Lee188 Posted September 4, 2018 Share Posted September 4, 2018 Built a new jbod a week ago and fired it up Saturday to check it out as there are some scouts coming to use it this week. I followed instructions or tried to follow them from the jbod discussions going on and it worked great. One thing I noticed is in the 6 or 7 hours I had it running It built up slag over top of the pipe bringing the air in. It didn't seem to fall below at all. Is there something I'm not doing right? could it be my coal? The coal I am using is somewhere between powder and nut sized +/- I have to break it up from roughly fist sized chunks and need a better way to do that. The dirt I had was pretty powdery, it held a good pot at first but when I tore it down the pot wasn't well defined after talking another big chunk of slag out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted September 4, 2018 Share Posted September 4, 2018 I've encountered the same problem, usually when I'm burning anthracite. Not sure what the best solution is, other than more frequent clinker removal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted September 4, 2018 Share Posted September 4, 2018 Depends a lot on your coal; I've used coal where we forged all day and had 2 tablespoons of ashy clinker to remove and I've used coal where every 15-20 minutes you had to hook out a large chunk of glassy clinker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anvil Posted September 4, 2018 Share Posted September 4, 2018 that's clinker. All coal has clinker, some more than other. The size of your coal does not matter. The solution is a clinker ball, not a grate. With a grate, you must break down your fire to clean it of clinker and ash. Ash is the other byproduct of burning coal. here's a clinker ball from centaur forge https://www.centaurforge.com/Firebowls-Firepots-Replacement-Parts/products/168/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted September 4, 2018 Share Posted September 4, 2018 Anvil, I'm pretty sure from the OP, Noob is using a side blast, so no grate or clinker breaker will work in that situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted September 4, 2018 Share Posted September 4, 2018 Yep, more frequent clean outs and making sure you have a slight down word angle to the tuyere to push the center of the fire away fron it. Coal is compressed and mineralized peat, peat bogs contain a bit of clay and other minerals (iron for one) this non organic material is what melts and forms slag and clinker. So depending on how clean t he peat bog you get more or less clinker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee188 Posted September 4, 2018 Author Share Posted September 4, 2018 That's kinda what I figured but thought I'd ask. It is a side blast and quite literally a box of dirt, I seem to have very little issues with klinkers or I am not finding it then all of a sudden my airflow goes way down and the pot is full of what seems like glass. I'll just have to try cleaning it more often Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted September 5, 2018 Share Posted September 5, 2018 Sand is silica, silica makes glass, lol. Just the tau of coal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anvil Posted September 5, 2018 Share Posted September 5, 2018 On 9/4/2018 at 9:34 AM, Daswulf said: Anvil, I'm pretty sure from the OP, Noob is using a side blast, so no grate or clinker breaker will work in that situation. Thanks for the heads up. I had not looked at how this was made. I don't have much experience with a side blast, and then it was with coke, not met coal. However, and off topic, but it appears that a clinker ball and ash dump below the fire clay firepot would be a great upgrade. You then could remove ash, clinker, and the like without disturbing the fire. The clinker ball and dump don't really care if the air is from the bottom or side. Lol, my first forge was built from the bottom of a cast water heater and had a grate,, It still increases the ole anxieties remembering trying to remove the clinker and clean my fire without a major fire rebuild! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee188 Posted September 6, 2018 Author Share Posted September 6, 2018 Tonight in about an hour we developed a pretty good sized chunk which was good to show the boys that where getting a little taste of beating on some hot metal. After it was all over however we had a bit of a accident. My forging space is limited to my driveway and my wife wanted her truck back in it before I came in. My son and I picked the forge up as we had done before and started to carry it to the back and one side of the stand gave way dropping the whole thing to the ground busting the forge apart. Will start the rebuild with the original pieces, any suggestions on reinforcements. Thinking of planning 2 1/4" x 2" straps underneath and a band around the top so I can put some handles on it so I can lift the box off the base. Any thoughts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted September 6, 2018 Share Posted September 6, 2018 Loops for carrying poles like those on a sedan chair or the Ark of the Covenant might be a good option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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