[TheForge] water on the fire and how much fuel?

[Phlip]

You asked:

> How many of you regularly use water on you fire when working? Another
thing
> I have been wondering is how much fuel do you use when building a fire. Do
> you have lots and just keep the fire contained with water, or just use
> enough fuel to get done what you need to do?
>
> Thank for any comments,
> T. Clark

Well, that's problematical. You have just asked for, essentially, fire
management 101 through your doctoral dissertation, and there's a bit more
material than can really be handled in a few paragraphs ;-)

When using coal, depending on the variety and purity, some people will use
water to help convert it to coke. Water, as it becomes steam, helps remove
some impurities. But, you shouldn't be controlling your fire with water- if
you are, you're a danger to people around you.

When using water, you only use a little at a time, the reason being that if
you put a bunch on a red-hot firepot, you're going to have a problem. A
steam explosion, with cast iron shrapnel, is NOT what you want, unless
you're trying for a Darwin award.

When Red taught us about fire maintenance, we were using covered forges,
with a fairly large firepot, and the raw coal was piled around the outside
of the fire, with water sprinkled on it periodically to help it turn to
coke. As we used up the coke in the fire, we added coke from the edges, and
replaced it with raw coal which we then watered. It's not that difficult,
but it does take some attention, along with whatever else you're doing- it's
part of the coal smithing process.

As far as your usual fire, I like to have mine a little bigger than I
actually need, for convenience in positioning my pieces, particularly if I'm
working on several at a time, but you'll find that your pot will help
dictate how big your actual fire is.

Sometimes, I'm actually making coke ahead, and it will look like I've got a
grand load of coal on the fire, but actually I'm rotating coal and coke, and
if you watch me for a while, you'll notice the pile at one end gets smaller
and thwe one at the other gets bigger- that's one reason I have a large
table.

To prevent having a huge fire and running out of control, all you really
need to do is break up the fire, and pull pieces of coke out- coke requires
a certain minimum mass to keep burning, and if you reduce the sizes below
that minimum, it will extinguish itself- again, part of constant fire
management.

I suppose it's rather like driving a car. You make sure you've got gas and
oil and the lights, etc work before you get in, start it up, then mostly
look at the road in front of you and steer. As you're going, occasionally
you check your rearview mirrors (checking your fire) and always are aware
enough so you notice strange noises and smells, but basicly you're
concentrating on the road (the piece) in front of you.

Or, that's my way of doing- others may have their own preferences.

Phlip