Poll What is your primary fuel used for forging?

[Glenn]

What is your primary fuel used for forging?
The 172 votes are as follows:


Coal 83 votes or 48.3%

Gas 58 votes or 33.7%

Coke 17 votes or 9.9%

Charcoal 10 votes or 5.8%

Other fuels 3 votes 1.7%

Wood 1 vote or 0.6%

Induction heater 0 or 0%

[Nick]

I'm a little suprised. I know a lot of people use coal and gas, but I expected there to be more coke burners.

[Ron Hicks]

I'm a little suprised I thought there would be more Gas than Coal.

[dennis_hl]

I use charcoal. I will use coke when I can get it with out having to pay shipping--i.e. passing by Centaur Forge anyways. The only time I use coal is when I'm doing a public demo--you're not a real blacksmith unless people can smell you.

Why do people use the fuel that they do? I use charcoal due to the fact that it's cheaper for me and its what my forge is built for. I can get 340 lbs of charcoal locally for the same price as 150 lbs of coke delivered.

[Nolano]

I use coal because its what my forge was made for(charcoal requires more forge space due to it being less dense), and I can get it for a not too bad price here. $20 a 50# bag. Not really great, but its really good stuff.

[HWooldridge]

Gas v coal surprises me also as most production or professional shops use some form of fuel gas. I use propane more than coal for most things since it gets hot enough for efficient forging but I don't have to worry much about burning anything.

[Blackbeard]

Does anthracite fall under coal? Thats what I use.
Bb

[Glenn]

The three main ranks of coal are lignite, bituminous coal, and anthracite.

Lignite is closely related to peat but has a lower moisture content. It has the lowest heating value of any of the ranks of coal.

Bituminous coal is more dense than lignite and is black in color. Bituminous coal is the most commonly used of the ranks of coal for industrial purposes, both for the generation of electrical power (unless prohibited because of sulfur or other impurities) and for the production of COAL TAR and COKE through destructive distillation.

Anthracite is the hardest of all the ranks of coal and typically has a lustrous black appearance. Anthracite has the highest carbon content of any of the coals and burns with the cleanest flame.

[FredW]

I use mainly propane but am getting very interested in charcoal as prices go up. I can make charcoal fairly easily and with very little expense.

Fred

[Glenn]

BP0338 Making your own Charcoal

[habu68]

I have sometimes used woodstove pellets with success. They coke up much like coal at the edge of the fire and burn hot and clean. The btu output is about half that of coal, so you need to use more of it. It is cheap and available. If you cantrol the size of the fire with water the pellets break down to a saw dust pulp that can be used for a cave type fire. Welding heat was no problem. ymmv

[Jmercier]

I like working with coal/charcoal/coke but living in a very tightly packed residential neighborhood it's not that practical, instead I've got 3 different propane forges.

I think the reason not many people use coke is because it's a lot more expensive (at least in my area) than just buying coal and letting it coke on the fire.