[TheForge] newbie

Sun Nov 14 22:14:37 EST 2010

Nicely drawn, Thanks Marrin.

On 11/14/2010 4:39 PM, Marrin Fleet wrote:
> I am barely old enough to remember some of the older farmers in my
> area who did their own blacksmithing.  As suggested below, a minimal
> shelter, was used.  Around here, this was usually a lean-to on the
> side of the barn.  Barns here in the South are different than the
> larger, more tightly built barns I have seen in the North.  Our
> Southern barns are usually a central pole-barn with lean-to wings on
> each side.  Many didn't have walls, just a roof and the poles.   There
> was a nail keg on its side alongside the forge, at forge height, in a
> position that was pretty much shaded, if possible.  To judge color, a
> piece of steel was taken from the fire, and quickly put into the
> relative darkness inside the keg, and returned just as quickly to the
> fire if necessary, before too much heat was lost.   Sometimes, there
> wasn't even a chimney, allowing sparks and smoke to fly about at will.
>   They tended to use inferior coal, as that was what was available.
> Some would spend hours coking up the coal to remove as many impurities
> as possible, then store the coke in a barrel with a piece of tin on
> top.  One old man would reach through the barbed wire fence to quench
> in a horse trough!  All that seemed to suddenly end just about the
> time I went into junior high school, back in the early fifties.  I
> still miss watching those old men shoe a horse or mule, or repair some
> falling-apart piece of horse (or mule) powered farm equipment. I just
> wish that I had had the foresight to learn from some of them before
> they were gone.  And yes, those old men really were old.  One old man
> of my acquaintance was still farming with a mule when he was near or
> into his nineties.  He rode the same mule to church on Sunday.  Others
> were in their seventies or eighties. They don't make 'em like that
> anymore!
>
> On Sun, Nov 14, 2010 at 5:35 PM, peter fels&  phoebe palmer
> <artgawk at thegrid.net>  wrote:
>> Our honorable newbie is working outside with a charcoal forge.
>> He gets extra credit for making his own charcoal....and a bonus for
>> forging ahead under his own steam!
>> Soon, we'll find out if he's stubborn enough...grin.
>> Of course, any indoor forge needs good venting.
>> One of the difficultys of working outside is that it's hard to see the
>> color of the glowing metal.
>> And therefore harder to judge the temperature ( very important).
>> That's the reason traditional BS shops were pretty  dark inside.
>> Some kind of minimal roof overhead, at least gets you out of the direct
>> sunlight..and the rain.
>>
>> On 11/14/2010 12:34 PM, Allen Ortery wrote:
>>> I would install a hood over the gas forge to vent bad gasses and extra
>>> heat. carbon monoxide detectors also a good idea. Keep in mind that
>>> fire equipment should invite you to go towards the EXIT, always best
>>> to go to the door then be trapped, that is what the fire Marshall
>>> would tell you if you where dumb enough to invite him on your place.
>>> Less the city knows the happier you will be. If your fellow citizens
>>> don't gripe then you will most likely get away with it.
>>>      Just remember that there is no such thing as being to safe. And
>>> that if you don't go asking the city if it is all right then you may
>>> get to do as you want. If they show up to jump up and down and yell be
>>> polite and play dumb. Just a hobby and you know other guys that do it
>>> at home all the time, guy I bought my anvil off of was working in his
>>> garage in Atlanta in a very nice neighborhood. they will most likely
>>> tell you to stop, and you can then ask about city rules Ect. that
>>> control what you are doing.
>>>     Also agree that buying a good forge and learning how to run it
>>> properly is great advise. Nothing like knowing what you are doing to
>>> keep you alive.
>>> Allen Ortery
>>>
>>> --
>>> Allen Ortery
>>> bluestoneforge at gmail.com
>>> 309-368-7967
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