help with my coal forge

[joshrice]

hey i just built me a coal forge but i cant get the coal to heat up good enough to heat the metal if u all have any answers to get me up and running i would be thankful

[yesteryearforge]

Got photos ???

Mike Tanner

[joshrice]

i have no intentions of giving up and i will post pics as soon as i can have you used coal forges before?

[Glenn]

Add air, lots of air.

BP0518 Making a Forge Pot
see attached photo.

[joshrice]

hello i just recentley built a coal forge im just looking for tips on hot to get the coal to heat up enough to heat the metal any comments would be great

[joshrice]

ok should u crush the coal up i read that what i need to be looking for is a blue flame wich i was getting but the forge isnt getting hot enough like the metal is no where near ready for me to shape

[Francis Cole]

I start mine off with a pine cone wraped in 1 sheet of news paper then place it in my turee pour coal over the pine cone. I use a weed burner hooked up to a propane tank light it off turn on the blower and in a few minutes you off to the races

[ThomasPowers]

The first tip is that you should include as much information as you can on what you are doing and what you are doing it with so we can save the 20 questions:

So what is your forge like?
What is your tuyere like?
How do you provide air to it?
What is your fuel like?
Where did you get it?
How have you been trying to use it?
What has happened when you do so?

For coal I start with a small wood fire and as it burns down to charcoal I start easing air into it and adding coal starting around the edges and then covering the middle as it catches---greenish smoke tells you it's burning. As I add more coal I will add more air as well. Once it's going good I bank up more coal and punch down the area where the wood burned out and left a hole.

If it's all green coal it may take a while to coke up nicely; I'll often have a project that's not too fussy to work on wheilt the coal is coking.

If you have a lot of fines you can get a solid layer of coke that will starve the rest of the fire and needs to be broken up.

Some coals need fairly constant air to keep lit; others will stay burning on their own for hours. Some coal is hard to light, others are easy to use.

Note if you have trouble with coal you can start off using real chunk charcoal and mixing coal in with that as you go along.

[matt87]

Also, what metal have you been trying to forge, where have you been putting it in the fire, how long have you left it to heat...