Xref: utzoo rec.org.sca:4546 trial.rec.metalworking:8 Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!cme!durer!legowik From: legowik@cme.nist.gov (Steven Legowik) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca,trial.rec.metalworking Subject: Re: Looking for SCA in Austin, Tx. Message-ID: Date: 19 Jul 90 21:44:33 GMT References: <34040@ut-emx.UUCP> Sender: news@cme.nist.gov Organization: National Institute of Standards and Technology Lines: 33 In-reply-to: jerry@walt.cc.utexas.edu's message of 15 Jul 90 08:31:45 GMT I'm in the SCA up in Maryland so I cant offer much help along those lines. However, I have been doing blacksmithing as a hobby for the last two years and maybe I can offer some advice along those lines. If you are looking for an anvil, find a blacksmith. You can probably find one in the local Yellow Pages. (If only finding the SCA was that easy :-) Blacksmiths tend to be packrats. Sometimes they have 2 or 3 anvils or vises laying around their shop waiting till they find a use for them. Since they deal with such things for a living, they will probably cruise the local flea markets and auctions looking for just that kind of thing. They are also a great source for information about other tools and supplies of the trade. For example, blacksmithing coal. You dont want to be using the charcoal that is produced for cooking over. A good part of cooking charcoal is clay, used to form it into those cute little briquets. That produces a cruddy fire. Try to find coal or _real_ charcoal. I personally prefer coal over charcoal. I think it last longer and burns hotter. However you can make your own charcoal if you have a plentiful supply of wood and the facilities to reduce it to charcoal. I know a professional blacksmith that does all his work using charcoal, but he has 27 acres of forest land to supply his wood. I dont understand your problem with clogged air intakes. I would think the air intake of any blower you are using wouldn't be near where all the ash is produced. The grating on your forge shouldn't get so hot that it melts. Remember that heat rises, and you are blowing all that air through the grate. This tend to keep it from getting excessively hot. The grate on my first forge was made of 1/4 inch iron bars. got to go now...