Coal Forge

 HOW I CAME TO MAKE A COAL FORGE AND THE JOURNEY THERE IN.

 

I had always been reluctant to build a coal forge here in Brooklyn for many reasons, not the least of which I would rather not have FDNY visiting my house two or three or ten times a week due to the smoke from a traditional coal forge. Also its messy and unlike a propane forge, you can't just turn it off when your down and go into the house.  These were the main reasons I shied away from building one. 

Fast forward to Spring  2020, and I made my decision that this year my Crown's A&S Competiion and Blacksmith Guild Master work would be a candle stand which I have studied for a number of years on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Cloisters collection. 

Very quickly it became apparent that this project was not going to fit into my propane forge, even the new 3 burner wasn't wide enough. So the time had come to bite the bullet and construct a workable coal forge.  In process of researching the different designs from tiny BBQ grill forge to use period forges with hand made bellows, I came to the conclusion that what needed to make was somewhere in between. I also decided that if I was going to build a coal forge then I was going to use it for all of my SCA and period work, and save the propane forge for production work. That decision colored how went about the process. Originally I was going to use a Brake Rotor that I had found on the side of the road and kept for just this eventuality, as brake drums and brake rotors historically make fine fire pots for make shift coal forges. 

Upon further review and doing the measuring and trying to construct the guts of this fir pot; a pipe that attaches to your air source (blower or bellows,) Another straight pipe that drops down to all for the ash to go somewhere and the construction of a swivel to break up the clinkers (refuse from the coal and heated metal) and flap on the bottom of the whole thing allow all of that be dumped out into a bucket. The cost for the materials for all of this had me rethinking my plan to use the rotor and all that it entailed. Also if this is going to be my main SCA and period forge, I want this to be a one hundred percent on the money working forge. So, researched remade firepots and found exactly what I was looking for on Ebay for a very reasonable price. 

This fire pot had everything I needed and was mostly ready to install. 

Next I needed to figure out what was installing it into. At first I was going to build a structure out of steel, but that became expensive and time consuming. The maype a wooden table covered in cement backer board. I quickly nixed that. So I started looking around the shop at what I had and realized I had the perfect coal forge table right in front of me. A few years ago I purchased a welding table from Harbor Freight to do all my welding on.  That was one fine for a number of years. Two years ago I rearranged my shop and the big work table became the big welding table, cover with 1/4" steel plate. I moved all of my welding and cutting tanks over to the other table, leaving the old welding table to become what we like to call our Mathom table. How does something become a Mathom table you ask? Well you start putting things on it that have no other place and eventually you have a place for things that have no place that have nothing to do with each other. However I  digress....

I was prepared to sacrifice my Mathom table for the good of the coal forge. 

The great thing about this table was it was already cut in places and I just need to make a few more cuts to fit the new fire pot perfectly.

I used some to the 1/4" plate steel to cover the gaps in the table and that made it fit quite snug. 

Next came the all important Hood and Chimney part of this project. A coal forge hood is a special type of device and its not something you can just go and pick up at the local Hardware store or Lowes. It's sole purpose is to draw the smoke from the fire pot and up and out a chimney keeping the shop smoke free. Most of these are built as large rectangles, some are fancy and have chamfered corners and looks all professional. I could not find what needed so on my third trip to the junk yard I found two stainless steel service pans (like from the Chinese Buffet). and some pipe collars and decided I could make the hood out of those.

I took the first pan and riveted a flat piece of sheet metal across about two thirds of the way up. This is the all important smoke shelf. In all the videos on making hoods I watched they all said , "Do not forget the smoke shelf", this keeps the smoke from rolling back down into the  bottom chamber.  I then measure the pipe collar and cut a holes slightly smaller than the collar and then riveted both collars in place Then I tack welded the back to the front. I used High Heat JB Weld steel putty to fill the gaps

I used High Heat JB Weld steel putty to fill the gaps. I painted it with high heat black paint. Oddly enough without even thinking about it, the hood fit perfectly into the space between the two studs where it will live. 

Next piece of the Coal forge puzzle was the air source. A bellows would be period and very cool, however not practical in my small space and not for working alone.  That leaves a mechanical blower. There are a number of different kinds but all are either hand cranked or electric. Again, as I plan to work on this forge a lot, I was going to forgo the hand crank and go with an electric blower that I can control the flow on.  

LIFE LESSON HERE.

Sometimes you get what you pay for, and sometimes you get what you pay for and what you didn't pay for twice.

I did some online research and initially it appeared as though blowers are blowers and the are all in the $80 - $110 range on amazon.  I checked the price for a specially made coal forge blower from Centaur Forge, a company I have dealt withi in the past and their blower with a controller was $225. I didn't see the need to send that kind of money on what amounted to an over powered hair dryer (which many people have used to run their forge). 

Here us where the "you get what you paid for" lesson comes in. I bought a blower on amazon for $79, not a small chunk of change, They charged me for two and sent me two. I called amazon and got a refund for the one I didn't order. Before I could send that one back I plugged in the first one and it literally ate itself. So I plugged in the other one which apparently worked. I sent back the dead one. The next day while I was connecting the hose from the blower to the fire pot, that one I kept ate itself. As you can imagine, I was not happy. Back on the phone with Amazon, refund in hand I order a more expensive one for $125, one day shipping. I open the box and I recognize the same white plain box of the previous two crappy blowers. I just paid $125 for the same crappy blower. Back on the phone with amazon and yet another refund. By this time, $225 from centaur forge for a guaranteed quality blower and controller made a whole lot of sense, so, that is what I got. I should have just gone with the tried and true first. 

Last but not least was making the wall where the chimney would be fit non-flammable. To do this I cout out the space between the studs where the hood would sit and replaces it with cement backer board. I cut hole for the hood flange and fit it right through. I also covered the studs and the over head plate in backboard as well leaving nothing flammable to chance. 

Once the hood was secured hooking up the chimney was easy. I fabricated a rood bracket to keep the tack from moving and that finished the build. 

One important detail I forgot to mention, I am not running coal in this forge but natural lump charcoal. Unlike coal which smokes like crazy and needs to be kept consistently hot, Charcoal barely smokes at all and will stay lit until you douse it. 

So the inaugural burn was fun. The hood draw is perfect, and there was no smoke at all in th shop. 

I made a coal rake - number one tool needed  for a coal forge, and began the handle for coal shovel, number two important tool for a coal forge.

The process was long and took months, as I was making this while finishing commissions and other work. 

I am pleased with the end result. Except for the fire pot and the blower, everything was either fabricated by me or retro fitted by me. Also the whole rig I portable. 

Seahorse Feast Gear

I was asked by the Viceraine of Otgardr, The Magnificent and Terrible Her Excellency Lada Mongulligan, to create a prize for the Bardic completion happening at the virtual "Three Princes" event. We discussed a number of things I could make and we decided something for feast would be a good idea. So we settled on a set of feast ware, Knife, Spoon and Fork. I suggested I make them with seahorse heads as the Seahorse is the official heraldry of the Crown Province of Ostgardr. So it was agreed upon. I am pretty happy with the end result and I believe the winner was happy as well. 

Mastermyr Hinges

The Mastermyr Hinge 

As part of the East Kingdom Blacksmith's Guild ranking system certain projects are setup  to test the overall skill of each guild member. As the Guild Master, it fell upon me to make examples of the various division projects so members can have a visual image of what they should be making.

The division IV project is to make two sets of period hinges in a period manner. The Mastermyr hinge is a well known hinge and in itself encompasses a number blacksmithing skills one should have by the time you reach Division IV.  Drifting holes of various sizes, narrowing and drawing out, making mostly identical items more than once, these are all skills Craftsmen should be proficient in.

The Mastermyr hinges were found in oddly enough the Mastermyr find in Snoder, Sproge near Hemse in Sweden in 1936. The hinges, or hinge was found on a wooden tool box in a field on a farm. The box itself dates between 793 - 1096. 

 



The hinges, or hinge, was  found on a wooden tool box, in a field on a farm. The box itself was dated between 793-1096. It was filled to the brim with period tools including hammers, files, locks, axes, knives, punches, a few small anvils and much more. The hinge itself was a simple design to keep the lid fixed and in place with a hasp to lock it in the front. It is clear that while there is only one hinge on the box, it would have had three across the back to keep the lid fixed in place.

The original hinge was most definitely made from wrought iron or bog iron as was most common at the time.  I have made my hinges out of mild steel. I choose not  to work with wrought iron as it tends to split and as wrought iron was used in period because that is what was available, I use mild steel as that is what is available and will result in hinges that will last. 

So I started my hinges with 3/8" square stock for the "Hinge Cup" and 3/4" x 1/4" flat stock fot the "Mounting Plate".  I forged the square stock down until its thickness matched the flat stock I chose and then drew out the the other half to form the cup. 

Next, I drifted a hole at the end of the flat stock. I hot cut it long which made it easier to work with. I heated the steel and knocked off the corners to make it easier to round out later.  I drifted a hole with a round punch then opened it up on the anvil horn. 

                                      

Once the holes in the plate were drifted to equal size,  I hot cut both the bowl and the plate to match. Then I a heated the steel back up and drifted nail holes in all four pieces with a square punch.

 I then heated the bowls and using the anvil horn curled them up on the themselves. I used pliers to flip the ends back on themselves as a decoration. Once they were closed, I heated them up one more time and reopened the bowl wide enough to slip the plate through and then tapped it closed again with a ball peen hammer.  Once that was done I used a file and wire brush to clean up the holes and the scaling. 

All that was left was some sanding and coating with a mixture of bees wax and carnauba oil to keep them from rusting. 

Dragon Door Kocker - COVID-19 Project

DRAGON DOOR KNOCKER
So, I was getting antsy with very few blacksmithing commissions coming in so I decided to come up with a project to do. I contacted my Mentor Master Danr Ketilsmior who lives in Northshield (Wisconsin ) about doing a simultaneous project. I came up with the idea for a project and he came up with actual project. We agreed on Dragon Door Knockers, We would both make it and then compare notes at the end. It wasn't a competition just a motivation to make something together so to speak.

My first attempt, didn't go as I planned because once I roughed out the dragon part I hated it.

So I went back to the drawing board and found a design I really liked done by an old master smith from Black bear Forge.
The plan was to use mostly period methods for making it. I have a gas forge (which died right in the middle of the project and needed to be replaced at some cost). so that is my one allowance toward the modern.
I documented the whole process for the East Kingdom Blacksmith Guild as I challenged them to make one as well (or just a plain door knocker)
I started with half inch mild steel square stock. I began by drawing out what would become the horns. You hammer the stock on a slight angle, drawing it and at the same time turning it on its sides to keep the stock from bulging out sideways. Once had it drawn out where I wanted it I used my hot chisel to split down the middle. Once it was mostly split, I heated it back up in the forge and used a sharper chisel to clean up the slit.

         
                 



Next step, I bent the horns back on the steel to create a nose area. I forge welded the bend to make a clean connection. It was not as successful as I had hoped as my forge was on its way out and I could not get it all the way up to a solid welding temperature.

After finished the bend I used the blacksmith’s guillotine to fuller the neck down before starting on the head. It would be much more difficult to do once the head was made. I did the same for the tail leaving room for the center pivot hole. I then forged in the tail and flattened the center for the pivot hole.
Next I worked on the head. I’ts easier to clamp it in the jig while its mostly straight.

   

Next using a round punch I drifted the pivet hole.
Once I had the hole finished, I needed to buldge it out on the back side in order for it to act a fulcrum. I did that by inserting a quarter inch rod in the hole, heating up the piece and hammering it down into a gap in the vice

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Next I used the horn of the anvil to put the bends into the top and bottom. It was important for both bends to line up with each other to ensure that they picot will work and the door knocker will actually knock.

    

Next part of project was to make the plate, the knocker button (for lack of a better term) and the pivote plates. I made the main plate and pivot plates out of eight inch be two inch flat stock. I made the button out of three eighth inch square stock.

I use the guillotine again to put fullers in the top and bottom of the plate. I drilled a hold for the buttom stem and flat riveted the stem on the backside the plate.I used a chisel to hot cut the slots for the pivot plates. I then did the same flat rivet technique on the pivot plates as well.
Bedore I assembled the whole thing I added scaling to the neck and tail and a ball peen stippling effect to the plate for some texture. That was followed but hours of hand sanding with 40, 60, 220 and 1000 grit sandpaper.

    

Next cam assembly. I I used a quarter inch steel rivet to secure the Dragon to the plate. That went pretty smoothly.
Next I used a clear powder coat on the whole thing to keep the weather from destroying it (my only other modern day technique).

The powder coat added a nice sheen to the sanded edges. All that was left to do was mount it to the door.

  

Ravensbridge Yule feast

So I was asked by the Event Steward of the Ravensbridge Yule event if I would cook their Feast. Having attended the event in 2018 and having had a great time I said yes. She wanted a traditional Norman Yule feast and I felt that was within my experience to make happen.

Initial ideas involved wild game and fowl. However the hit or miss possibilities of this plan gave me stress.
So I moved on to a traditional pork and hen fruit pie with buttered leeks and bread for the first course and some kind roast bird for the second. In the interim the event steward and her husband took out an unfortunate buck with their dragon wagon and all of a sudden game was back on the menu.

I re-thought the  pies for a traditional pork and venison meat pie with a lard crust. I also added Braised venison neck in red wine to the menu as well. I found a vegetarian pottage stew that went  very nice with the meat pies and the leeks.

The chicken dish was roasted  whole chickens with a garlic sage saucer. With this I served the braised neck and a chickpea casserole salad which consisted of chickpeas, garlic, coriander, olive oil and fresh lemon juice.
Dessert consisted of a traditional strawberry tart with strawberries lemon cure and a butter crust.

I wish I had some war stories of issues that arose during the feast but i don’t. Careful preprep and an amazing kitchen crew and everything ran like clockwork, including day board .

The feast was a success and a much food was had by all.
***recipes available on request***