My new Neighbor comes by today and introduces herself. She has a problem with her lungs and says my charcoal forge is makeing it worse. She was very cool about it , she asked me if we could work something out, but man I'm bummed, I've lived here for 23 yrs, she just moved in. Well it really shows me I need to get out of the city. I might have to go with a gas forge for a while, which is cool with me but man what a bummer. I'm gonna investigate the laws regarding what I'm doing in my backyard and if all is fine, well she will just have to deal with it.

I can't imagine charcoal bothering anyone. It's extremely clean burning, at least the stuff I've used (pine, cedar, oak, hickory, maple). Even startup on charcoal is a very clean white smoke.

It sounds like your neighbor is looking for trouble, so maybe she's really got a problem with the noise instead.

Jeff, I just can't see where you are in the wrong. What if you were cooking a steak or some burgers? Seems to me if she had a bief it would be more from your hammering. Reminds me of the duplex I lived in when I first got married. I did alot of wood working. The older lady that lived in the other plex would leave when I turned on my router. Maybe you ought to get a router. I'd check out what the city regs are, I know its uncomfortable when you got someone complaining. If you switch to propane you might just like it. Good Luck! Ray

I think I will take up chainsaw carveing instead of forgeing, I like to start around 6:00 am.

That are you could start practicing for the cow chip throwing
championships :) of course you would need a least
a dump truck load to start practicing with..

Or maybe Max could loan you a couple of his Coyote
calls :) ...

About 5 % of people complain wheather you do or don't do anything. A hood and chimney arrangement could take what little smoke there is farther away, even beyond the smelling range - thats what the big boys do when they want to spread (dillute) their pollution.

TLM

That's a bummer Jeff. But you know what they say, kill your enemies with kindness. Not that she's an enemy or anything. Yet. Forge up some cool little 'welcome to the neighborhood' trinket at the forge and give it to her. Make sure your wife knows you anin't romancing the gal though :)

If being nice don't work, try the direct frontal approach. Get her to be honest with you about just what it is that bothers her lungs when you're forging. Explain that charcoal forging is the most low impact type of forging. Make her see how much you love what you do. Maybe she'll take another look and decide it's no big deal after all. But don't get negative right off the bat. If you tell her that 'hey, I've been here for 23 years and you just moved in!!!' she might just put on her full battle dress and start lobbing hand grenades over the fence when you're forging. He he.

The slow blade penetrates the shield. Kill her with kindness. Get your wife to bake her some cookies. Invite them over and cook hamburgers and steaks on the forge/grill. I feel for you buddy. Good luck with your diplomacy. If all else fails, pull up your tent stakes and move to the country. Hell, I'll let you squat on my land till you find you a place. How big of a Tipi will I need for your family? :)

"In my mind I'm gone to Carolina...." James Taylor. You can forge at my place anytime, Bro.

Build a gas forge or move. You've been wanting to get out of the stinking city anyway right? Move out here, we could be neighbors! Mayberry RFD is too far away. although I've always wanted to go fishing at that lake where Opie, Andy and Barn used to go. Then Aunt Bee would fry them rainbows up real tastey. Hey Dana, have you ever been there? That would be a great place for a full moon party? Someone was saying they don't cuss out there as much though. Man, you should here my mom cuss! I swear every other word is the "S" one or the "F" one. I'm really not that bad, compared to her.

People cuss out here, the difference being they just put "well" in front of and "y'all" after each cuss word. :) Plus it's hard to cuss when your mouth is stuffed with fresh rainbows.

thats funny Dana.
You da Man

Come listen to a story 'bout a man named Jed......Oops! Wrong show :)

"In my mind I'm gone to Carolina..." James Taylor

O.K. ... Well, sh!t y'all.

The west has always been known for drink'n, cuss'n and loose women! Out here we string cuss words together in multiples to create whole sentences. We start off with "What the" and then put an "N" between each cuss word, with a "?" and a "####!" at the end. Here's how it works: "What the (cuss word) N (cuss word) N (cuss word) ? #### !

My neighbor's daughter is allergic to smoke, so much so that they installed a heat pump and removed the gas stove.

She doesn't go outside when there is any burning going on.

FB if you string a bunch of cuss words together and run round and round a tree, you will turn into butter :D

I guess I'm already there.

That was one of the reasons I hurried up and finished my forge when I did,I heard [correctly] that the city [5 miles away] was going to extend the city limits in my direction and I wanted to be grandfathered in in case they got this far.Got to about 3 miles away but I am ready now.Good luck with your neighbor,and like Tai said get out of there.Ive been to cities and dont see what the attraction is for living in one.--Glenn--

Old ladies used to keel over in front of my blacksmith shop at the O.K Corral, in Tombstone. The heat would be getting to them, then they would sit down in front of the shop. They would get a whiff of coal smoke, and just drop over! It gave new meaning to the slogan, "Walk where they fell." :)

Sometimes you just get stuck. And, if you're married and got a child or two, sometimes "just up and moving" isn't an easy task. However if one has a choice, I advise staying far away from a city. But even then, unless you choose to live in a remote wasteland, cities will eventually annex everything they can in every direction. Cities are run by politicians, and increasing the tax base gets politicians more money. Remember, it's safer to be between an angry lioness and her cub than between a politician (regardless of party) and a dollar bill. Rant over.

We've hashed this one over before. It's a sad fact, but no matter where you live right now, some day you may wake up in a thriving metropolis. People live in cities because 'someone' has to. I'm just glad it's not me.

The city of Paris looked like it was creeping up on me way out here in the sticks there for a while. But, the new store and the subdivision that were put in over the last few years both flopped. Hard! Ha! I'm not meaning to take pleasure in other's failures, but I sure am glad we got a reprieve. For now, I'm secure in my little hole in the woods. That suits me fine.

Thare t'ain't much ta do out here, but drank'n beer, cuss, make knives and frolic with the old lady. :) Oh yeah, and mess'n wit the internet.

Rather than just shut you down completely, then by all means; TRY and be neighborly!
Some people you can work with.. others you can't...

A tour of your shop (with a respirator so she can watch without difficulty) and maybe a few steel roses for her mantle (with your wife's approval of course ;-) might go a long way in negotiations as to when you can forge with impunity...

And a gas forge for some work might be nice...

Take it from me... if you have a neighbor that is bound and determined to be an enemy, they can pretty much make life difficult for you! But if you have a neighbor that you can work with... even if inconvenient... you'll be a lot happier!

I used to shoot in my 4 acre back yard until an unreasonable neighbor, without first bothering to talk to me, complained to the sherrifs dept... Shooting here is NOT illegal... and the sound of my .22's did NOT carry to this neighbors house... but he decided to make life hard for me...
So now I drive 30 minutes to the range when I want to practice my shooting for competition.... and my scores have gone down.

Paul F.

Hey Jeff, I've been thinking about setting up a propane forge, specifically designed for doing damascus billets by hand. If you want to set up some kind of gas forge, let's get together, some weekend, and build a couple. I've got a propane regulator around here somewhere.

Welcome to the forum, Paul. Good advice.

My Neighbor is cool , she has a legit lung problem.Shes cool with what I'm doing , shes just sick right now.She is really into the whole art thing and thinks its very cool to be able to do the metal work, it's just that she has this lung thing going on, but I hope she gets better soon.so we will see.

I am kinda stuck in the city right now, bummer.Its really hard for me , with my lifestyle, here in the city. I want to be able to shoot my guns right off the back porch. If it's meant to be its gonna happen for me , for sure.It's not in my hands though( higher powers will make it happen).Jobs, kids schools, life stuff. decisions, decisions .its tough huh ?you all have been thru this Im sure.

Thanks for the input bro's

Tai , I do want to make a gas forge very soon , Dude Thanks.