[TheForge] Coal Forges - lets try this again

[Dick Nietfeld]

Mike, I have never heard of "not letting the fire get into the pot", but
then I have not seen everything.  Do you know of anyone else that attempts
to do that?  I will have to say, I've never seen it done and I've watched
hundreds of blacksmiths, some of them were the best in the country.

I think it is standard practice to have only coke in and above the firepot
except for the green coal being converted to coke as is being pushed toward
the center trough ( above the firepot).

I will agree that occasionally I push green coal down into a portion of the
firepot to fill a void, but not close to any iron being heated.  And I agree
a fire should be fed from the sides by pushing green coal toward the firepot
as the coke is burned up in order to form new coke.

If there is coke in the firepot, it will quickly catch fire.

The air blast keeps the bottom of the firepot from burning out and sometimes
there is unburned paper there if the fire is small and of short duration.
If clinker falls to the bottom (typical) the paper burns.

Dick

-----Original Message-----
From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Mike Linn
Sent: Wednesday, July 04, 2007 2:39 PM
To: Sponsored by ABANA
Subject: RE: [TheForge] Coal Forges - lets try this again

Pot failure is mainly caused by improper fire management. Instructors 
want to get people hooked on blacksmithing by having them hit hot 
iron, very few take the time to teach proper fire control and management.

The wearing out of fire pots comes from letting the fire get to the 
pot.. ie.. letting the fire burn down till there is insufficient fuel 
left..or letting the fire burn out to the walls of the pot. There 
should always be green coal  in contact with the pot.. you feed the 
fire from the sides ... in. In other words, push the coal down the 
inside of the wall..  forcing the coke to the center.. then as the 
green coal cokes.. it is pushed inwards by new coal..

Water is used to help keep the fire from spreading throughout the 
pot..  I have seen pots cracked by water but that was after the fire 
got out of hand and TOO much water was used. I use either a sprinkle 
cup or a rag on the end of a rod to control flames.. think of it like 
knocking back the hot spots when BBQing..

Ive actually forged all day, and when I took the fire apart that 
night, Ive found bits of un burned newspaper from when I started the 
fire that morning.

Lastly.. my fire pot IS made of stainless.. its 3/8" plate and 
actually is a pot within a pot, which actually air cools the pot as 
the air is blown in. Its about 10 years old now and has barely 
changed color. However a good cast iron firepot should last several 
lifetimes if proper fire management is practiced.

mike



At 07:11 AM 7/4/2007, you wrote:
>Hello
>Parts of this discussion have mentioned firepots "wearing out" or
>"cracking".
>I have been led to believe that the use of water on the fire as the
>cause of this destruction.
>How does water factor into the longevity or lack of the pots life?
>Thank you
>lynn
>
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            Mike Linn
      Artist Blacksmith
         McCalla, AL


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