K. Bryan Morgan

I spoke to someone from the Usibelli mine today. Usibelli has been getting a good amount of interest in bituminous coal and are aware of the blacksmithing community in Alaska. They indeed have a lease near Palmer that they are going to open up as soon as they get the mining permits taken care of. All the other permissions are done and its just this last hurdle before they begin operations. It is bituminous coal, about 12,000 btu and does coke up. So that's great news. But will be in a year or two before we can see any results from it. In the mean time we will continue the hunt. I also talked to Jeff Coe from Fox and we are still trying to get people together to make an order and will keep working on it. So, good news for the future. I will keep my eyes peeled for any news of Usibelli opening up the new seam and when they do. I will get as much as I can afford. Which for local prices for coal could end up in the several ton range. Heck, if its anywhere near the Healy mine prices $500 would be around 4 tons. At those prices I may just get in to the business of selling coal for blacksmiths. Something to consider for the future.

Controlled hand forging PDF files from the ABANA. Its a course of study with step by step instructions for each operation. 26 comprehensive lessons that culminate with the making of a grill. I have found it very helpful. http://www.abana.org/resources/chf.shtml and then I read that you already had these. Big Ole DERP.

Thanks George, that's the same coal. Its Pocahontas. The same stuff Mountain Brook Forge is selling. Anyway I'll figure out if we have enough interest, if not, I guess I buy a 100# propane tank.

Yes coke does go further. I just got off the phone with the L Brand Coke gentleman and we had a nice talk. Turns out he's the same person that David from Alaska Feed was talking to. I just didn't know it. And he's not in Oregon he's in Washington. Neither here nor there. The problem is of course shipping and minimums. If David can get a pallet, his shipping cost is fixed. It goes in the container and weight isn't an issue. For the smiths here in the Golden Valley that want to get coal or coke, the issue is having to prepay. David told me he won't do an order unless he has the money in hand. I can understand that. But I can't pay for an entire shipment on my own. I would be more than willing to be the front and get it done. But I would need others to pony up. In advance and be willing to wait until it arrives. So if any other smiths in the interior want to do this let me know and we will get together and make it happen. But interest needs to be shown or this is a dead deal.

On the L Brand Coke, there is a 20 bag (1000 lbs) minimum order. I have a call in to their Washington contact and am waiting a reply. I don't know. This sounds expensive to.

Hey Frosty, ya we have plenty of hard and soft woods here. Tons of Birch and tons of Spruce. Spruce has about 1/3 less btu than Birch. Birch is a hardwood, the stock of my Mosin/Nagant rifle is Birch. I'm not sure that spruce is a hardwood however. I googled the btu chart and for the varieties we have here that's what it shows. So, I could get a chord of Birch and charcoal it. It would take forever and would be a mess but it could be done. I just need to set up a retort system. I really would rather use coal. IF it comes down to it I'll just go straight propane and be done with it. But I love using coal. Its half the fun of forging for me. Lyle, I couldn't get that link to function. But, when I googled it, it popped right up and I'm emailing them right after this. I'll see what they will charge to ship up say 500 lbs. Worse comes to worse. I'll have them USPS 50 lb boxes. IF its under 70 lbs it ships with USPS. Anyway one at a time couldn't be terrible on the pocket. I'll contact them and find out. HWooldridge, It is pretty country up here. I love it. The idea about a side draft is a good one. I haven't used any of the Usibelli coal in my break drum forge so I don't know how it will act. I plan on getting a bag of it from a local coal supplier for home heating units. Its about $6.00 a bag for 100#. So may as well for that price. I'll keep plugging away. See what I can find out. Worse comes to worse I'll just convert to propane. I have a propane forge. I just don't like it. Its a stupid reason. I just love the romance of coal. The way you have to manipulate the fire. How you have to tend it and care for it. With propane you just turn it on and light it. Done. There is no challenge. I know its not a good reason or a practical one, but its mine.

Actually those lumps of coal erode from the cliff and wash down to the beach. And we are only about 800 miles from there. So that won't work. I can get coal. Its just not ideal coal. Sub bituminous, Moisture 29%, ash 9%, 36% Volatile Matter, 26.5% Fixed Carbon, 0.20% Sulfer, Heat Value (But/b) 7560 (4,200 kcal/kg), Initial Deformation Temp (red) 2,150 F (1,175 C), T250 Temp 2320F (1275C), Grindability (HGI) 42. So its not ideal. You can weld with it. It will not coke. But you have to strip out the fire and clean the fire pot after each weld. Very time consuming. On the plus side its cheap. $120 per ton. Buying a car load of blacksmithing coal and then getting it here to the state would be ridiculously expensive. Not even worth looking into. Not to mention there is no track link up to the lower 48. Everything that large has to come by barge.

And the search goes on. I just got off the phone with David, one of the owners of Alaska Feed. He can get blacksmiths coal from Mountain Brook Forge in Oregon. But the cost is rather prohibitive at $56.50 per 50# bag. Another detail is. he needs payment in Advance. So that works out to: $ 2260. I just can't afford to pay that much in advance for coal. We would need to collect the money from the various people in the interior who want it and then make payment. Wait until the coal arrives then divide it up. I don't know that sounds like a lot of work for little gain. As I was talking to David he went over his coal sails and was telling me how little he sold. It worked out to about a bag a month. Which for him doesn't make it worth it. I can certainly understand. That's why he wants all the money in advance. I wouldn't want a ton of coal sitting around in inventory just taking up space either. I have a call into the Usibelli coal mine office here in Fairbanks and left a message with their purchasing person and am waiting for a call back on that. I'll keep plugging away.

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Man your skills are off the charts.

Super nice and super clean. I really like it. Bet that baby brings in top dollar. That's as nice a knife as I've ever seen.

Hope you heal well and recover quickly. All my thoughts and prayers are with you, from the home of Santa.

Oh, you want one of these.

Find a large piece of square or round steel. About 4" across will do, about 2' long. Then get a five gallon bucket and place the piece of steel upright in the bucket. Fill with concrete. Done. No muss no fuss and you will have a post anvil that many a blacksmith has used for hundreds if not thousands of years. Minus the concrete part of course. You could also inlet it into a large stump. There are much easier ways to get an anvil made than pouring 400 lbs of molten steel into a mold by yourself.

Hey Rodfather, Welcome to the madness. I'm looking but no luck as yet. The guys at Ak Feed have my phone and I know there are several of us that would buy coal if we could get it. Hopefully we can work something out. I'll make further inquiries and see what I can find. One angle I had thought to do was call the Fairbanks office of Usibeli coal and see what they have to say, I haven't had a chance to do that yet. I will do it soon and report my findings on this thread.

Absolutely I would say. Get the steel hot and hit it hard and take pics as you go. Show us and talk about your experience. I've seen people use hunks of concrete and while it may not be ideal it will work.

Its just basic structural steel. Nothing fancy. And no, granite will work. Large anvil stones were used for hundreds of years. There are quite a few in Iceland and Greenland, Norway, Sweden, and I'm sure on the European continent.

A 24 inch piece of 4 inch square A36 weighs in at 108.72 pounds. Secure that into a five gallon bucket of concrete and you will have an anvil that any Viking blacksmith would envy.

If your in Washington you should look at Incandescent Ironworks anvils. Rhino. They are in Spokane. http://www.incandescent-iron.com/rhan.html

I don't have any advice to give. I'm just going to sit here and drool on my shirt and look with envy at that magnificent piece of iron.

I had heard he was able to get all his tools to higher ground. Lost his cabin though. I would imagine the dock as well. Or was it just a landing? I don't remember from the photo's I've seen. Hopefully with the warmer temperatures we've had this winter it won't be a bad breakup like last year.

Yes that's him, everyone I know here calls him Jake the Russian. Jake Pograbinski. I believe is the spelling of his name. Very talented smith and really knows the science of it. He's been very helpful to me with process and we made an axe together in Ester. We used to have great talks about stuff. I miss that. He hasn't ben on IFI much lately.

I've seen people weld with the sub-bituminous from Healy. So it can be done. Just keep the fire free of clinker and adjust the blast to make it a good reducing fire. I know Jake P. welded an axe bit with it a few years ago and there's a thread here on the forum somewhere with that information. I tried to find it and failed miserably. I don't have anything further to report yet. I did hear, however that Usiblelli is supposed to open a bituminous seam. I just don't have any other information than that. So, hearsay and I don't have exact data yet, just what I was told. I will keep everyone appraised of what I find out. Fingers crossed for good news.

Ok, I just got back from Alaska Feed a little bit ago and right now they do not have any coal. And may not be able to get any more. I left my name and number for further updates. I was told they may have to get coal by the ton and might not if they can't get enough commitment to move that amount. So right now there is no good blacksmithing coal source that I am aware of in Central Alaska. I'm going to get hold of the Usibelli Coal MIne office here in Fairbanks to see what is available. If I can get a very good price I may just buy a couple of tons from Usibelli and then offer it at cost to any smiths in the area. . I will update when I find out more information

A friend of mine made a very simple side blast forge from an old metal desk drawer. He lined it with kitty litter and we used one of the desk legs for the tuyere and a shop vac with a dimmer switch for the blast. We made an axe and welded in a spring steel bit. It worked very well. It doesn't have to be fancy. Sometimes less is more.