Forge fuel

oupa

oupa

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I am just starting out and I have built a small forge that works on the same principal as the old portable farrier's forge.
As far as fuel goes I can get charcoal briquettes as well as compressed coal (anthracite) briquettes.
The coal is around 1/4 of the price for charcoal.
Are these acceptable and which would be the best way to go ?
Dirk
 
there was a thread on coal earlier, check back through the first 3 or for pages of this forum. You don't want hart anthricite, but softer bituminous coal. and what i've learnt from watching the forum is charchoal doesn't seem as good as coal. so definately coal.
Use the search function lookign for "forge", and "coal" and be prepared to read for hours.

Have fun smithing :D
 
you DEFINITELY do not want charcoal briquets, they have all sorts of nasty additives that will get into your steel, that said, check the earlier threads
 
I use wooden charcoal for my forging, but i`ve also used coke/coal on one occasion, and let me just say, that coal will last longer than charcoal, as it doesn`t break down as easily. But for me atleast, charcoal is much easier to get. Though be sure you get proper charcoal, and not charcoal briquettes. Briquettes usually have alot of additives, to make sure it lights up properly for use in barbeques and suchlike.
So briquettes = no-no, charcoal is fine, coal is best.
(Coal smokes a whole lot though, and charcoal smokes less, so take that into account aswell. In regards to ventilation and such i mean.)
 
Newb Question. What does coal smell like when it burns.


Sorry, but if the Mrs gets too annooyed she'll kabosh the knifemaking with a big ole honeydoo list.
 
Metallurgical coke, if you can find it in your area. Talk to truckers that haul to plants near you. They may have access to coke.
You get more concentrated heat with fewer impurities and less smoke.

Fred
 
Andy, I love the smell of burning coal.
Reminds me of those older locomotives that used to burn coal.
Dirk
 
I hate to seem "anti-blacksmithical" :D ...but coal is nasty foul stuff! But then I started myself on propane before I ever went to any local blacksmiths meetings. If it's available I'd certainly use charcoal over coal any day (just my preference), but if coal is available and coked properly, it's can be fairly clean. Historically charcoal was the choice of blacksmiths and bladesmiths alike (charcoal burning is one of the reasons why the forests in Europe and Britain had largely dissapeared by the Middle Ages!) and it does burn cleaner, but as noted, burns much faster and also sparks more. It is however easy to make from scrap which you can gather for free.

I've heard of people stretching their fuel with, (or even using these as fuel by themselves) things like regular wood, nut shells and even chicken poop!
 
Fiddleback, the stuff I have been playing with smells kind of like creosote. Not so strong though.
 
Fred.Rowe said:
Metallurgical coke, if you can find it in your area. Talk to truckers that haul to plants near you. They may have access to coke.
You get more concentrated heat with fewer impurities and less smoke.

Fred
Click to expand...
I'm not sure that it is a good idea to ask truck drivers if they can get you any coke :eek: :D I used coal for the first time at Batsons and while it was fun and nostalgic, all I can say is thank God for propane. After a few minutes at the coal forge, I felt like i had been rolled in sand. I also saw a W2 blade get so overheated that 3 inches of the tip just fell right off in the forge. That hasnever happened to me in my gas forges, even before i got a pyrometer...lol.
 
mrstenoien said:
you DEFINITELY do not want charcoal briquets, they have all sorts of nasty additives that will get into your steel, that said, check the earlier threads
Click to expand...

While I could see this happen if you fold the steel, Im not sure how it could happen if you were just heating and forging steel?
 
High quality bituminous coal is the ticket if you use coal, or lump charcoal (not briquets). Metallurgical grade coke is very hard and dense and does not work well for use in most forges, as it is made for use in blast furnaces for smelting and such. I have tried using it and the volume of air required was huge, to say the least. Also, if you quit feeding it air the fire would almost immediately die. When I was smithing I liked to use coal with lots of fines that I could make a paste of and work wet to make a closed fire. You get less oxidation and the water helps with burning out the impurities.

I know that there are active blacksmithing associations in Aus, have you contacted them about smithing coal? Many groups will buy in bulk to reduce costs.


Have fun and don't burn your eyebrows off.:D
 
jdm61 said:
I'm not sure that it is a good idea to ask truck drivers if they can get you any coke :eek: :D I used coal for the first time at Batsons and while it was fun and nostalgic, all I can say is thank God for propane. After a few minutes at the coal forge, I felt like i had been rolled in sand. I also saw a W2 blade get so overheated that 3 inches of the tip just fell right off in the forge. That hasnever happened to me in my gas forges, even before i got a pyrometer...lol.
Click to expand...

An excellent point: hey dude, do you know where I can score some coke;
that is, metallurgical, of course.

If you have no other options, coke will do. If you have choices, gas is the way to go.
The first forge I used was coke and that was at Cedar Lakes with Herb Derr.
I built a coke forge and used it for a year, before they drilled for gas on my property. I sold the coke forge last year to a man in Columbus, he collected them. It was still like new.

Fred
 
Fred, where did you get your coke? Was it light and airy like the coke that forms when you burn coal in a forge, or was it hard and dense? I'm guessing what you had must of been different than what I had. I had gotten mine from a smelter and it was very heavy and dense. I don't know if it was compacted or what.
 
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