Anonymous777

Canada. Yeah, I knew charcoal worked. Katana's are still forged with charcoal today? That's cool. Don't know to much about eastern swords. I just read that the temperatures were lower and I plan on using scrap ie. mystery metal to start and want to be sure I could rely on it getting the metal soft. But if BTU is similar that's great! I can make charcoal, which is a definite plus.

A-ok Daswulf. I'll check around for coal, but it's good to know that charcoal isn't necessarily better ( I read that coal burns hotter and cleaner). Thanks a lot

Thanks for the tip- I'll be on the lookout for one. I'll also be sure to control the airflow. thanks

So I'm planning on starting up blacksmithing, and am wondering where I can buy coal. I looked in the inventory of local hardware stores and they mostly have charcoal, which I could use but I understand that coal is better. Does anyone know where I can get coal without having to ship it here? I live in the Saint John area in New Brunswick if that helps.

Thanks a lot Glenn. Jabod sounds interesting, I'll check it out.

Hello, I've been thinking of getting into blacksmithing and I have been doing some reasearch. I don't have a budget to speak of, so I was looking on homemade forges. One place said you could get a hot enough coal forge by digging a trench, filling it with coal and blowing into it with a blow dryer. Will this work? Just looking for another opinion.