[TheForge] burning and cracking pots

[schade at acegroup.cc]

On Jul 6, 2007, at 10:02 AM, Washington, Aubrey O. wrote:

> Can anyone give me a comparison between the SOFA fire pot and the 
> Laurel Machine & Foundry firepot?  I have heard folks say good things 
> about both (as compared to the Centaur pot).  But, I've never seen 
> either one in person.  I would like to support local blacksmith 
> organizations like SOFA, but their firepot lists for $120 more (at 
> $255) than the LMF firepot (at $135).  Both include clinker breaker 
> and seem to be the same size.  The only clue I can get about 
> difference in quality from reading the specs is that the shipping 
> weight on the SOFA pot is 60# compared to 48# for the LMF.  (LMF says 
> theirs is made of class 30 cast iron.  What does that mean?)
>
> Does anyone have an educated opinion about whether there is $120 
> difference in quality?  Does anyone have another firepot they like 
> better than either of these?
>
> Aubrey
>

Aubrey,

I have a Centaur "Vulcan" like this

http://www.centaurforge.com/prodinfo.asp?number=CENTVULCANDP

According to this website it weighs 45lbs. I guess you could compare 
dollars per pound of iron. No idea what class 30 cast iron is. The 
Centaur Vulcan has been a good firepot for me. I used it quite a bit 
and it shows no sign of deterioration. It's $169.95. That said I 
haven't used coal in years and don't know why anyone would want to 
unless they were working in some sort of museum. For way less than 
$169.95 you could build a nice gas forge.  Coal is often hard to find 
and these days it's expensive. Propane is clean, easy to get and 
reasonably cheap. And you don't have to wrassle big dirty bags and 
breath coal dust. It's not without some nostalgic attractions but No 
Thanks for me. Been there done that.

BTW someone mentioned a very thick firepot recently but commented that 
the extra thickness takes away some of the depth. To me depth is what a 
firepot is all about. No matter if it lasts 1000 years instead of just 
100 if it has no depth.

But that's just me.

Bob in Minnesota