Sparks

[tjdaggett]

Do you use a spark arrestor of some kind on your chimney? Does the hat alone seem to do the trick? 

My chimney will be within ten feet of two trees, neither of which are on my side of the property line. I like my neighbor, so I ask.

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

Depends on what fuel used. Coal generally does not produce sparks with a well maintained fire. Charcoal will if there is too much air. Our shop and the forge chimney is with in ten feet of the trees and never had a problem without a spark arrestor.

[tjdaggett]

Thank you kindly! That takes a load off my mind.

The fire marshal have his approval, so I don't want to screw it up.

[JHCC]

Adding a spark arrestor may be overkill for fire prevention, but definitely is not for building good neighbor relations. Showing you care and are willing to go the extra mile on their behalf certainly builds up a stock of goodwill that you may need at some later point!

[Les L]

I have a saying that I tell all of my co-workers, “if you questioned your decision then you’re computer told you something was wrong” don’t second guess it, do it from the beginning and you won’t have to say the “if I only...”

[bluerooster]

I got kinda worried about a month ago when The wind got up just as I was adding more fuel to my open charcoal forge.  It's outside, sitting in a pile of dry leaves. :O

Charcoal will give "fireflies" when adding more fuel, sometimes.

[ThomasPowers]

I spent 15 years running coal and propane forges in a 1920's detached wood frame garage with dried leaves in the corners; never had a problem that a splash of water from the quench bucket didn't fix.  Of course it did "mysteriously" burn down a couple of months after we moved 1500 miles away.

[Michael]

Being in often tinder dry California, I have hardware cloth screens screwed in to both the top and bottom of my forge chimney.

Not that the coal/coke fire produces a lot of sparks, but you can never be too safe and the effort was not a big deal.

I have neighbors on 4 sides, and there are times in the fall when I'll when hose down the grass in the yard, before firing up the forge.  It doesn't take much smoke to bring the fire department nowadays.

A friend up north in the grass lands would fan exhaust his forge hood horizontally onto a section of the yard with a sprinkler going on it.

[ThomasPowers]

Sometimes you just need to work on other people perceptions!  I finally had to replace my Fire Extinguisher as I'd had it decades with never using it---but when travelling with the forge; having it clearly visible would make various site controllers think that you were a safe and careful individual.