Charcoal Retort Day 2

The results of the first attempted burn of the D.I.Y. charcoal retort were not as impressive as expected but seem to be on the right track. Yesterday morning I picked up some nice cut-offs of spruce, cedar, and fir from Chris and… Continue reading →

Charcoal Retort Day 1

“Charcoal!”, he retorted. This is my first foray into high-tech low-tech clean charcoal production but I am stoked to try it out. For background information on fuel alternatives, see the post entitled: Sustainable ‘Smithing?. For this project, I visited the good folks… Continue reading →

Island Workshop Day 6

Built a reclaimed fir boardwalk at the front of the shop, installed the leg vise and post drill, and built the charcoal retort, beta version.

Island Workshop Day 5

Spent most of the morning rebuilding a hand-cranked blower, hooked up a light and a power outlet, and rearranged more tools.

Island Workshop Day 4

Installed the chimney with lots of ground help from Neido~chan, built shelves, and started to organize tool boxes and scrap steel.

Island Workshop Day 3

Built wall racks for steel stock and cleared some of the floor space. Moved the stump and anvil into place and leveled the earth floor.

Island Workshop Day 2

Cut down the oversized smoke hood and installed it over the forge, finished set up of the forge table and installed the firepot.

Island Workshop Day 1

Unloaded all 4000 pounds of steel and tools, stashed most of it under cover and out of the rain. Set up the forge table and sorted tools.