[Sca-cooks] Charcoal forge suggestion ;-)

[Stefan li Rous]

Phlip replied to me with:
> > I remember trying to use a clay flower pot saucer to hold charcoal
> > for a period pewter casting demo at an event but the heat cracked
> > it. And I only used a few chunks of hardwood charcoal. I think part
> > of my problem was not using enough since I wasn't getting enough
> > heat. I thought I needed a bellows then, but I think just more
> > charcoal. And that might have reduced problems with expansion and
> > the clay saucer breaking, but I think I'll go with a different
> > container next time, anyway.
> >
> > Stefan
>
> Stefan,
>
> Of COURSE it cracked- a flower pot just isn't up to the temperatures 
> you
> generate when you're operating a forge.
I wasn't forging. This was simply a pile of lit charcoal upon which to 
set my thin, large spoon to melt pewter so I could pour it into my 
soapstone molds. I was in fact having trouble getting enough heat to 
melt the pewter, so that it would pour easily into the mold. It was 
pretty thick. Not like what I was used to getting in my electric 
melting pot. Which is why I originally thought I needed a bellows. I 
was trying to do this demo in a period-like way instead of using my 
modern melting pot. The clay saucer was also there to protect the 
wooden picnic table I was doing this on. I also had a piece of metal 
and an piece of plywood between it and the picnic table.

That night I was given my Sable Thistle (the AoA level Ansteorran Arts 
and Sciences award) for my pewter casting. This came as a total 
surprise since I had been doing the Florilegium for a number of years 
before that, and when I got called into court, assumed that that was 
the reason. So some folks, or at least the king, must have liked the 
demo and the stuff I had been doing.

Thanks for the rest of the forge info. Yes, I had been told that the 
kitty litter clay would have to be periodically reapplied to the grill. 
There is some info in the Florilegium on making forges, and much, much 
more out there on the web. I guess I'm going to have to do some more 
reviewing and research before I actually try to make my forge. Because 
of the amount of time needed on the Florilegium and other things, I am 
probably not going to use the forge for anything but occasional 
projects.

Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas          
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****