forging with woodfire

[ScottRoush]

I've been thinking about making a charcoal forge for kicks and then i saw Tai Goo's DVD where he was burning raw wood for forging. So what is the deal with using raw wood without converting to charcoal first? Disadvantages?

 

[montana guy]

A good bed of coals is more than hot enough is about all I know. I am curious about this also.

Seen a video on youtube today of a guy making a blade with just a fire, the setting he was in he looked like he was camping almost.

 

[thompsonblades]

I haven't seen the video, but I do use scrap hardwood in my forge. It works almost as well as coal. It requires a little more care, but in my experience, works just fine. Here it is in fact.

 

[ScottRoush]

Thanks guys? Hey! How'd you get my anvil???

Ever try forge welding in it?

 

[montana guy]

I have the same anvil with a 3' diameter piece of fir under it.

Been looking for a good answer but have not found one yet to your original question Mossanimal since I would like to know also. Someone who knows will probably chime in sometime.

 

[ScottRoush]

Maybe Tai Goo will chime in.

I have a gas forge, but I'm at the Smokey Mountain hammer-in right now and I've been forging with charcoal the last couple of days and thought it would be fun to set something up this summer.... but I don't know if I'm up to making charcoal.... seems like a lot of work with little product. So I thought about him burning his little chunks of wood in his washtub forge....

 

[1066vik]

I suspect it's the impurities - the charcoaling process bakes them out of the wood, much like coking coal to burn out the excess sulfur.

 

[Tai Goo]

The important thing is to pre cut the wood chunks to about fist sized pieces first, so they convert to charcoal at about the same rate as it's being consumed. You are basically converting to charcoal in the forge. First, let a nice bed of coals cherry out then add the woods chunks around the sides and back of the fire as you go.

The only disadvantage is it's harder to maintain a forge welding heat for extended periods of time, like when pattern welding. It works great for general forging and if you just need maybe one to three welding heats at a time.

Also keep in mind that different types of wood will burn differently.

 

[thompsonblades]

Ever try forge welding in it?

No, my forge, which cost me about $10 to build, doesn't get hot enough for forge welding. I only use it for basic shapping.

I don't know about burning out the impurities, but in my forge, it is more like heating with gas. specifically, wood gas. (Actual term.) I'm not sure on the chemical makeup of the gas, but it is given off by the wood when it reaches a certain critical temperature.

For any serious level of forging, I strongly recomend gas, oil, or coal as wood just doesn't stay hot enough for anything more than some basic shaping.

 

[john0270]

Charcoal will get more than hot enough for forge welding, I actually prefer charcoal to regular coal, But propane is just so easy.

 

[Tai Goo]

Looking at your forge, you may have to cut the wood chunks a bit smaller, and add more surface area at the top to pile the wood chunks around the fire on.

 

[NStricker]

I've been thinking about making a charcoal forge for kicks and then i saw Tai Goo's DVD where he was burning raw wood for forging. So what is the deal with using raw wood without converting to charcoal first? Disadvantages?

Wood will have a moisture content much higher than charcoal (assuming you've kept it dry). Evaporating off the water will consume energy that you want going to your steel.

 

[ScottRoush]

Thanks fellas.... I will probably start trying to convert some of my maple and oak to charcoal and burn little wood chunks in the mean time.

Thanks again....

 

[1066vik]

Just an FYI: If you have them available, Osage Orange (hedge), mulberry, and honey locust have higher heat content per volume than oak and maple.

 

[ScottRoush]

I wish. If I did, I'd be up to my neck in Osage self bows. I do have access to some birch... which I believe burns hotter, but way faster than my maple and oak. But if you saw the 18 logger cords I have of those woods, you'd see why I'm leaning that direction...