[TheForge] Frustratin first attempt

[Peter Fels And Phoebe Palmer]

Jane;
I'd guess that the hard coal is a handicap and more difficult to use 
than good soft smithing coal.
A much deeper fire might help and some ash, sand or clay on the bottom 
of the forge pan will be both heat reflecting and spare the cast iron 
pan. As you know, cold water on a hot cast iron pan makes a sharp, ugly 
sound sometimes.


WinnonaD wrote:

>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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