[TheForge] charcoal firepots

[Rafter Lazy C]

No, I am actually using cheap stoker coal in both forges, and have filled
them both fromthe same barrel that I filled at the place I bought it.  It
was in a pile there and I took a shovel, and filled 3 30 gallon steel
garbage cans, then payed the man $35.00

I know that they are the same coal, and when I get done and clean out the
forge to put it away, I find no clinker in the rivet forge.  I need to
constantly be messing in the fire in the brake drum forge, as the clinker
builds up enough to choke the fire.  I believe you may have hit on it with
the depth of fire thing, as the brake drum forge is a lot smaller and would
therefore have less reserves of heat.  Never would have thought all this
could be, though.  I know that I use a bit more coal in the rivet forge than
I do in the brake drum forge.  I have the brake drum welded to a pipe
feeding air up from the bottom, and this is up inside a steel barrel with
the side cut out.  The bottom of the brake drum is probably about 2-3 inches
up from the bottom of the barrel, and I poured cement around it, almost to
the top of the brake drum.  The brake drum itself is from a medium sized
car, maybe it is just too small?  Seems to work alright, but have never
gotten a good welding heat out of it.  Maybe the fire is just not large
enough.

Thanks for the response,
Oh well, lots of maybe's and not much else.  Talk to you all again soon,

Rick Crawford at  Rafter Lazy C
Home of Rick's Forge and Lem the Wonder Mule
email = rafterlazyc@tbcnet.com
home page = http://www.tbcnet.com/~rafterlazyc/



----- Original Message -----
From: "Demon Buddha" <osan@netlabs.net>
To: <theforge@mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Monday, July 08, 2002 9:39 AM
Subject: Re: [TheForge] charcoal firepots


>
>
> Rafter Lazy C wrote:
> >
> > I have a forge that I made from an old  brake drum and an electric
> > blower with a light dimmer switch for blower control...
>
> First off, I would get rid of the dimmer and build a blast
> gate.  I have used dimmers and as far as I'm concerned, I
> would rather use a bellows.  The blast control sucks IMO.
> A gate will give you a whole world better control.
>
> > Also, I get huge amounts of clinker in this forge...
> > Let
> > me know what you all think are the reasons for this, please.
>
> Brake drum forges are OK to start with, especially when $$
> is tight, but I think the lack of depth poses a problem in
> terms of a fire's ability to idle away for any appreciable
> length of time.  I like a deeper fire.
>
> As for clinker, that's usually a function of how good the
> coal is.  I'm not aware of any physical characteristic of
> a forge that would change the AMOUNT of clinker.  Could it
> be that the rivet forge is ferrying the clinker away from
> the active zone of the fire whereas the drum forge is not?