[TheForge] No More Smokin' Hoods

[Peter Hirst]

I was surprised to find that is not the case.  Its actually offset to the 
back of the forge slightly, and the 30 degree cut gives me about 6 more 
inches of clearance over the center of the fire.  As a result, its almost as 
clear as a side draft.  I put about 20 different pieces into the fire over 
the next couple of hours with minimal effort.  In  fact, I may off set it a 
couple  more inches and raise the angle to 45, which would actually give 
more room than a side draft, as I will be able to work more than 180 degrees 
around the fire.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Linn" <bamablacksmith at comcast.net>
To: "Blacksmithing List Sponsored by ABANA" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Monday, April 28, 2008 11:33 PM
Subject: Re: [TheForge] No More Smokin' Hoods


The only problem I see with this set up is that placing the stack 4
inches above the fire doesnt give you much room to work...



Peter Hirst wrote:
> Had an AHA! moment in the shop  today.  Since I got the forge up and 
> running over the winter, my special custom-designed open hood has failed 
> miserably.  It covers the entire area of the forge (2x2) and is only about 
> 18" above the fire.  It tapers beautifully to an 8" adapter and is topped 
> by 12 feet of 8" pipe with no cap.  Works beautifully on paper.  In the 
> shop, hardly at all.  Some smoke stays under the hood, and some even goes 
> up the stack, but mostly it just billows and swirls and spills out, even 
> when the pipe itself seems to be  drawing well.     I have noticed several 
> times that at the joint where the hood meets the pipe, it draws like 
> crazy, and even with a  roar when anything flaming is placed near that 
> spot.  Even then, smoke is going the wrong way at the edge of the hood. A 
> lot of air goes up that pipe, but it doesn't take much smoke with it. SO 
> today, when I couldnt stand it any more, out of sheer desperation I took a 
> spare 4' section of 8" pipe and inserted it up under the hood at the joint 
> into the existing 8".  That put the lower end, with about a 30 degree 
> angle at the opening, just a couple inches over the fire..  As soon as I 
> connected it, I had a winner.  The fire literally roared into the 8" 
> opening, sucking smoke from at least a 12" radius around it. It may just 
> have been because I was paying closer attention, but the fire seemed to 
> burn hotter, cleaner, and more efficiently.  Things were suddenly so much 
> better that just for grins, I got a nice clean, hot, deep  open coke fire 
> going and dumped a few fat shovels full of green coal  on it.  No 
> problemo.  All that thick, sickly yellow smoke -- and I mean all of it --  
> disappeared like a wisp into the stack.
> So now my entire hood and vent system consists of just 16 feet of 8" pipe 
> with  a 30 degree bevel at the bottom.  No side draft, no hood, no 
> expansion chamber, smoke shelf, step down, step up, 12 " flue,  nothing. 
> Just 16 feet of pipe.   It doesn't interfere visually (in fact I can see 
> the work better than with smoke escaping from under the hood) or 
> mechanically with the fire or the work,  and if it ever does need it for a 
> particular piece, I can either swing it a few inches in any direction or 
> remove it temporarily and rely on the hood.  I was on the verge of ripping 
> out the whole thing and building a side draft with a 12 inch flue from 
> scratch,  and investing in about 12 or 16 feet more of 12" duct for the 
> portable rig for shows.  Now I'm all set with the shop, and for the 
> portable rig,  think I'll just go with the 8" pipe set about 4" over the 
> fire, just like the shop, or maybe resting right on the hearth with the 
> end cut at 45 degrees.  .
>
> Life just got a whole lot simpler.
>
> Keziah
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-- 
Mike Linn
Artisan Blacksmith
McCalla, AL

Start a revolution...
www.fairtax.org



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