[TheForge] Re: forging questions

[Mike Spencer]

> I like the idea of using corn.  Our open forge meet is held as the
> shop of a corn farmer!  I might just rake his yard -- there's always
> spillage -- and give it a try!


Are you talking here about cobs after the dried kernels have been
shelled off?  Or are you talking about whole ears of corn or shelled
kernels?

I assumed the OP meant cobs, byproduct of the feed corn process.

I have access to quite a lot of poplar that shoud be felled.  But a
process for converting it to charcoal that isn't time consuming and
bothersome (or else very expensive in gear) is a problem.

One of the demonstrators at the '84 ABANA conference (who forged
copper, not doable in coal due to embedding of cinder) made his own
charcoal in a large stainless tank refurbished to recirculate and burn
the wood tar as it was driven off.  Sounded like a moderately
complicated thing to make.  Any air leak would potentially lead to a
runaway fire in a ca. 100 gallon kiln space.

- Mike

-- 
Michael Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada       .~. 
                                                           /V\ 
mspencer at tallships.ca                                     /( )\
http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/                        ^^-^^