[Sca-cooks] Charcoal forge suggestion ;-)

[marilyn traber 011221]

> > Cadoc
> > (who misses being able to do smith work since he now lives in the city)
> Well, I've been considering setting up something for an occasional 
> forge. I was recently told that one of the advantages of using 
> charcoal rather than coal was that it smokes and smells like a BBQ 
> pit. "No officer, everything is fine. All that smoke is just from my 
> charcoal grill".
> 
> Stefan

Well, since you brought it up, Stefan ;-)

One of the easiest ways to set up a forge in your back yard, without 
irritating the neighbors TOO much, is to set up a charcoal forge in an old 
barbecue grill.

Start with an old grill, take out all the grill parts, if it's gas, set a 
brake drum down in it (you may have to reinforce the bottom, if it's flimsy), 
set up a flange, a pipe down, a T-fitting, and another down pipe and a pipe 
out of the 90 degrre angle, use an old vacuum cleaner motor or a blow dryer 
for the air input (you'll likely hafta set up a gate to reduce the air flow 
if you use any sort of power blower) and a cast iron shower grate  (easily 
acquired at Home Despot for about $7). Keep an empty coffee can under the 
down pipe to catch the ashes, and always use hardwood charcoal rather than 
those worthless briquets, and you're in business. A tree stump fo and anvil 
stump and its associated anvil (cheaply acquired, if you use a piece of RR 
track)can be quickly covered with a small tarp of a blanket, your tools can 
go inside the grill once it's cool and closed. As far as your hand tools, you 
can start out with a pair of vice grips or channel locks until you make 
yourself some tongs, and a ball pein hammer (1 1/2- 2 lbs) will work until 
you can figure out exactly what you want for a hammer. When you're working, 
you have the basics of what you need, when you aren't, everything is pretty 
well out of sight.

OFC- a charcoal forge like this can easily be used for cooking food as well 
as steel, as long as you don't contaminate it with brass. Toss a small grill 
over the firepot, throw a steak on the grill, and DON'T fire up the blower, 
and you're in business. As you may know, I usually have my coffee pot 
mumbling away on the side of my forge, and at events I cook my meals on it, 
using my wok and/or pots and/or various bits of scrap bar stock to hold the 
food where I want it.

Saint Phlip,

CoD

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