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I Forge Iron

Building a New Smithy (picture heavy)


Bantou

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I like storing vertically myself, it requires the minimum structural strength to support stock so long as it isn't going to sink into the ground.  I made a quicky vertical rack for short lengths from a rem piece of "Ranch Panel" fencing and welded it to an angle iron frame. I'd like to find smaller opening, 9ga. welded wire fencing but 8" is what we fenced the livestock with. 

If you work with small stock say, 1/4" - 1/2" (maybe) then screwing a rake to a wall with a short length of chain to retain stock in the fork, makes a perfect vertical stock rack. We'll call that one the Thomas Powers stock rack to give credit where it's due.

Frosty The Lucky.

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35 minutes ago, TBinKC said:

Only when the banter begins do we get a sense of the true genius.

Do not build a box so you can think outside the box.  With no box, everything is either a possibility, or an opportunity.

Put a bunch of free thinkers together working on a problem and although they may not solve the original problem, that will solve most of the other problems you never knew you had, and invent several new problems, and solutions, alone the way.  The challenge is trying to keep up, as it moves faster than a lightening bolt through clear air.  If you were able to capture it on a recording, you could spend untold hours translating and transcribing the results.

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“Do not build a box so you can think outside the box.  With no box, everything is either a possibility, or an opportunity.”

That’s some solid life advice right there. Reminds me of the story about the physics student who solved an “unsolvable” equation because he didn’t know it couldn’t be solved. 
 

As to the rest, I’ve had more problems solved here than I can remember the solutions to; most of them I didn’t know I had. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I finally got a chance to work on the new smithy some this weekend. It is still rough around the edges but it’s finished enough to be functional. The Roof is now mostly on, I flubbed the math on how man panels I was going to need though and wound up needing one more than I had cut. The post vice is set but I need some bigger lag screws for the mount. It wants to twist and walk around a little with the 5/8 lags I have in it. The anvil stand is cut, sanded, and bolted on one side. It is held together with ratchet straps until I can scrounge some more bolts to do the other side. My JBOD 2.0 needs one more bag of cat litter to be flush with the edge of the drum (I added more after the pictures were taken), and I need to figure out how to permanently attach the side draft flue to the forge body. It sits up relatively well on its own but I’d like it to be more stable. I’m leaning towards “L” brackets or something along those lines but I haven’t made up my mind for sure yet. 

The new fire box is 4” deep instead of the original 2”. From what I’ve read since making the 1.0, you need about 4” of depth with coal to get into a neutral fire. Since the 2.0 is loose fill, it will be much easier to modify and tweak to my changing needs than the original model. The packed dirt of the original was basically baked into rock. It came out in four lumps that I’m going to have to take a sledge hammer to, to break up. 

The next steps are going to be finishing the roof, installing the chimney, and hanging the lights in their final position. After that, I need to  run the electrical, put cross arms and R panel around the building to make a combined railing/half wall, hang the tarps that will make up the rest of the walls (plastic for now but I’ll eventually replace them with canvas), and figure it out organization/storage. Eventually, the wire reel that is serving as a work bench will be replaced with an actual work bench. 

Is there any reason I can’t use rolled up R panel for the chimney? It’s roughly the same thickness as single wall chimney pipe, can be interlocked, and is free. The chimney will be running straight up through the roof without any bends or deviations.

 

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That gives me an idea… I want to be able to lift the assembly up if I need a longer fire. I could split one end of a bar into thirds to form a claw on the bottom and split it in half on the other end to form a “whale tale.” In theory, I should be able to lift the barrel up when needed and then set the “claws” back over the tops of the legs when I’m done. 

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I’ll post pics once I get them done. I got everything wired in today and hot. I now have a fully functional, if a little rough around the edges, smithy. I still need to put the half walls on, run the chimney, and build the work bench; but, I can at least get back to forging again. 

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I gave the new JABOD a test fire last night and ran into two issues. First, the kitty litter kept getting mixed into the coal. Second, after about 30 minutes, my blower could not push enough air to get the fire hot all the way to the top; it shot a beautiful flame out from between the two bricks surrounding the pipe though. I should really know better than to try and “improve” on a proven design by now lol. 
 

The post mortem this morning revealed a massive chunk of clinker completely encasing the turyere and significantly melted bricks above it. I went back with the tried and true design today with the addition of a brick hearth to keep my coal out of the litter. It isn’t pretty by any means but I think it will work well enough for my purposes.

I also got the last of the roof on, most of the half wall framed in, and the chimney put together. With any luck, I should have a completed smithy (excluding the work bench and storage) to show off by tomorrow afternoon. 

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It's today afternoon, how'd it work for you today? I was going to reply yesterday but there was something hinky about your post I couldn't even open it. The mods straightened it out thank you guys!:)

Didn't you dampen the kitty litter, let it temper then ram it in place? It sounds like you used dry litter out of the box. You didn't do THAT did you? :rolleyes:

Just kidding you, you've met one of the beautiful things about a JABOD, they're easy to experiment with. If something doesn't work change it, it's just a box of dirt.

Yeah, clinker is like that, especially if you're mixing dirt in the fire directly. 

Keep at it, it'll come in a while.

Frosty The Lucky.

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It’s nearly there (I swear I say that every weekend and then spend all of the next working on it). The half walls are ready for siding and the tarps are hung. I had to pick  my daughter up from her mother earlier than normal today so that we could go trick or treating and didn’t have enough time to do all of it.

The tarps were the highest priority because it is supposed to rain this week. They aren’t going to keep out everything; but they should keep things relatively dry. I have them secured to the structure with screws and fender washers on the top, and zip ties on the bottom. The zip ties are just a temporary measure to keep the tarps from blowing around if it gets stormy instead of just rainy. Once I have the siding on, I’m going to use either hooks screwed into the bottom board of the wall or tent stakes as anchor points and either bungee cords or a rope and prusik to keep the tarps taught. 

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Oh yeah, taking the kidlettes trick or treating trumps any other chore that doesn't include pumping blood or cardiac arrest. Maybe flame leaping from windows. I know I still remember going trick or treating when I was just past toddlerhood. Great memories and as a parent you want to bear in mind the kids will be selecting your nursing home some day. Trick or treat, Hmmm?

Frosty The Lucky.

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Frosty,

mine is getting to an age where she really enjoys it. I think next year I’m going to have to suck it up and dress up as well.

Thomas,

there are pieces of 3/8 round stock through the bottoms of some of it. The idea is to weave some rope through the verticals sides and tie it off to the round stock. In theory, the tarps should go up and down like a set of Venetian blinds. I ran out of pieces of 3/8 that were a good length before getting them all done and didn’t have time to cut the rest. 
 

With the way storms can get here in Texas, I need a way to secure the tarps beyond just weight. I’m afraid that without some kind of tie down system, any weight I put on the bottoms of the tarps will just give more momentum to rips the tarps loose when the wind gets bad .

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