Solid Fuels: Coal, Coke, Charcoal, Wood, etc

To continue my adventure in Bad Blacksmithing, I need fuel. To get fuel I had to either spend money (boo) or make a charcoal retort (yay), which sounds very self-reliant-y and xxxx until you realize you actually have to do it. I looked at different designs, watched some videos, and read some stuff. I focused on James Hookway's design for a charcoal retort that sent the pyrolitic gases to feed the rocket stove used to heat the wood being turned into charcoal. I even bought his plans because honestly, he thought of some stuff I hadn't and credit where credit's due. My neighbor got very excited about this project. A little too excited. He's an ok dude, just a serio…

In many places, soft/bituminous coal is hard to come by, but anthracite/hard coal is more readily available. In the USA, many Tractor Supply Company (TSC) stores will carry anthracite, usually in "nut coal" or "rice coal" sizes. This can be used for forging, but it presents some challenges. This has been discussed elsewhere on IFI; this post is an attempt to put the bulk of that information in one place. CAVEAT As noted below, bituminous coal, coke, and charcoal are all superior to anthracite as forge fuels. That's not a point that needs to be argued. However, this post is not intended as advocacy for anthracite as a superior or even preferable fuel, but as a pr…

ROI used to have a masonry bin behind the shop that held about a ton and a half. In the mid 90s I got away from burning coal and the coal pit got torn down and its bricks comited to flowerbeds or something. Now I am back to burning coal. I have a trash can I am currently keeping it in, but would like to get a ton or two. I would like to find some sort of container for it. Billy Merrit used an old oil tank. I am curious what everyone uses. I will be moving the shop soon so may just build a cinder block bin at the new place...

anybody out there burning corn to heat steel or melt metals.....if so please let me know what your doing

Forges most often use coal, charcoal, and coke for fuels. Very few use wood. I wanted to figure out if it could be used and find the numbers needed in order to base a opinion. This may get a little long so stay with me. Volatile matter is material that is driven off when coal is heated to 950°C (1,742°F) in the absence of air under specified conditions - components of coal, except for moisture, which is liberated usually as a mixture of short & long chain hydrocarbons, aromatic hydrocarbons & some sulphur - measured practically by determining the loss of weight Consists of a mixture of gases, low-boiling-point organic compounds that condense into oils upon coo…

Total new guy here. Thanks for the great forum. I've learned a lot just reading the various posts. Building my first forge/firepot and getting ready to buy some coal. I had always assumed that anthracite would be the way to go because (as I understand it) anthracite has less impurities and is closer to pure carbon. But I just read something (somewhere) that said bituminous was the way to go. I occasionally travel to parts of PA where anthracite is available, and the next time I'm there, I plan to buy a few hundred pounds of coal. If you were me, would you buy anthracite or bituminous? Thank you for any help or advice.

I work at a millwork company and for a while now I've been breaking down and setting aside long pallets that wood trim, siding etc. come in on. Mostly 2x4, 1x4 and some 3x3 pine material but also some poplar and oak that I set aside for their own batches of charcoal. I've been searching here and the rest of the net but haven't quite found the answer to my question; how long I should cut this material when working on filling my 55-gallon drum. I've seen 4" up to 12", that's a wide range. Or does it really matter that much? I was thinking that 6" for the 2x4 and 3x3 material would work pretty well, perhaps 8" long for the 1x4 material. This is pure speculation on my p…

Hi everyone, I have an ongoing issue when I use my JABOD where my earlier charcoal additions during a session burn down to rice size and either drop to the bottom of the fire inhibiting airflow and causing a tiny, but really hot fireball that burns my tuyere, or, get so tiny that they then join the fire fleas and blow out of the fire altogether. I therefore now have more of a "Just A Box Of Rice Charcoal And Ash" than a JABOD. Should I just clean this tiny fuel out more often and add fuel more often? This is one area of my fire management that I need some help with. Cheers, Jono.

Happy Wednesday, I get my coal in large chunks, and have to use a small hammer to break each lump into individual pieces. Is there a better way to do this? Thanks in advance. Asa

So I currently am building a forge to run off of feed corn out of an old pellet grill it will be a side blast my question is should I have the air inlet low compared to the level the corn will be filled to or should it be higher up?

I'm having a hard time locating coal to buy at a decent price, can I use wood or charcoal and reach a forging temp?

I’ve found it to be much easier and more reliable to use a couple of pieces of lump charcoal to get a coke fire going, but the sparks are terrible. Any way of using charcoal to start the fire without all the sparks? It is a pretty show at dusk, but I get burns on my hands and wrists from them, plus a few going down my shirt.

I live in northwestern N.C. and I can find coke for forging sold by the 50 pound bag at some blacksmithing supply places not far from me. I have scoured the internet looking for places to buy it in bulk, like a truck bed full. Do you guys know where I can find some coke sold by the scoop, any where near me? If you forge with coke, where do you get yours?

Hi, you can probably tell by the question, but I've just started looking into this type of thing. I was harvesting clay to make my own bricks for a fire pit (potentially a forge), but I found out that normal bricks wouldn't work very well in a high temperature forge. I saw a few videos about people making simple forges, some of which used clay, but they all seemed to disagree on how effective clay is, and what you can add to it to improve its qualities. I've been looking into high temperature bricks and mortar, but I don't want to have wasted all the time I spent filtering out impurities from my clay. Is there any way I can use it in a high temperature forge?

Has anyone tried making charcoal from leaves? I was thinking about it while working under my gargantuan silver maple on--you guessed it--clearing the gutters and deck. Initially it seemed far-fetched. The more I think about it, the more it seems plausible. You take a steel 55 gallon drum, pack it firmly with leaves, drill a couple holes for the gases to escape, and cook it over a fire. I imagine you'd be left with something similar to fines. I see moisture and low density/return rates being a problem. Likely very inefficient. Thoughts?

Hey everyone, newbie blacksmith here. Looking for free/cheap coal or coke in and around GA (I’m in Atlanta but willing to travel) to bring to my blacksmith apprenticeship in North Carolina later this summer. Any leads appreciated!!

I'm in Austin or Central Texas trying to find a 30 gallon steel drum. I didn't think it would be this hard. I'm wanting to build a charcoal retort as described here, '?do=embed' frameborder='0' data-embedContent>> I've visited construction sites, oil change, auto repair and called feed stores, industrial oil supplies, but none of them have 30 gallon steel drums, only 55's which I already have 2 of. Anyone know where else I could try? I've tried contacting people on craig's list that had 55's listed, but they don't have them either. It would help I guess if I knew which industries actually used the 30's.

Hello eveyone, I want to make some charcoal using a 15 gal keg. My question isnt so much on how to do it but on how long I can expect it to take for planning purposes. Also, is it better to start the fire in the keg then cap it once it going or to cap it at the start and build the fire around it? Thank you

Good day. Having recently gotten into this hobby, i've stumbled upon a huge question regarding which fuel to use. To add some context, my forge consists of a semi-truck's brake drum, filled with refractory concrete to make a bottom-blast firepot. For a blower, I have a simple hand-cranked blower. For fuel, there only seems to be Petroleum Coke available for sale nearby, I tried searching for Bituminous Coal but there just doesn't seem to be any for sale, at all, here in Buenos Aires. Now, I have bought and used Petroleum Coke, but i'm not sure if it's really all that good of a choice. Petroleum coke seems to be porous, hard to light, and it seems to ''break …

HI all, New here, I've been hitting hot metal for a couple of years- just got the urge, and did it, which means I don't know jack, 'cep I can get the metal hot enough to whack with a hammer... Anyway, I found this forum, and have maybe a stupid question... does anyone make their own coke? I mean, in an oven, separate from what makes itself in the forge. I live in Utah, and we have real good coal here, easy to come by. I heat my shop with coal, and find hot coke in my coal stove most mornings when I come in for work. I'm tempted to just use my stove to make coke for the forge, but wondered if anyone has messed around with making coke in any quantity, tips for doing s…

I am planning to make a small scale forge using bamboo as fuel, the reason why iam keeping it small is because i am kinda broke, and also to better keep in the heat, thus making it more fuel efficient,hopefully. i need any sort of sugestion or advice in making this said forge,as i am merely a beginer in forging

Had a session at the forge yesterday, and when finished I pulled the fire apart and left all the coke on the table for use today. Well, It came a hard blowing rain last night for an hour or three. All the coke got soaked through, The table was soaked, the pot and what ash was left in the corners got drenched as well. All the sticks and twigs that I usually use for kindling were also soaked. Took me two tries to get the fire going. Finally started it off with a small handfull of green coal to get the coke dried out enough to burn. Hoo Wee, I ain't had that much smoke since I first fired the coal forge several years ago. Once the coal got started, I piled the coke on,…

i live in rigaud wich is 1h from montreal and i cant seem to find anyone selling blacksmithing coal anywhere near i was wondering if anyone here knew where i can get any

This is some short video on how charcoal is traditionaly still made in Bosnia, and how it was made before in history. Rare to see people doing it in old way. Long story short they say best wood for charcoal in this part of region is birch and hornbeam, and from what i expirienced and heard good is also plum tree. and here is how it woks all in waterpowered smithy

Hello All, Anyone use L Brand coke? Is it a good size and low clinker? I need a few ton of good coke. Ric