Charcoal for Blacksmithing

[2K_Kid]

My son and I are getting into blacksmithing as a hobby. We just bought a used portable coal forge and have a couple of buckets of coal we bought from a local smith.

The other day, I bought some Royal Oak natural wood charcoal and based upon the youtube videos I've seen thought that we could use the charcoal instead of coal since we can buy a 10lb bag of this at WallyWorld for about $5. So I did a search here about charcoal and found 3 pertinent threads. Next I did a google search on charcoal and found the following link which might be a nice resource for anyone thinking about using charcoal instead of coal.

The Lump Charcoal Database Reviews

They review natural wood charcoals for cooking and rate them. I was fairly happy to see that the Royal Oak Natural Wood (American source) is pretty highly rated.

So, it seems that for $5/10lb bag, it is fairly equivalent to the $22-$25 per 50lb bag of coal, plus I don't have to worry about breathing coal smoke (portable forge without flue/chimney). At WallyWorld I'll have to pay 8% tax but the coal would require shipping so that may be a wash depending upon shipping costs.

Any comments?

Thanks,
2K

[tech413]

I use the Royal Oak when I do use charcoal. I agree with the price, get mine from Walmart too, but at the end of season, its like $3. It works out cheaper even at $5 a bag cause I too have to ship in coal.

Adam

[dablacksmith]

aha but you use a lot more charcoal than coal... you usually use double or better charcoal for equivalent time/heat to coal ... thats why i went coke... coke will last 2-3 times what coal will.. and verry little smoke after fireup.. downside is it is harder to keep going(if you leave it alone for 5-10 minutes it goes out).

[ThomasPowers]

Charcoal and coal have about the same BTU content per *pound*. Density varies quite a lot.

Many charcoals designed for cooking may only be partially charred to allow the cooking to get some of the "smoke" flavour---like mesquite charcoal; so the ratings of a cooking site may not be totally applicable to blacksmithing.

If you live in a colder area you can sometimes make a deal to buy the closeout charcoal at the end of the summer for 1/2 the standard price. If you live near a charcoal producer you may be able to go to the company and buy 40# sacks of charcoal at a much better rate. (what we did when we were smelting iron ore into wrought iron in a charcoal fueld bloomery)

[781]

I make my own out of 2 X 4 lumber with a 55 gal drum
I have three barrels cooking right now
Made a pickup load in the last week

[sr peters]

I make my own also. I grab pallets since they tend to have hard woods which make a denser charcoal. They usually are easy to find after some phone calls or just stopping were you see them piled up. Going to start going behind the firewood cutters that leave alot of 2"-3" diameter limbs laying. Pine works but it tends to have a higher fluff factor.

[billp]

I have used royal oak as well but have found the Kroger store brand of wood bit charcoal a bit better. It just seems to burn better to me but like parts of our anatomy it's my opinion as everyone has there own. Any way if you have Kroger stores in your area may want to give it a try.
Oh, yes I tried to make my own charcoal as well but mine was a bust still more to learn about charcoal but would rather concentrate on blacksmithing so I buy mine for now. I did get my first bag of coal but as of yet have not used any spending all my free time building a new forge instead. May try the coal on the new forges maiden trip out.
But, no the charcoal is fine just may not get as hot as coal but there are much more experienced guys here who can fill you in on all that then I.

Bill P.