Pardon me if this is a dumb question but when you say coal do you mean wood coals or actual coal rock like anthracite? I'm admittedly ignorant about this but I was not aware that you could buy coal outside of the utility industry.
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Pardon me if this is a dumb question but when you say coal do you mean wood coals or actual coal rock like anthracite? I'm admittedly ignorant about this but I was not aware that you could buy coal outside of the utility industry.
I buy forging coal. You can still get it and it works better then the fuel coal that I would use as a kid.
https://www.centaurforge.com/Coal-Coke/products/277/
Yeah pleading ignorance here but I was under the assumption that use of it had been banned. I thought fuel call was banned in the UK at least. That's good that you can use coal for that because I know it gets a lot hotter than wood calls.
It may be banned in the UK, I have no idea about that. We can still use it here in the US but it is not very popular due to the availability, even heat and convenience of propane. I still prefer coal though. It reminds me of my childhood and it does have some advantages over propane. One day I may get a small propane forge to go along with the coal.
I have a supplier locally so I don't have to go far to get it (just haven't made the switch/addition yet. If you have a chance share some of you work in the "we have skills too" thread. Always fun to see what other smiths are doing.
Well the forge is just about complete. I have the blower (shop-Vac) controls all mounted as well as a tool rest for it and the ash dump mechanism is complete. I still need to complete the vent and hood.
The anvil and anvil stand are done as well. It's a bit ugly but it was made with scrap that I happened to have on hand.
I've got a new checkering file in so you will start to see jimping on my razors.
I've about got the electro-etching process figured out so I can start marking my work.
My honing set-up now includes a Shapton 12,000 grit stone, so my progression on a new razor is now 1,000 DMT - 4,000 Norton - 8,000 Norton - 12,000 Shapton - linen strop with green rouge and finally a leather strop.
As a side note, I've decided to dive into the world of Kydex so I have all of that to set up and organize as well. I still have some more work and organizing of the work benches to do before I can get back to knife/razor making. I can't wait to be done with all of this, but it will be nice to have it all in place finally. It is long overdue.
Oh, I thought that I would show you all the building that this is located in. At the bottom of this post is my old barn. Welcome to Orient Knives :)
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Neat looking barn in a beautiful setting. would be great to have a work space like that.
There are still a few things left to do, but I was able to fire off the forge for the first time today. A new kamisoriis in the works ;)
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Nice shop! So neat and organized !