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Coal forge build
- Thread starter Dan Dubeau
- Start date
Dan Dubeau
Ultra Member
Didn't get as far as I wanted on the hood this weekend, but chipped away a bit more. Mainly just wanted to get it off my welding table and out of the shop for now to get onto some other seasonal stuff before the snow starts flying.
I plasma cut the top hole @10", and the front opening. Funny when I cut the top, the offcut dropped down through the bottom, and rolled down the hill. I tried to get a picture of it rolling, but by the time I got the camera out it had fallen over. Made it about 20' though. You can just see it in the background.
I still have to roll the top flange. I was not sure if my little sheet metal roller would be up to the task of rolling the 2"x1/8" flat bar, but first run through, it put a bit of a curve in it. I'm not going to crank down on it too hard, and will just try and nudge it little by little to get my 10" ring. I hope. Gonna take a while.....If it doesn't work out I'll just hammer form it. Or build a bigger ring roller.....(eventually)
Till next time...
I plasma cut the top hole @10", and the front opening. Funny when I cut the top, the offcut dropped down through the bottom, and rolled down the hill. I tried to get a picture of it rolling, but by the time I got the camera out it had fallen over. Made it about 20' though. You can just see it in the background.
I still have to roll the top flange. I was not sure if my little sheet metal roller would be up to the task of rolling the 2"x1/8" flat bar, but first run through, it put a bit of a curve in it. I'm not going to crank down on it too hard, and will just try and nudge it little by little to get my 10" ring. I hope. Gonna take a while.....If it doesn't work out I'll just hammer form it. Or build a bigger ring roller.....(eventually)
Till next time...
Dan Dubeau
Ultra Member
I probably would have got more done by now, but we had a nice vacation to see some beautiful parts of this country out east the past 2 weekends. A day in Montreal, another in Quebec city, then a couple days in Hopewell Hills at the Broadleaf ranch in a lighthouse themed bunkie (total tourist gimmick, but the kids loved it) overlooking the Bay of Fundy and a 5 minute drive to Hopewell Cape. I even got to cross a bucket list item off my list when my wife got me a family Horseback trail ride for my birthday. Just a basic 1hr ride, but it's something I've always wanted to do, and it was a blast. Everybody loved it (except my horse probably), and my daughters ear to ear grin the entire time is going to cost me a lot of money......
We nailed low tide this time, and were among the first ones out on the beach. There was a LOT of mud and it kept most of the visitors near the stairs to the ocean floor, but we were adventurous and made it all the way down to the west end of the pot rocks first without seeing anyone else. Pretty amazing having that place all to yourself even if it was only for about 30 minutes until some more adventurous people showed up. Words and pictures don't do it justice. This was my 3rd time there and easily the best. Tide was 44' that day, and we hung around to see it come back in about halfway, as well as came back the next day to see it at high tide. I got the Kids to stand about 3' from the water, and wait until it came into their feet, then they both stayed there until it touched their shorts. Really drove home how much water is moving in and out of there with the tides.
First pic taken at 12:42, last one at 12:51.....it comes in that fast.
After staying in the Hopewell area and exploring for a few days it was then on to the business end of the trip and across the bridge to Charlottetown for my Wifes yarn show for a few days before the long drive home. Philippe kept us on the island for an extra 6 hours Sunday morning until we could cross with the trailer as the winds were too high. We hung out in Summerside, and thankfully stores were open to pass the time on thanksgiving Sunday, before we got the notice the bridge had opened again to all traffic in the afternoon. Made for a long day of driving, but we stayed in Trois-Rivieres for the night, before making the final leg home on Monday. Glad to be home, but man I miss it. I love it out there. Last time we were here 10years ago our Son was 7 months old. It was nice not to have to carry him this time, although I did have to help him out of the mud a few times.
What's this got to do with a coal forge you ask? No idea, it's my thread lol. Sometimes life gets in the way, and the urge to wander happens and you gotta go with it. I need that reminder every once in a while as I get too wound and wrapped up in projects sometimes. Especially this year.
We nailed low tide this time, and were among the first ones out on the beach. There was a LOT of mud and it kept most of the visitors near the stairs to the ocean floor, but we were adventurous and made it all the way down to the west end of the pot rocks first without seeing anyone else. Pretty amazing having that place all to yourself even if it was only for about 30 minutes until some more adventurous people showed up. Words and pictures don't do it justice. This was my 3rd time there and easily the best. Tide was 44' that day, and we hung around to see it come back in about halfway, as well as came back the next day to see it at high tide. I got the Kids to stand about 3' from the water, and wait until it came into their feet, then they both stayed there until it touched their shorts. Really drove home how much water is moving in and out of there with the tides.
First pic taken at 12:42, last one at 12:51.....it comes in that fast.
After staying in the Hopewell area and exploring for a few days it was then on to the business end of the trip and across the bridge to Charlottetown for my Wifes yarn show for a few days before the long drive home. Philippe kept us on the island for an extra 6 hours Sunday morning until we could cross with the trailer as the winds were too high. We hung out in Summerside, and thankfully stores were open to pass the time on thanksgiving Sunday, before we got the notice the bridge had opened again to all traffic in the afternoon. Made for a long day of driving, but we stayed in Trois-Rivieres for the night, before making the final leg home on Monday. Glad to be home, but man I miss it. I love it out there. Last time we were here 10years ago our Son was 7 months old. It was nice not to have to carry him this time, although I did have to help him out of the mud a few times.
What's this got to do with a coal forge you ask? No idea, it's my thread lol. Sometimes life gets in the way, and the urge to wander happens and you gotta go with it. I need that reminder every once in a while as I get too wound and wrapped up in projects sometimes. Especially this year.
140mower
Don
.... Looks like you had a great time, we just took a little bit of time away ourselves, but on the other side of the continent.
No cell service or internet for eight days, just pontoon boats and kayaks with a sprinkling of flyrods......
Missed you guys, but you know........
Dan Dubeau
Ultra Member
Every time I've been out there I vow to come back on a motorcycle. Some day, hopefully. I'll never live long enough to do all the things i want to squeeze in. Nor be able to afford them. I "travel" a lot vicariously though other peoples pictures and videos. It's cheaper that way 
Dan Dubeau
Ultra Member
Beautiful, sounds like an awesome trip. Some day I will get out to that side, probably wont want to come home. We used to do a yearly fishing trip in North Eastern Ontario, and one of the best things was your phone being useless the entire trip. Liberating. Gas powered cameras, charging them from a generator. The last time we went, we wondered why all the campsites were full, and out on the lake were greeted by a nice new cell tower.... Looks like you had a great time, we just took a little bit of time away ourselves, but on the other side of the continent.
View attachment 39048View attachment 39049
No cell service or internet for eight days, just pontoon boats and kayaks with a sprinkling of flyrods......
Missed you guys, but you know........
. Tough to find those spots, but they're worth it, we've been going to different places now ever since.During the big Derecho in Ontario last spring we were in Quebec on an island outpost for the week. We were an hour into our journey home before we reached service again and all our cellphones started going off with messages about what was going on at home. Most of us live near the path, and I guess it was pretty sketchy for a few of the better half's while we were gone. We had no idea, the Fishing was great.
. The message from mine was something like "big storm came through, power out, house fine, see you when you get home" Other guys are probably still listening to all the voicemail messages theirs left lol. Those guys are the reason why we can only do those trips every 2 years now.....Wish I could do it every weekend Nothing personal, but I lived in Quebec for a bit over a year, and spent way too much time on the east coast, and, well, you can have it... Only had a few stonewalls by snotty frenchmen, but it was enough, and far to populated where I was. Got really tired of pay pay pay for anything on the East Coast...
Lots of amazing country in my own yard to see yet!
I figure that BC has pretty much THE jackpot, when it comes to what can be seen. Desert, to Rain Forest, Coast, to Hard Rock Alpine, and about every kind of country in between.
Dan Dubeau
Ultra Member
Daughter stayed home sick from School today, so I had a few bonus hours to catch up on some house stuff, and even managed to sneak out to the shop for an hour to roll the ring and complete the hood.
It didn't take long to roll it. Half turn on the screws, and 14 passes later. It's not a 100% perfect circle, but fine for the end use. I do want to play around with this again, to make some flat free tires like the ones I used on the forge itself, for a few other things like my generator. Future projects....I already want to build a bigger roller, that can do tubing too. I hate when one project leads to 5 projects.....
And DONE, back in the shed until I can decide where I'm going to put it, so I can run the ductwork.
I'm going to wheel it out this weekend for a test fire anyway to see how it works, so that should be fun. I have a batch of easy tongs I want to finish, so hopefully I can crank off a couple of those.
It didn't take long to roll it. Half turn on the screws, and 14 passes later. It's not a 100% perfect circle, but fine for the end use. I do want to play around with this again, to make some flat free tires like the ones I used on the forge itself, for a few other things like my generator. Future projects....I already want to build a bigger roller, that can do tubing too. I hate when one project leads to 5 projects.....
And DONE, back in the shed until I can decide where I'm going to put it, so I can run the ductwork.
I'm going to wheel it out this weekend for a test fire anyway to see how it works, so that should be fun. I have a batch of easy tongs I want to finish, so hopefully I can crank off a couple of those.
Dan Dubeau
Ultra Member
I guess we can close out this thread with one last pic titled "I'd rather be lucky than good".
I was fully prepared to make some janky chimney for the shed because I damn sure wasn't buying a new 10" proper one and finding a used one seemed like an impossible task. Thursday afternoon the market place gods gifted me with this.
A 10" stainless double walled 4' chimney stack with cap and flashing for $120. It did cost me a 2hr round trip after work, but saved me a lot of time trying to make something half assed.
I spent all day today cutting trees, chipping brush and cleaning up the side road, backyard and around and in the new smithy. I'm sore. End of day tomorrow I should have the chimney installed and forge lit for the first time in it's new home. I will start a new thread tomorrow night for the smithy itself, and my blacksmithing adventures moving forward. Thanks for following along with this one.
I was fully prepared to make some janky chimney for the shed because I damn sure wasn't buying a new 10" proper one and finding a used one seemed like an impossible task. Thursday afternoon the market place gods gifted me with this.
A 10" stainless double walled 4' chimney stack with cap and flashing for $120. It did cost me a 2hr round trip after work, but saved me a lot of time trying to make something half assed.
I spent all day today cutting trees, chipping brush and cleaning up the side road, backyard and around and in the new smithy. I'm sore. End of day tomorrow I should have the chimney installed and forge lit for the first time in it's new home. I will start a new thread tomorrow night for the smithy itself, and my blacksmithing adventures moving forward. Thanks for following along with this one.
If you're tired and sore it's a perfect time to do some 3D printing.
Dan Dubeau
Ultra Member
lol, I don't even want to get into that mess right now. Probably need an hour or two of cleanup/setup before I can start printing again.If you're tired and sore it's a perfect time to do some 3D printing.
You can't close it without a picture of the first thing out of the fire!
Dan Dubeau
Ultra Member
can't say I dissagree with that. I'll be sure to post the first project from it in its new home. I've already used it a few times wheeled out in the backyard though. Pretty excited to not have to do that again lol.
Dan Dubeau
Ultra Member
I had my first official fully setup smithing session yesterday. Everything worked great.
Hood draws great, even when piling on some green coal.
There, I guess I can close out this thread now. It's been a journey.....
Hood draws great, even when piling on some green coal.
There, I guess I can close out this thread now
. It's been a journey.....Dan Dubeau
Ultra Member
A pair of tongs to start with, then I forged the spring for my post vise (needed the tongs to hold it), and then roughed a couple punches from a coil spring. About 4 hours worth of work.
The tongs are "quick tongs" plasma cut from plate. All you need to do is a bit of cleanup work, twist the bits, drill the rivet hole and rivet them together. I bought a set of 5 different styles from amazon a while back as a quicker path to build up some general purpose tongs, because I don't really have any. They're ok, but I'll probably learn to start making my own from scratch.