Frosty Posted July 23, 2022 Share Posted July 23, 2022 That'll make a dandy forge! Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 23, 2022 Share Posted July 23, 2022 You want the lid to keep rain out when it's sitting in the yard; it also helps camouflage it from pesky neighbors... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shainarue Posted July 24, 2022 Share Posted July 24, 2022 What would the minimum tuyere length be if I'm attaching a hair dryer? I don't want to assume anything and melt the hair dryer or make it unnecessarily long. I have two 12" long pipes that aren't threaded so I can't use an elbow. I do have that metallic hvac tape if it's okay to use that within 12" of the end that's in the fire. I can probably find something else to work with if I want to take another week. I was really hoping to get this finished today but this heat is stoooopid. Work an hour, drink and rest for two. Work 30 minutes, drink and rest an hour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted July 24, 2022 Share Posted July 24, 2022 A hair drier is overkill for charcoal, so just aim it at the tuyere and move it back and forth to control the blast. 12” should be fine, I use 8” myself and don’t melt anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shainarue Posted July 24, 2022 Share Posted July 24, 2022 It's coal. I might have said charcoal at some point but I have since bought two 40 lb bags of rice coal from Tractor Supply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted July 24, 2022 Share Posted July 24, 2022 A blow drier will still supply way more than it needs and 12" of tuyere pipe is plenty of distance. The air flow will cool the pipe and if you place the blow drier a little ways away from the pipe and just adjust how well aligned they are to control the air blast to the fire. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 24, 2022 Share Posted July 24, 2022 Your rice coal is probably anthracite; it will work but is harder to use than bituminous blacksmithing coal. You may want to read the threads about how to use anthracite for pointers. If you do try charcoal get "lump" charcoal and NOT briquettes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shainarue Posted July 24, 2022 Share Posted July 24, 2022 Yes, it is anthracite and yes, I did see a few posts about the differences. From what I could tell, it basically takes longer to light and needs constant air to keep going. I can do another search though, to make sure I've got it all. The TSC coal was just to get me going until I could get the other. It's what the local guy here used when he had me over to learn how to get the burn going and whatnot. I figured it worked well enough, given that I didn't know any better, lol The next BAM meeting is in Chillicothe and there is also a source for blacksmithing coal there, so I figured I'd get in contact with that place closer to the date of the meeting. I DID know already not to use briquettes. I have a little bit of charcoal from when we last burned old branches, and I have a bunch of wood I can burn if I want to make more. I saw Blackbear had a video on how to do it. Although, I also read that it burns up really fast so I figured coal was the better option for me for now. Or maybe a mix of the two. Use a few lumps of charcoal to get the coal going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted July 25, 2022 Share Posted July 25, 2022 Coal likes more air than charcoal and charcoal is helpful for starting hard coal. Note, as fire fleas become an issue with more air and higher temps with charcoal it is easier to burn up steel with coal. Mainly because we over air it and make it biter than we need. Patience comes with many a sparkler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George N. M. Posted July 25, 2022 Share Posted July 25, 2022 BTW, you may well know this but do not use charcoal briquettes for fuel. Use actual lump charcoal. Around here "Cowboy" brand charcoal is available as lump charcoal. It looks like black pieces of wood. Briquettes are made of powedered charcoal with a binder (often corn starch) to hold the powder together. When in an air blast the binder diintegrates and you are burning charcoal dust with LOTS of sparks and burning bits in the air. NOT fun. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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