[TheForge] question regarding depth of charcoal forge

[Saint Phlip]

I'd tend to agree with those guys. That's one reason I tend to steer
people away from using truck brake drums, when they build brake drum
forges. My charcoal forge (actually started out as coal) is about 3
inches deep, and that's fine for most things I do- if I need a deeper
fire for something, piling up extra charcoal works just fine.

Charcoal fires burn quickly, which is fine for when you're wanting to
readjust your fire for several different types of projects- throw on
some fuel, you've got a higher fire, let it burn away a bit, you've
got a lower fire in a few minutes- but isn't very economical if you've
got a large area to burn it in. In my forge, at events, I go through
about 1 to 1 1/2   20 lb bags per day, depending on how many people
I'm teaching and what projects we're working on- your forge would
triple that, and real charcoal, unless you're making it yourself,
isn't cheap. OTOH, charcoal is such a dream to work with, I'll never
go back to coal unless I have to ;-)

On 7/11/07, toni smith <tonimarie at iinet.net.au> wrote:
> i have a question regarding the ideal depth of a charcoal forge after
> the weekend when i was at mediaeval fair. there was a blacksmiths shop
> running there with 3 guys working in it and they said the old forge that
> i used to have was just really wasting charcoal. mine was about 10
> inches deep and could when cranked be like an oxy flame 2 1/2" in
> diameter. they were saying that it was just a waste of charcoal being
> that deep and that 2" is more than enough for a charcoal forge no matter
> what you are doing including welding. one thing i do know is that my old
> forge used to use a hell of a lot of charcoal.


-- 
Saint Phlip

Heat it up
Hit it hard
Repent as necessary.

Priorities:

It's the smith who makes the tools, not the tools which make the smith.

Blessed be the self-righteous, for they shall inherit themselves.