[TheForge] Frustratin first attempt

[WinnonaD]

I hate ta break up this fist fight over $%&$%#%@
swearin with smithin talk, but I'z gonna anyway.....

Whal, I guess I gotta find me a local smith who knows
what he's doin �n' learn how ta build �n' manage a
coal fire!

Had a chance taday ta try out me new/old rivet forge
�n' it didn't go so good :-(

I posted up here awhile back that I knew how to LIGHT
a coal fire but didn't know how to BUILD a smithin
fire - hell, I been runnin steam engines since I waz a
wee slip of a girl �n' kin light up a steamer with one
paper match, a bit of kindlin, �n' have a 4x8 foot
fire 6" deep in an hour!

Anyway, I waz hopin some folks'd give me some pointers
on how to start with an empty rivet forge, a pail full
of 3/4" to 2" hard coal �n' end up with a useable
smithin fire. (In all fairness, I did get one PM where
the feller understood the difference between "lighting
a fire" and "building a fire".) On the Mailing List,
there waz a gadzillion posts about how to START a fire
�n' not a single one on how to "lay-up" or construct a
fire when you're startin with a empty pan.

Anyhow, since it cooled off a bit taday �n' the lathe
waz doin 45 minute passes on the cannon barrel, I
figgered it waz time Calamity Jane tried �er hand at
blacksmithin. I dug out me last washtub full o'
"Pennsylvania Hard"'n' laid in about 4" in the pan,
made a little hole over the tuyere �n' lit �er up
(paper �n' a couppla sticks).

It started out not too bad - nice little round fire
�round the tuyere. Kind o' dug a trench inta the fire
�cause the first task waz ta put a little spiral on
the end of a piece of 1/2" square. Didn't take long ta
get ta dull red but there weren't much coke yet, so it
didn't get much hotter. Wazn't much I could do to pack
(or tighten up) the fire �cause all I got is larger
chunks.

Then I notice the fire's tryin ta spread out along the
bottom of the pan. Don't need a whole pan full o'
fire, burnin up me nice coal to make waste heat, so I
take me little squirt bottle (like fer waterin plants)
�n' rein it in.

Now every time I try movin coal toward the tuyere ta
keep me fire tight, the whole blessed thang falls
apart! Chunks of green coal fall in �n' the good stuff
at the bottom gets buried - GRRRRRR!

Guess maybe I gonna haffta get meself some fire bricks
�n' make a fire pot with �em ta stop the fire from
spreading out under the coal bed - watering seemed to
cool the whole fire too much. Maybe I waz tryin ta run
too small a fire (about 8" diameter).

Figger I probably also need ta break up me coal into
smaller chunks - gotta find a way ta do that without
makin a holy mess!

What else am I doin wrong (other than using coal
instead of gas) ????

OK, ya kin go back ta talkin 'bout "BS" agin....

Calamity (who's too damned stubborn ta give up) Jane

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