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anvilfire! News
Reporting Blacksmithing News When it Happens
Volume 3 Page 2 - Camp Fenby Edition
Vol. 1 (May June JYH)   Vol. 2 (ABANA)
David Lawrence P.E. and his anthracite burning forge. This is another great small forge design that shows that blacksmithing doesn't necessarily require a huge amount of space. The bottom of the forge is made out of a piece of heavy wall (about 1/4") stainless steel pipe and has a piece of stainless plate for the bottom. The small side opening assures that the stack draws and Dave reports that it draws enough through the blower to keep the fire going. Dave has designed his forge for portability. The wooden legs are attached with 1" pipe couplings and when removed reduce the assembly to a very managable size.

This was the first time I had seen a hard coal forge in operation. The coal remained loose like coke and produced almost no smoke. Anthracite, like coke requires a deeper fire bed and more air than soft coal.


NEW!
Dave's comments about his forge, p.5


Sorry about the color Dave! However you WERE Smurf Blue under that tarp before I worked on the image!
The Flaming Scadian or as I called it
The Pac-man Forge
Bruce says it was common for SCA types to use freon cans for helmet and armor material, thus - "The Flaming SCAdian"
Every time I looked at this forge I thought there was something familar about it! This is another of Bruce's creations. He was worried that there were not going to be enough forges to go around and had built this genuine junk yard special! The shell is an old 50# freon tank. Bruce says the advantage to these is that they can be cut with a sabre saw. Inside there is a disk brake rotor acting as a combination tuyere and hearth. Perhaps Bruce will finish this project and give us a report on it one day.

BELOW: This forge in progress by Ty McNeer is being built out of an old (14 pound ) Freon can. It is lined with 1" of Kaowool, has a front opening and a hole poked through the "top" for the burner. The single burner (not shown) was right off the RON REIL page. We lit it up after the crab feast that night and promptly heated 8-10" of 3/8" x 1" bar! Small, portable and efficient!
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July 4th, 1998 - Camp Fenby Edition.
Copyright ©1998 Jock Dempsey