what's the difference in the coke forge & coal forge i noticed the coke is round and the coal is rectangle, is it that the coke gets hotter? it looks smaller being round, thinking of buying a new forge from centaur, been using a propane majestic, looking to get into old fire.

i dont know if there is a difference. ive been told coke bourns hotter. i dont know first hand. still setting up new unit i got. ive also been told coal turns into coke. you have your fire going with coke and the coal around it gets hot and turns into coke.
hope that helps :)

well they are generally the same forge tho some people seem to have problem with coke burning out theyre tewere ...i use coke all the time (have gone thru over a ton) and dont have any problems with it but i ame useing a hand crank blower not a electric...

A properly managed coal fire results in the coal turning to coke as it migrates towards the firepot, with the end result that you are forging with coke either way. Forging with "green" coal is not the goal of a properly managed coal fire.

Wait! A coal forge firepot can be square, rectangular, round, octagonal, irregular, etc as can a coke forge firepot.

Coke forge firepots are often more heavily made as coke often has a continuous blower on it as it can be prone to going out without constant air and so the firepot is exposed to a high level of heat for longer times.

Coal gets hot enough to burn up your piece
Coke gets hot enough to burn up your piece
Charcoal gets hot enough to burn up your piece
Propane gets hot enough to melt your piece
Natural gas gets hot enough to melt your piece

How Hot do you need it anyway?

(and yes I've managed all of the above!)

A properly managed coal fire results in the coal turning to coke as it migrates towards the firepot, with the end result that you are forging with coke either way. Forging with "green" coal is not the goal of a properly managed coal fire.

and there you go B)

a coal hearth needs a larger area than one burning coke ,with a coke fire you just dump coke on and away you go ,a coal fire has to have room to store the coal as you warm it up to drive of the volatiles and coke it up,then room to burn it.

A properly managed coal fire results in the coal turning to coke as it migrates towards the firepot, with the end result that you are forging with coke either way. Forging with "green" coal is not the goal of a properly managed coal fire.

Correct.

Years ago I got a pickup truck load of petroleum coke. It burned hot but, like charcoal, it was hard to keep a tightly focused fire. One great advantage of using high grade bituminous coal is, with proper fire maintenance, the coke tends to form in a continuous ring around the fire so the fire can be focused.