Hi guys. I had a relatively busy day in the forge today and managed to do a couple of projects I had in mind.

First up; a couple of square bar pokers and a hold fast made from an old pry bar.

Both pokers have a short twist in the middle. One has a wrapped rats tail style handle while the other features my first attempt at a leaf style handle.
Pretty basic stuff but always nice to make.

I've been wanting to make a hold fast for some time. It's like having a third hand in the forge. Very useful. I burnt through a lot of fuel to get the 1" round hot enough but it will be worth it.

Secondly is another poker but this time with a round handle and it's own stand alone stand.

This is my attempt at a camping buddy. This is a stand you poke in the ground and then you can either use it to hold a pot at one end or skewer something at the other end with the prongs.
It's quite a nifty design actually. Though upon putting it away I discovered that if you put the skewer through the hole on the rest, it doesn't sit flat together. Something it will be rectifying tomorrow.

Lastly, this was more a welding project really. A simple stand to hold unopened letters.

this works nicely too.

All the best
Andy

Fuel

I've been having fuel issues recently. I've used most solid fuels available, most recently coke.
This was however cheap stuff from a local merchant. I can't say I was overly impressed.

I'm also told that coke is soon to be imported from America which will be of a poorer quality.

With that in mind I've decided that Feather Forge will henceforth be run on locally produced British made charcoal. I've found a supplier about an hours drive away from me. Not exactly that local but as close as I could get.

The charcoal is different to use it the forge. It seems to vary with the type of wood used; by that I mean the amount of ash produced is different as well as how hot it burns and how quickly it burns away. Typically charcoal is used up four times faster than coke or coal. But you don't get any of the nasty sulphurous stench which sticks to the back of my throat which is a big plus.

It works well enough for me so I'm happy.

Cheers