Subject: Re: Side Blast Forge Question

From: [email-masked] (John Elliott)
Date: Mon, 25 Mar 1996 21:42:00 -0500 (EST)

You can see them at work at Colonial Williamsburg every day.  I think it
took them sometime to get use to the side vs bottom draft but they have now
used them several years.

>My understanding of side-draft forges is that they evolved using charcoal
>as a fuel, although many today use coal.  The tendency of charcoal to
>'float' in a blast (due to its light weight) is reduced with the draft
>coming in from the side.  I know several British smiths that still use
>them.
>George Dixon
>
>
>
>

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From: Steve Smith <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 26 Mar 96 9:17:00 MST

There are several descriptions of brick forges and both side and
bottom blast tuyeres in the book:

"Practical Blacksmithing" by M. T. Richardson, Crown Publishers, 225
Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10003. Weathervane 1978 edition. 
ISBN: o-517-25025X

This book is a collection of articles and letters written by readers
in "Practical Blacksmithing" (magazine?), I think from the 1800's
(late?). Most of the articles are how-to-do something, shop org.,
tuyeres, tools, etc. A lot of them are a bit idiosyncratic, and make
enjoyable reading. About 1000 pages. Worth finding, no idea if it is
in print.

Some serious work, too:
"As I was determined to do without a water tuyere, if possible, I
tried most of the fancy "turn 'ems and twist 'ems" in the market...I
then got the tuyere craze and schemed all sorts of
"jimcracks"...Coming across an old cannon-ball,...nine inches in
diameter and weighing upward of one hundred pounds, I said to myself,
"Here is my tuyere." So I bored a hole in one side and screwed a piece
of 3 inch wrought iron pipe into it, then giving it a quarter turn on
the face plate I bored a 2 1/2 inch hole at right angles and into the
other. I then drilled three 3/4 inch holes in the other side and
chiseled them into a mouth for the blast 2 1/2 inches by 3/4 ...."

You get the idea.

--
Steve Smith
[email-masked]