Xref: utzoo rec.org.sca:4732 trial.rec.metalworking:19
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From: wayner@otc.otca.oz (Wayne Robinson)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca,trial.rec.metalworking
Subject: Re: Blacksmithing
Message-ID: <1828@otc.otca.oz>
Date: 1 Aug 90 22:56:43 GMT
References: <7317@scolex.sco.COM>
Lines: 30

in article <7317@scolex.sco.COM>, daveu@sco.COM (Dave Uebele) says:
> Xref: otc rec.org.sca:660 trial.rec.metalworking:10
> 
> 
> In article <1823@otc.otca.oz> wayner@otc.otca.oz (Wayne Robinson) writes:

> chemicals that can "store" water in its molecular structure. Try a welding
> or pottery supply place for fluxs that contain borax.  These should
> just spread and coat the piece being fluxed.  I've also heard
> you can use fine sand (melts to silica) or rice hull ash.
> 
> A couple of things about fire tending.  One reason you might be able
> to weld only on a "new" fire is if you are not cleaning out your clinkers.
> Most coal has some compounds that don't burn and then tend to collect
> in the bottom of your fire, restrict your air flow, and pull heat out of
> your fire.  I dug a clinker out of my fire the other day that had

Thanks for the advice, I  have used this very packet of Borax to make a
pattern welded sword on another forge. We only had one dodgy weld, on an
edge, it being the last one we made. The problem may be clinker removal, 
but this builds up far more slowly when using high grade coke than with coal.
I don't know any smith in Australia who uses coal, as the coke here is
so good. Four of the forges I have used had old vacuum cleaners for the
blast, one had a manual rotary blower- it produced the best blast of all.
May be our problem is that the air flow is restricted as it is and doesn't
take much slag to block it. Some serious redesign work is in order for
the forge I am building at the moment.
	What sort of blower do you use, and what is the diameter of
the blast pipe on your forges?
			Wayne