dumb coke question, but I gotta ask

[matt87]

I have heard that coal dust, sawdust and clay are added to briquettes too.

[sdalcher]

Someone else had a good suggestion in that at the end of the day let your fire die down and out. Doesn't take too long once the air blower is shut off. Then dissect the fire with your clinker tongs (small very light weight tongs). The clinker will be towards the bottom, and has a hard feel to it through the tongs. Coke will have a softer feel to it. Coke is also very light when compared to the clinker, you will easily be able to tell the difference. The coal I am burning does not form too much in the way of clinkers, and usually mine are pretty small. If I have been forging for a few hours, I will notice a difference in the fire, it appears to die down and become less self sustaining. At this point, I shovel off the coke top 2/3 of the fire into the back of the pot. I then quickly scoop out the small clinker pieces at the base of the pot. Takes about a minute, and then I just push the still glowing coke back into the center of the pot and turn the air back on. The fire will pick up right where I left off usually in less than 2 minutes. Hope this was helpful.

Steve

[Jerry W.]

I use coke to fire my forge. It does produce some clinker. I can tell that it needs to be cleaned out when I can't keep a good hot fire. I usually take a rod and run it to the bottom of the coke pot and push the clinker to the top so that I can remove it with tongs. The clinker has a obviously different appearance than the coke.

Jerry

[woodwalker]

Originally Posted by jgourlay

How do you tell the difference between "clinker" and unburnt coke?

In my experience, coke is a matte grey substance, whilst clinker is shiny (and, in the case of the coal I am using now, smells strongly of sulfur.)

[matt87]

I've only used coke in English back-blast forges, and there the fire is normally hot enough to keep clinker melted. If you back the air off for a few minutes though, the clinker solidifies and you can hook it out in one lump using a right-angled poker. It's found just in front of the tuyere and feels very different from coke. Also I've found it sticking to the work when it's hot. Once you see it, you'll know it.

[ironrosefarms]

Since I had not smithed for about 2 years my youngest son doesn't remember dad beating on the anvil. The day after my first fire I went and dug through the cold fire bed and flipped the shiny almost bronze with streaks of blue and blacks colored clinkers out into the driveway. Well my 3 year old scooped them up and declared he found GOLD! Good ole mom now has 10 "gold" nuggets sitting on the nightstand by our bed.

So, I have now learned that a great way to determine if it is a clinker is if a three year old boy see's it at treasure.

James

[ThomasPowers]

Tell him it's Dragon Dung!