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Posted by Jacob Hawes on June 29, 2005, 3:45 am
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I am setting up my first forge. I am at an em pass as to weather to go
with charcoal, which I have some experience with and I know I can anneal
with it, or propane. The major consideration is which lasts longer, $10
worth of charcoal, or $10 worth of propane. I can build my forge either
way, charcoal may be easier to work with and I already have little
blower (free), but propane might be alot cheaper.
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Posted by Charly the Bastard on June 29, 2005, 7:22 am
Please log in for more thread options Jacob Hawes wrote:
> I am setting up my first forge. I am at an em pass as to weather to go
> with charcoal, which I have some experience with and I know I can anneal
> with it, or propane. The major consideration is which lasts longer, $10
> worth of charcoal, or $10 worth of propane. I can build my forge either
> way, charcoal may be easier to work with and I already have little
> blower (free), but propane might be alot cheaper.
I'd go with poopane; it's cleaner, it stays where you set it, you don't
spend a lot of work time futzing with the fire. Charcoal has some
advantages, but they are dependant on what kind of work you're planning. If
your work is primarily Large and bulky, like farm equipment, then charcoal
or coal offers the potential for a conforming fire in an open top setting.
But if your plan is smaller pieces like knives or other mideval weaponry,
then gas will be easier to deal with. There isn't a 'perfect' setup that
will fill every need all the time. Different projects need different
tooling. Fuel is the least of your cost worries, tooling is the big bite,
and it adds right up. I'm currently set up for blades up to three feet, I
have about 30 Large invested in tooling. I'm thinking about spending
another 6 Large on new equipment so I can expand into the custom motorcycle
market. This doesn't include the tooling I will fabricate myself, mainly
sheetmetal forming stuff and fixtures for frames. It all depends on what
you want to make, think long and hard on this before you spend big bux for
equipment.
Charly
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Posted by bigegg on June 29, 2005, 9:49 am
Please log in for more thread options Charly the Bastard wrote:
> Jacob Hawes wrote:
>
>
>>I am setting up my first forge. I am at an em pass as to weather to go
>>with charcoal, which I have some experience with and I know I can anneal
>>with it, or propane. The major consideration is which lasts longer, $10
>>worth of charcoal, or $10 worth of propane. I can build my forge either
>>way, charcoal may be easier to work with and I already have little
>>blower (free), but propane might be alot cheaper.
>
>
> I'd go with poopane; it's cleaner, it stays where you set it, you don't
> spend a lot of work time futzing with the fire. Charcoal has some
> advantages, but they are dependant on what kind of work you're planning.
<snip some good stuff>
It also largely depends where you are - if you live out in the woods,
charcoal is going to be free, except for labour, and propane
(POOPANE???!!!???? LOL) could be expensive to deliver/collect
If you live in the middle of a city, you may have to go with propane
because of city ordinances banning smokey fires.
On the other hand, my city ordinance allows the burning of charcoal, but
I can't store propane cylinders on my land.
--
BigEgg
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Posted by on June 30, 2005, 3:24 pm
Please log in for more thread options > It also largely depends where you are - if you live out in the
> woods, charcoal is going to be free, except for labour...
There -is- a source for free charcoal and all you can burn too. ;)
But it's fine 1/8" to 3/16" cubes since it's coconut shell charcoal.
Water softner outfits throw the stuff away and buy it bagged by
the pallet. Ok so "it's too fine" there was some talk here about
"briquette-ing;)" homemade charcoal, why not briquette this stuff?
My question is what's involved in making briquettes?
What's used as a binder?
Some of the charcoal has "KDF" added to it in the shop for certain
installations, KDF contains metals, mostly copper, don't know
whether that will make a difference or not in pattern welded steel
for swords etc. :/
But they know (and can tell) which charcoal has KDF (etc) and which
don't. :) In our area most of the charcoal that's used, don't have
anything added. ;)
They coat gas-welding rod with copper on purpose for "liquid pool
protection". I'll look into what other additives can be used in
water softner charcoal too, so we'll know what's going on there.
Any interest?
BTW, if you didn't know, a water softner is nothing but a "reactive
water filter". The mineral (zeolite) used in the filter attracts
and holds onto certain "impurities;)" in the water. It's not real
efficient size-wise and has to be cleaned periodically with a brine
strong solution. But the mineral will last for well over 10 years.
So the "head" is set so after so many gallons of water go through
the system it automatically cleans itself, but waits until 2AM to
do that. Weird huh? :)
Was that more than you ever wanted to know about water softners? ;)
Are water softners mostly just a desert-thing?
My water is "greater than 25 grains hard".
I never cared about having one but my son set one up out here as an
experimental base. Sometimes it works and sometimes it don't. What
I've noticed is "it's a -lot- better shaving" when it's working! :)
> On the other hand, my city ordinance allows the burning of
> charcoal, but I can't store propane cylinders on my land.
> BigEgg
Where you at (in England)?
Alvin in AZ
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Posted by bigegg on June 30, 2005, 4:10 pm
Please log in for more thread options alvinj@XX.com wrote:
>>It also largely depends where you are - if you live out in the
>>woods, charcoal is going to be free, except for labour...
>
>
> There -is- a source for free charcoal and all you can burn too. ;)
>
> But it's fine 1/8" to 3/16" cubes since it's coconut shell charcoal.
Every time you mention it, I mean to look into it, but forget.
Trouble is, we're on sandstone here, so no softeners needed, not in the
sort of quantities you're on about anyway - I would guess softeners are
only needed in limestone areas
>
>>On the other hand, my city ordinance allows the burning of
>>charcoal, but I can't store propane cylinders on my land.
>>BigEgg
>
>
> Where you at (in England)?
Leeds, Yorkshire
--
BigEgg
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