thing i have changed is i removed the metal plate that is sitting on top of the forge. I couldn't get enough airflow through it so i just took it out. the coal just sits in the bottom of the basin as well. I hope this helps give more of an understanding of what I'm working with. I know its not much but its all I got.

[dablacksmith]

most likeley its your coal..... try some charcoal...(not briquetes) just build a good fire with wood and keep it going till you got a good bed of coals use that in your forge it will take time but it will work..... good luck

[Dave M]

I have an old candy rivet forge that looks just like the one you have pictured except on mine the blower is still hand cranked. I use it to do portable demo work and it works great. I would have to say your problem might lie with the coal you are using. When I first started I thought coal was coal so I burned boiler or furnace coal that I smashed up in to small pieces with a coal hammer. I found the coal I was using to be dirty, damp ,hard and smokey. It was very hard to keep lit, then I found 2 or 3 hardware stores that would order bagged blacksmith coal for me ( santa clause) from pocahontas vain, stuff changed my life:D. I now drive to 1 or 2 different coal yards to buy my coal by the ton. You could buy a bag of lump style charcoal to test your forge out.

[son_of_bluegrass]

I would not recommend charcoal in that style of forge. It is just too open, I have a forge similar to that and it works with blacksmiths coal but loses heat too fast for charcoal. To get enough heat with charcoal I found I had to keep about 15 pounds of charcoal in the pot.

You can built a charcoal forge easily enough. The one I currently use with charcoal was a Weber grill in a past life. I lined it with wood ashes to hold the heat in the pit and run a pipe in the side from the blower. If you just run the pipe in from the side, consider the pipe expendable as it will slowly burn up.



ron

[wulfgar]

I have an old candy rivet forge that looks just like the one you have pictured except on mine the blower is still hand cranked.

Mine is actually still hand but it was getting too tiring trying to keep the heat up and I came across an electric emissions blower off of an audi turbo car (the joys of working in a scrap yard). Oddly enough the pressure tube fit perfectly into the intake of the hand crank blower and it works great . And thanks for all the the advice too. I'll try and get some pictures up of my first sword so you let me know what you guys think when i get them on.

[RBrown]

if im seeing the pic right looks like you have a plate set in the forge that has a little bit of a dish shape to it. I would recommend redoing that plate and creating something in the center of it to make a deeper fire pot. the way i did it on one of mine is i just tooks some metal about 2 in wide and made a ring about 10 in or so diameter. set that down around your grate that would be placed right over the blast hole. Then i cut a thin piece of plate or thick sheet metal with a hole in the center it just sets on top of the ring. cut it just small enough to rest on the edges of the ring. It helps keep the hot spot in a nice manageable location. i will try to get some pics of it tonight so you can see what i mean.

[dimag]

There is good coal to be had in Alberta,Grande Cache comes to mind and probably several other places.
As for advice and help.There is the Southern Alberta BS guild in Calgary,pretty good bunch of guys,you should be able to get info there.The only number I have is for Mike Niekan 403-650-7133.He should be able to point you in the right direction for coal and other smiths near you.

[Francis Trez Cole]

You forge us is for heating rivit's A friend of mine uses one as a moble set up. He has a ring of steel about 10 in in dia which holds the coal tight over the blower. the ring is about 1 1/2 in wide.

[wulfgar]

ok i finally have my pictures loaded and to warn you im not good at photography. also this is my very first piece i have ever forged and it is made from about 1/2" rod. its not finished yet but i will post more pics as i get further along. and thanks dimag i will try and contact him.