Greetings all,new to the forum, and the world of blacksmithing. Long story short, in looking to build a solid fuel forge, i came across a source of industrial coke, for the right price (free). Problem is the lumps are way too big to use,so the question is, how to crush it and what size am I shooting for. Any help would be great.

It would be very nice if we knew where you were so someone from that area could chime in. It may be that you will need to use coal as no coke supply is near enough. Of course some coals become coke. So in essence you would be making your own. It may be that you have no coal or coke supply near by and would have to use charcoal. It is how blacksmiths forged for several thousand years. But, it all hinges on where you are.

Hey Nik, I have used welding jackets and I just put the coke on the concrete, cover with the old leather jacket then hit it with a 3lb hammer. I break it down to large marble to strawberry size. Lucky guy to get the coke free.

Thanks for the input, i suspected the answer would involve hitting it with a hammer. Looks like free comes with the price of physical labor...
I should be getting the forge shell together in the next few days, with the insulation and liner set to cast early next week, dependent on when the kaowool shows up. I'll do my best to document the process, but make no promises because the camera is with the wife on the other side of the continent.

I've seem people size charcoal by hammering it through a strong coarse grating, could you do something similiar? Set it up where you cound run your car over it to push it through the grating? Use a treadle hammer?

At the moment I break mine up in a sheet metal box with a tamper bar, outside with good vent. cause it can make a nasty dust cloud. However I like Mr. Powers advice of using some sort of grating to evenly size it.

I used a mortar and pestle made from an oak log and limb. It was still hard work but things turned out okay.

Greetings all,new to the forum, and the world of blacksmithing. Long story short, in looking to build a solid fuel forge, i came across a source of industrial coke, for the right price (free). Problem is the lumps are way too big to use,so the question is, how to crush it and what sizevam I shooting for. Any help would be great.

beat it with a hammer, the size depends on how much air you are blowing, and the mtL 1 1/2 is a good start

thanks again for the suggestions, I went out and tried the beat on it with a big hammer method today, much easier than I anticipated, only took about 5 minutes to fill a 5 gallon bucket.

thanks again for the suggestions, I went out and tried the beat on it with a big hammer method today, much easier than I anticipated, only took about 5 minutes to fill a 5 gallon bucket.

Nik, I'm in the exact same situation as you are, I can get a decent amount of industrial coke for free, but it's in large lumps. So, I just sit down next to my anvil and start cracking it. There are 3 types of coke I noticed, the one that's really light, and breaks to dust with anything but the softest touch of the hammer, a bit harder one that breaks with a medium blow, and every now and then a few lumps of coke that just wont break until I hit it really really hard. I don't know about your coke, but maybe this could be helpful
Oh, and also, try to break the coke quite some time before you start smithing, I find it really annoying to break it just before I start forging .

About two years ago I found this somewhere... I don't remember if it was in the old BP's or somewhere else but I saved a copy for later use. Haven't tried it yet but it may work.

Basically you make a grid with about 1 inch openings, weld it inside a big diameter tube, then use a plunger (or whatever that thing is called) to push and break the charcoal (because it was for breaking charcoal). I don't know if it would work for coke.

The tube has an opening in the bottom side for the crushed fuel to exit. It can be seen in the crusherC.jpg

Hope it helps.

Rubén

Thanks for the input, i suspected the answer would involve hitting it with a hammer. Looks like free comes with the price of physical labor...
I should be getting the forge shell together in the next few days, with the insulation and liner set to cast early next week, dependent on when the kaowool shows up. I'll do my best to document the process, but make no promises because the camera is with the wife on the other side of the continent.

Excuse me, but if you are making a Solid fuel forge, Why do you need insulation, or kaowool?