Pr3ssure Posted November 4, 2018 Share Posted November 4, 2018 So I'm wanting to get more air to my coal forge, it gets just enough but more will definitely help. I have two bathroom hand dryers at my disposal. I was thinking about taking them apart and removing the heating element and piping them together to see if I get more air than my old blower gives. Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted November 4, 2018 Share Posted November 4, 2018 Aren't you using a blow drier now? They usually supply more than enough air to burn up pretty large work say a hardy. Too much air can actually blow the fire past the work before it can heat it. However, yes you can duct more than one blower into one tuyere. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pr3ssure Posted November 4, 2018 Author Share Posted November 4, 2018 No, I'm using a blower that came rusted onto my tuyere and firepot. Its putting out enough but I feel just barely enough. At least with using the anthracite I have right now. I'm also thinking of taking apart my electric leaf blower but I would have to get a control for it because that would be wayyy too much air unless I took it down about 75% Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted November 4, 2018 Share Posted November 4, 2018 Ah, it's the anthracite that's the problem, not the blower. You can break the coal into peanut size and make smaller fires just don't turn the air off. However two blow driers aren't unreasonable in your situation. NO leaf blowers! Even if you got it restricted enough the velocity of the air is WAY too fast, even anthracite doesn't need 100 mph air. Unless you're running a cupola melter but you'd be using coke. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevomiller Posted November 4, 2018 Share Posted November 4, 2018 I bet a single hand dryer would would give you more than enough air, and it’s fairly high presssure which is good. Play with choking the air inlet and outlet and not the motor speed, as that usually is tough on the motors. Also beware some motors used on blowers and fans will overheat if you choke the inlet, I’m not sure how the hand dryers are assembled. Frosty, got a question for you (or anyone that’s used it really): can you mix anthracite fines with water to make a closed fire like you can with bituminous? I’ve only ever used bituminous, and a couple of fires worth of some industrial coke someone gave me (which was clean but absolutely miserable to try and use with a standard coal fire pot). Well I’ve burned a lot of lump charcoal too but we’re discussing coal. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc1 Posted November 4, 2018 Share Posted November 4, 2018 Vacuum cleaners that have a blow port are much better than hair dryers and usually able to work for hours non stop. Another thing to check is your clinker breaker or absence of it. Anthracite depending on provenience can get into a sticky mass and prevent air from getting through. Mixing it evenly with bituminous is one way to make it work better. Some tell me even mix with charcoal but I never tried that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted November 4, 2018 Share Posted November 4, 2018 I believe he is talking about the hand dryers as used in restrooms. The blower in one of those will put more than enough air. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevomiller Posted November 4, 2018 Share Posted November 4, 2018 Yes OPs first post says they have two bathroom hand dryers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlpservicesinc Posted November 4, 2018 Share Posted November 4, 2018 No as to wetting it and controlling the fire via the fines the same as soft coal. (sealing and coking).. YOu can choke back the outer edge of the fire by using wetted dust if you wanted to create a smaller/tighter/upright fire out right.. But the dust will just settle into the firepot with little fan fare.. But ideally with Hard coal you want a deeeper firepit to begin with.. Yes, fire pit vs fire pot.. And constant air is needed to keep it moving along otherwise it will foul.. .. They made special hard coal forges in the old days... Very rare to see or find.. I've only seen 1 old 1 and in one of the vintage journals there was an advert for hard coal forge.. I used hard ooal till I found a source of soft coal. Also used wood, and charcoal along the journey.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pr3ssure Posted November 4, 2018 Author Share Posted November 4, 2018 Yeah, I wasn't sure if I could bring the speed on the leaf blower down enough even with a rheostat. Might experiment with it just for the thought of doing it. I keep the blower going though with the anthracite. Only turn it off when I'm taking a break and it seems when they smother out almost all the way but not quite I have a better fire going afterwards. It's weird. I saw what I believe is a big pile of coal on the side of the road the other day. There's 2 55 gallon drums busted up and what looks like a 200 pound or more pile of coal. I want to go get some of it and see if it is worth using. I need to just get someone with a truck and go pick up a load, I'm not going through enough for it to be a money problem paying $6 a bag but the anthracite is just a pain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevomiller Posted November 5, 2018 Share Posted November 5, 2018 Jen thank you for the explanation on working with anthracite, not much information out there on using it. I kind of thought it wouldn’t seal the fire, cook off the crud and coke up, but just didn’t know. I’m sorry I’m not following the delineation between fire pit and fire pot. Deeper fire even my silly mind understands tho! ;-). I imagine hard anthracite varies in composition just like bituminous and some must work better than others. Pr3ssure, a motor large enough for those leaf blowers will kill a rheostat ASAP. I’m pretty sure you need a triac or similar, and honestly it’s easier to either choke the inlet or outlet, or if all els fails put a wye in the outlet to divert some air.Hope you can get that free coal and that it’s good fuel, free is always nice and makes for a happy day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pr3ssure Posted November 5, 2018 Author Share Posted November 5, 2018 Yeah, I'm just gonna try the hand dryers for now. If they don't work out I'll fork out a few dollars for a decent electric blower. Sure I can find one for a decent price if I ask around. The anthracite is pain though. I see peoples fire using bit and thought the anthracite just wasn't gonna work for me at all. After half a day of trial and error though I got it going decent and only takes me 30 minutes or so from the start to get it going good. Probably gonna check the pile on the road out tomorrow/later today. I'll report back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlpservicesinc Posted November 5, 2018 Share Posted November 5, 2018 7 hours ago, stevomiller said: Jen thank you for the explanation on working with anthracite, not much information out there on using it. I kind of thought it wouldn’t seal the fire, cook off the crud and coke up, but just didn’t know. I’m sorry I’m not following the delineation between fire pit and fire pot. My pleasure.. A deeper fire is the best option in use.. Rice, or nut coal (which is sizing though not that accurate) is about right but again it must be a deeper fire to keep enough new coal in use.. Because of the way hard coal burns I prefer a deeper firepot and it's deep enough to call it a pit.. Hard coal does not coke like soft coal.. As it burns it stays the same basic size and will pop and split but for the most part the piece you start with will be the same size till the end.. In forging the coal will slowly break down as it is destroyed with both air blast and moving the metal in and out until it is cinder/dust and clinker.. The reason for the deeper fire to to have sufficient fuel going it but also because of the way the heat comes up through it.. In a soft coal forge the heat will come up in short order and if you stack green coal on top it will coke and keep heat in by sealing together forming a blanket.. Hard coal will not seal and the air simply works its way up through the mass.. it's actually pretty neat as you put the fresh coal on top and you have a clear blue flame vs soft coal which has a thick yellow smoke.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevomiller Posted November 5, 2018 Share Posted November 5, 2018 Thanks again,, you painted a picture that I could totally see and understand. I feel like if I had to use it I’d have a good chance getting it right straight out of the gate! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted November 5, 2018 Share Posted November 5, 2018 The most important challenge of using anthracite is getting it started in the first place. Get a starter fire established with LOTS of kindling and charcoal before adding the coal, or it will have burned out before you get the anthracite hot enough to sustain combustion. Once it's going, a strong, steady blast is the way to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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