R W Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 The coal should not be sitting against the clinker-breaker. I agree with you, and feel the grate you have referred to on Ebay should be ideal, am inclined to puchase one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bsiler Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 This is another good thread. I can usually get a good hot fire and lately have been able to get a good dome built up. Something that I'm having trouble with is keeping coke in the bottom. My dome stays built up but after awhile the bottom burns up. When I try to get something down there the dome collapses. What do I need to do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 A coal/breeze (forge coke) fire is a living, ever changing thing. As fuel burns it must be replaced and the dome rebuilt. (rebuilt is too strong a term once you learn how to maintain it but I can't think of the right one right now.) What you need to do is keep pushing new coal or breeze in from the sides regularly and keep enough on top to maintain the dome. This is what's going on when you see smiths slapping the fire with the bottom of the shovel. The impacts drive more fuel down and into the fire while keeping the dome compact and solid. I prefer to coke up a bucket full of coal when I first start in the morning, that way I get the smoke and stink out of the way right off. Maintaining the dome is still done in the same manner though. All the kids I've taught have whined about fire maintenance after having learned the basics in a propane forge. Then I show them a couple of things that are dirt simple to do in a solid fuel fire and they're somewhat mollified. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcraigl Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 What good is a clinker breaker if you put a grate above it? Help me out here folks. My coal "sits on my clinker breaker", and that way when the tuyere starts to clinker up and clog, I just give the clinker breaker a twist and I'm back to as good as new. About every third time, or as needed, I empty the ash dump. Now it seems to me if I had a grate on top of that, twisting the clinker breaker would do nothing as the clinker would be stuck to the grate. So why would I even want a clinker breaker? It's a complicated part of the overall forge build and I'd not bother with it on my next coal forge if a grate is better. There's an aweful lot of old coal forges around with a clinker breaker and no grate, and that's what I modelled my forge after. I've only been to about 15 hammer-in's etc. and to maybe 8 other smith's shops that use coal and I've never seen both a grate and a clinker breaker. Only one or the other. Any help for this poor soul? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
element Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 I have a grate but my next firepot will have a clinker breaker and no grate. Right now i have to poke the grate with a fire poker and loosen it up every half hour but it works. Mcraigl you dont need help lol your post made perfect sense, To me anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 One or the other is right. If you use a grate drift the holes or slits so they taper wider on the bottom, that way a little tap and the clinker drops out of the widening opening. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bsiler Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 Thanks Frosty, I guess with more practice I'll get better. I hate to mess the dome up after it is up and working so good. Maybe the thing to do is for me not to wait so long before smacking the top of the dome. Like everyone here seems to always say practice , practice and more practice. Thanks Billy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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