Nice work! I wish my first forsged guard had turned out that nicely.
Bruno Giordan wrote: |
A first blank had gone awry, I left it one minute too much in the forge when i switched from coke to charcoal, when I was back one of the arms had been burnt away.
I had made an igloo style mound to betetr heat the pieces, estimating low the power of such forge. It revealed more powerful than a gas one! Actyually igloos were used for welding by brazing .... when the piece emerged broken it was white hot. there was no way to work in the dark, since here it is again stifling hot, it is impossible to keep a forge inside a hall, however big. |
You have to be careful with the misconception that coal/coke forges are not as hot as gas. Most of the people I know who have worked on both will testify that coal forges are just as hot. The biggest trick with a coal forge is getting people to understand that they don't have to turn the handle on the blower (in the case of the circa 1800 style blowers that many smiths use) or pump the bellows (in the case of my forge) relentlessly. With either one, one rotation/pump a second is more than plenty. Even then, you can burn up mild steel really quick (and the higher the carbon content, the easier it is to burn).
Even if you are not able to work indoors, try to work in the shade. A canvas tarp supported by about 6 poles and some guy ropes will still allow for a cooling breeze, and block out the sun a bit. Having shade will then allow you to watch your piece in the fire (in my experience, it is worth it to poke a small hole in the 'igloo' so that you can watch you metal, even if that does mean some heat is getting by). As a general rule, if the piece you are heating 'disappears' against the coals (it will be heated to the point that the metal and the coal are glowing the same color, and that can make your metal seem to disappear), then you are at welding temperature. If you leave the piece in much longer than that, you will burn your material. While it can be fun to see all those little sparks shooting off of a piece of steel, it is really rather detrimental to project completion.
You are obviously a good smith, so I am probably repeating a bunch of stuff you already know, but working with coal is a different creature than gas. The basics are still the same, just wathc out for the things I mentioned above, and don't get carried away pumping air into your forge. I've lost and seen more projects lost to over zealeous apprentices than almost any other reason.
-Grey