Build a bed of coals (embers) from kindling or small wood before adding the coal a little at a time.  Keep a hole open at the top of the fuel for smoke to escape and catch fire.  Think of a volcano.  This allows the coal and fire to form coke as it releases and burns the volatiles (smoke).  As the fire catches, add more coal a little at a time.

Also, once you fire is going, don’t add green coal to the center. Work the coal into the fire from the edge. That way the green coal starts to coke as it’s moved to the center and is already coked before it’s in the heart of the fire.

F+B, the PVC pieces were 4” drain pipes couplers. I found them in the outside garden section of a big box store. They were the lowest cost option compared to anything in the plumbing section. It would have been cheaper to buy full length 4” PVC, if I needed to make a lot. The short pre-cut sections of pipe just had to high of a convenience charge.

Keep it fun,

David

I don't think you have enough coal. Your table needs to hold the green coal and should be a couple inches above your firepot. You can then add water here to keep your fire contained. But like was said, no green coal in the center of your firepot, this makes smoke and a dirty fire.

Nice forge Pat

I was expecting it to be much harder to weld this ball bearing into the 1 inch square stock...

Did you do a preheat and a slow cool anyway?

I didn't preheat it but always let my welds cool naturally.  I did miss the joint on my first weld and put a bead directly on the bearing,  that heated it up nicely.  Not a great welder but I'm getting better a I use it more. 

I welded one side of flat stock to round bar of holddown hardie  tool.

 

Because hole is square and this is 3/4 round mild steel .

I will weld another one too ,hope it won't twist om me and I will have better grip.

Other is cool spring venter punch 

That will work Nat, weld the flat bar on the side facing the hold down so the round is against the hardy hole and the "key" flat bar doesn't need to do any deeper than just into the hardy hole maybe a centimeter. 

I call these a "Key" because it serves the same purpose a key in a shaft does, it locks the shaft orientation to say a pully, sprocket, motor shaft, etc. Make sense?

Frosty The Lucky.

 

Yeah it made sense but I welded everything fine since Ian better smith than stick welder, weld have up and I had left two flat stocks in hardy and round one out I mean L shape stayed in and round thick got pulled off by hammering .

 

Mounted the rebuilt Pro-forge on an old oxy/acetylene bottle cart and fired it up. 
in the  background is the old Samurai waiting parts and body work after hitting a deer.  
lit it isn’t one thing it’s another…

That looks really good Charles, it shouldn't take much effort to load it with enough handy tools you won't be able to move it. 

Frosty The Lucky.

Had our chapter of the IBA’s hammer-in today at my place:

(last pic is of Josh, an IFI member, setting a weld on a rasp tomahawk with the power hammer.)

Probably hand around 30 in attendance and I’m pretty sure everyone had a good time. I know I enjoyed it, and no one should have left hungry!

I started everything off by drawing out a die guide post for a knife on the power hammer:

It’s at 1/4”x1-3/4”x~12” of 52100.

Then after most everyone left, I started on a 90deg top tool:

Still have a lot of work to do on both, but not sure when I’ll have time in the next two months to do anything forging. 
 

Keep it fun,

David

Everything is so clean!

I've lighted up the forge again after a while, and finished a new carving axe to take with me on camping trips. The handle I made from a piece of maple that has been drying for about 2 years now. Forge welded file for the bit and mild steel for the body. This time i upset the end of the bar first to have some more material for the axe blade. To challenge myself a bit more the only grinding I've done was on the edge, the rest is al forged to finish.

~Jobtiel

 

John, it took me weeks of rack building, organizing, and hours of running the shop vac to get it that way! (Just don’t look in any draws or cabinets!)

If I keep hosting a hammer-in annually, hopefully it will keep me from letting it get out of control…

Keep it fun,

David

Goods, nice shop and it looks like everyone was having fun 

Jobtiel1, that’s a nice looking axe 

Goods, looks like a good time. I wish my shop was like that. 3 people and it is pretty crowded. Hold these pretty often and your cleanliness problem will solve itself. I have noticed that people, especially myself, are much more inclined to put it back where it came from when they are at someone else's shop. 

Jobtiel, something i like about your axe is that the eye looks a bit off center. I think it really adds to the aesthetics of it. It looks like something i would find in my great granddad's barn.  

Edited January 15, 20233 yr by BillyBones
Named the wrong person.

Looked like a good meeting David, were the members as nervous about maybe getting your shop dirty as I would've been? What's that old saying about a clean desk? 

Nice axe Jobtiel, well done.

When you say carving axe does that mean you do axe carvings when camping or do we have different definitions. I've used a single bevel axe for limbing, carving flat sides and dovetails in cabin logs but really preferred to use a slick and adze for all but limbing. A single bevel camp hatchet would be good cutting and splitting firewood as it's much less likely to skip off a branch and splits kindling nicely.

When I'm camping I use the same Estwing hatchet Dad bought for me when I was a Cub Scout its next to the wood stove now. Dad taught us in scout meetings how to limb and cut stakes with a hatchet without taking a chance of getting cut if it skips off. Basically hold the wood in front of your leg, lean over and chop the far side so if it skips off it goes away from you.

It's funny, I use that hatchet daily when I start a fire in the stove but I never think about it, it's just always been there. Now however, thinking about your carving axe with the flatter side reminds me of early lessons and old times.

Frosty The Lucky.

Made my first split cross, made as a keychain to give to my dad for Christmas (we just celebrated yesterday). 

Just as simple as everyone assured me it would be. Hardest part was getting the cuts without a bandsaw. Longest part was all the fiddling to get it just right. 

 

Looks awesome!!! I like the ball peen you used! I’ll have to try that myself sometime 

all the Fredrick’s crosses I’ve made I used a small double cross peen to make wood grain texture, but I’ve been wanting to experiment with that ball peen texture like you used!

what size stock did you make it from Shaina?

I used 3/8 square 2.5" long. Cut A 1", Cut B 1.75". Cut a bit off the top when my punch went awry, maybe half inch or so. I knew I wanted texture, I was already using the ball peen hammer on the rest so I just flipped it around to texture. I like how it turned out as well. 

Looks very good to me. I bet your dad will love it.

He did seem to like it. Inspected it for a good while and then asked if I made it. I said yes and he nodded his head, lol

Shaina, before I had a bandsaw I had trouble with long cuts made with a hacksaw wandering left and right.  I found one thing that helped was to make sure the blade was as tight as possible in the hacksaw frame.  Tight as in using a vise grip or wrench to tighten the wing nut.  Try it and I'm sure it will work better for you.

GNM