Corn Forge

[Bass Angler]

Could corn be placed in a regular brake drum forge? i'd imagine it would fall through the vents before it gets heated

[Frosty]

Change your air grate so it won't fall through. Also if you manage your fire so uncoked corn doesn't reach the grate it's no problem. (Okay, I know it isn't corn coke but I don't feel like inventing a new term, it's lunch time and I'm hungry.)

Frosty The Lucky.

[pkrankow]

Corn clumps as it cokes, so yes, it should be fine in a brake drum forge with whatever grate you have. My grate has holes much bigger than the corn kernels are and works fine with corn.

Phil

[Sweany]

http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/techline/fuel-value-calculator.pdf

here is a BTU / cost comparison.

[capnroo]

THANKS FOR THE INFO! I am going to try some corn as soon as I can run by the feed store! Also, I would like to mention that crisscrossed expanded metal may be a decent grate to use in your air hole although, I'm not sure whether it would burn through or not.

[ThorsHammer82]

it will burn through eventually, but than again, so does everything else.

[jarldagr]

Here is a thought on this subject I wonder if a mix of corn and wood pellets like for a pellet stive would even out the fuel consumption rate a little more?

[pnut]

People have tried pellets alone and you run into the same problem as with charcoal briquettes, that they send up lots of sparks with the added problem that the pellets crumble into dust adding to the sparks. 

Pnut

[bluerooster]

Well, I guess corn is about 1/2 the BTU/ton as coal, at about half the cost per ton.  So, about 2 tons of corn to do the same job as 1 ton of coal, for about the same price.

[Daniel95]

This article piqued my curiosity. I read the whole article, and I think I would like to switch to corn. Coal is unavailable in my area (that I know of), so I have been making charcoal. However, for how much energy it takes to make charcoal it is hardly worth it. I could buy 150 lbs of corn for $22, so I am curious, about how many hours would that last (in your standard JABOD)?

God Bless,

Daniel

[ThomasPowers]

How are you making charcoal?  I build a fire in a raised firepit and shovel hot coals over as needed using my shaker shovel. I don't notice much energy doing so.   Of course I use bellows or a hand crank blower and so don't burn the fuel as fast as a powered blower.

[Daniel95]

 Thanks for replying Thomas! After hearing how you make charcoal, I think I must be doing it wrong. What I do is spend a few hours cutting up dead trees in my backyard until I have a sizable pile of firewood. Then I cram a 30 gallon galvanized trashcan full of 2 by 4s. I set that horizontally onto a yard fire and let the can "cook" for 7-10 hours (Disclaimer: I am aware of the dangers of zinc poisoning, so I always make sure to be careful). Throughout the day I have to actively add more wood so that there is a fire burning all day. Then after this is all said and done, I have a decent amount of charcoal that will last for a few hours. Then I will have to rinse and repeat...

So if I have this clear, you just start a fire and take the coals that form? Where do you store the coals, because in my experience charcoal without forced air can burn for a while. Thanks for the help, because less time making fuel means more time in the forge

God Bless,

Daniel

[Frosty]

You don't need to store charcoal if you're scooping it out of a fire to forge with. When you're done let the fire go out or extinguish it and go have dinner. 

If you want to make a charcoal retort buy a 55gl. drum with a clamp on lid. Remove the rubber gasket from the lid, replace it with stove rope if you'd like but its not really necessary. Look for a lid with a bung, those are primo retorts. Screw i street elbow into the bung aimed towards the nearest edge, you may need a nipple to reach the edge of the barrel.

Dig a trench the barrel fits with some space under 12" +/- and 6"+ beside it. Stuff the gap with fire wood and brush. Cover the drum with plain steel sheet leaving a gap at the rear for smoke to escape. You'll want to mostly close off the trench at the front to conserve heat around the drum.

Pack the drum with reasonably uniform sized DRY wood and clamp the lid on. Pack the surrounding area with fire wood and light it.

Sit around and watch it. After a while you'll start seeing smoke come from the pipe vent in the drum, it will catch fire as it's drawn under the drum. After a while you can stop feeding the fire wood, the volatiles being cooked out of the wood are plenty flammable and will pyrolize itself.

When the flame from the vent dies down or stops plug it with dirt, remove the sheet metal cover and let it cool.

That's it, easy peasy.

Coal works as forge fuel but it's a lot more hassle than it's worth if you can find something else.

Frosty The Lucky.

[ThomasPowers]

I make them as I use them and use them as I make them. If I want to store some I would put out the fire---not the forge fire and collect the coals left. (2 methods: water or shovel into an airtight metal container and let it smother for a long time.)

When using the Y1K forge I am generally paired with the beehive oven and open fire cooks and we can "share" coals back and forth.

Your method sounds quite inefficient; perhaps a smaller container and a smaller fire would work better.

[Justin Topp]

I’ve had very good luck using feed corn in the past. It’s similar to a bituminous in where it cokes and forms a cave. It burns very fast though. I have managed to reach welding temps on smaller stock. Up to 1/2 inch. I’d say it’s not great for stuff larger than 3/4 to 1 inch. Charcoal is better in my opinion. How I’ve personally always made charcoal for forging is split everything Into small 1” square strips or so and pile them high to burn into charcoal quickly. Pile it around the side of the fire and scoop into the core of the fire below are some pictures of corn as fuel. Need to constantly have fresh corn around the edges to coke up. 
 

corn in the process of coking. tall bright orange- yellow flames not super hot core 

 

coked corn. Very hot pile of coals. A pretty dark yellow flame. Similar to coal. 
 

And finally the piece of steel in the fire at welding temperatures. 

[Daniel95]

Thanks for your input guys. Fuel has really been a large impediment to forging for me. Frosty, thanks for the detailed insrtuctions. If I can get my hands on a 55 gallon drum I might try that out. I would like to clarify, something you said earlier:

2 hours ago, Frosty said:

Coal works as forge fuel but it's a lot more hassle than it's worth if you can find something else.

Are you talking about charcoal and coal? I thought coal was ideal, not charcoal, but I could be wrong. In Fargo my I think my only options are charcoal, propane, and corn (I have googled but coal is really expensive to ship here. I also couldnt find any pickups). I have used propane but it is just a little too much money for me to maintain. So really my only options are corn and charcoal (unless I could find coal)

So I think I will cook up some charcoal to save for short sessions and start a yard fire for longer ones (I like that idea Thomas). I might try some corn one day. 

Thanks for your help, and if you have any more nuggets of wisdom to share I am open to them.

[Justin Topp]

Hey I didn’t even notice your in Fargo! I’m nearby. I buy anthracite coal from tractor supply. The one on Moorhead sells rice sized anthracite. My preferred size and the one in Wahpeton sells nut sized anthracite. I’ve used both and they both can be suitable for forging. Fairly cheap too. Often 5-9$ for a 40 lb bag 

[Daniel95]

Wow! I might switch to coal if I can get it for that price (I have used coal at a class, I think it worked quite good). Thanks for the info, Ill have to check that out.

Blessings,

Daniel

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

If you do pick up some anthracite, check this thread out.

 

[Justin Topp]

It’s not quite bituminous like you Would’ve used in the class but i like anthracite especially for the cost haha

[Daniel95]

Sure, I like cheap too!

[Daniel95]

While we are talking about fuel, I have a quick question. I currenly still use a charcoal side blast forge. After reading about Anthracite I heard that charcoal is actually a bit better, so I am still thinking about anthracite, but for now charcoal is just peachy.

Anway, my question is about my blower setup. Currently I use a standard cicular cage fan (for cooling off humans). It works but it doesnt quite get the charcoal hot enough. Would you guys recomend a hiar dryer or a hand crank would work better? I know with charcoal there is a fine line of too much air and not enough air, so some input would be helpful. 

Ps. If you want pictures let me know, I just dont know how to change the bandwidth of the pictures, dont want to anger mods or users.

God Bless,

Daniel

[ThomasPowers]

Charcoal doesn't go out while you are at the anvil; so interrupting the air flow when you take the workpiece out of the forge helps save fuel.  I  much prefer a good hand crank blower or blacksmith bellows when using charcoal.

[Daniel95]

That is actually what I am leaning towards also, because I wouldnt have to get the extension cord out. Only problem is some of the hand cranks go for 100 plus, and i dont trust my wood working skills enough to make bellows. Do you know where I could get either of these cheaply (<$30)? I could find some hand cranks for 10 to 20 bucks, but I dont know if they would be garbage or not.

Sorry for all the questions,

Dan

[ThomasPowers]

TPAAAT is how I find tools.   You do need to learn how to judge which tools are usable with a minimum of work on them though.