Jump to content
I Forge Iron

Anthracite coal


Recommended Posts

As a beginner I have seen many references to Bituminous coal as being "the" coal, but I have also seen tantalizing if brief references to using Anthracite coal and wetting it. I have a coal stove in my house and live in eastern Pennsylvania so Anthracite is easy to get and in fact always on hand, so I was wondering if anyone has any experience using Anthracite and could maybe give me a few pointers or if it is just hands down easier to go ahead and find Bituminous coal.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

anthracite well as a beginner years ago that was all I could get also. Breaking it up to walnut size pieces is the first step. It will work just fine but once you switch to bituminous you will never go back there is a diffrence. I have forge welded with anthracite with no problems and you have a supply on hand. As the first smith I learned from said "just do it". Some times you have to work with what you have don't over think it. I never wet my coal unless I am setting up a dome for forge welding. I have friends who keep there coal in a bin of water all the time in the winter I would think the water would freeze on you unless you have a heated shop. Try both and see what workes best for you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am using anthracite now for the simple reason that I have it available for free. If your paying for it you might as well use Bituminous. I have not had any problems forging with it. It also seems to me that it burns with less smoke than Bituminous. If that's an advantage to you.

Bill

Link to comment
Share on other sites


I remember reading the blacksmithing part of the Foxfire series of books and they said blacksmiths preferred anthracite to bituminous because it was cleaner.


And you hit the main reason I NEVER recommend the Foxfire books for anything. This isn't the only thing they have wrong or completely backwards, most of their info is more in the Urban Myth catagory.

Anthricite will work but you can make darned near anything work with enough effort. Happily anthricite works pretty well if it's reasonably low sulphur, it's sure less sparky than charcoal.

Use what you have, make a fire and beat some hot iron. Nothing else will teach you the craft and overcoming obstacles will actually flatten the learning curve for you.

Frosty the Lucky.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...