My First Forge

[DanJohnson]

I just finished restoring a Bufco blower and fabricating a bottom blast coal forge. I intended to "first fire" it yesterday but the wind kicked up and I thought better of it.

I purposely used as much on-hand materials and components as I could to keep the cost down and thin the "clutter".

I found a local guy selling an unused Centaur fire pot assembly (for a fraction of the cost) after changing his mind about his forge plans.

Photos:

 

 

[Daswulf]

Looks good. Only thing I think you might find helpful is notches in the fencing on opposing sides to lay long stock flat in the sweet spot of the fire. Use it for now and see if you even need that. No need to modify before you know IF you'd even need to. Looks like it should work fine. 

 

[DanJohnson]

I had already planned to add notches but decided to wait until my personal preference (after use) of front-to-back or side-to-side lay-out is decided.   

I picked up a deal on close to 400 lb of coal I'm itching to get into.  

Dan

[Daswulf]

Bituminous or anthracite?

[DanJohnson]

Anthracite.

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

Your forge looks very good. Don't know if you have any experience using Anthracite but it's hard to stay lit with a hand crank blower. Pretty much likes a constant air supply. This thread is good info using it.

https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/60608-recommendations-for-working-with-anthracite/

 

[SLAG]

IDF & C,

Thank you for the reference,  (i.e. the coke discussion). I had neglected to "book mark" in times past. But I've done so now.

SLAG.

[Daswulf]

Anthracite does prefer a constant air blast. The thread IronDragon posted should help you out. 

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

You're welcome, Even though I don't use Anthracite the info JHCC supplied is fantastic IMHO.

[swedefiddle]

Good Morning Dan,

Looks like it will be a pain in the neck to remove you Ash and Clinker from your 'Catch Box' below the Forge. The Learning Curve is not straight.

Neil

[Chelonian]

I use anthracite in my forge. I was not successful using my hand-crank blower in the beginning, so I switched  to an electric one. My hand-crank blower is a Champion 400, which I believe is a larger type than the one in your photo, but perhaps other differences in our setups will allow it to work. (For instance, my forge is a side-blast)

[DanJohnson]

My current air piping is a prototype setup. When I firm it up, I'll put a tee in so I can have a secondary air supply from a "constant" source. That way, I can use either. I'd prefer using a hand crank and will source future coal accordingly.

Can bituminous coal be broken up in your hands easily?  Mine seems to hard fur that.  Maybe I'm not 100% sure about it being anthracite. I assumed so...

FYI, the "box" below the clean out tee is open bottomed. 

I'll have more to report when I actually burn coal in it.

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

Bituminous is too hard (but not as hard as anthracite) to break up in your hand, I usually break it up with a small hammer or tongs by hitting it on the forge table.

[BillyBones]

We used to have a coal hammer. The head looks as if you cut the flat side of a ball pein just below the shoulder while the other end looked like a square drift.( i would post a pic of one but i am not sure of violating some code, but a quick image search should bring one up) Now a days i just use a small ball pien inside an old metal tar bucket. The bucket helps keep pieces from flying around. Wear your safety glasses while doing this. I start by taking a large chunk and cracking it along the grain into thin sheets 1/2" - 3/4" thick. Then brake the sheets into smaller pieces. 

I have taken 2 small pieces and smack one against the other in my palm. I quit doing that after i had to dig a chunk of coal out of my hand. It will get some sharp edges sometimes.