Fuel survey... Please participate.

[elkdoc]

Since we're rehashing and reorganizing some information in some threads that are pretty well-aimed at beginners, I thought I'd post this poll. Please participate and offer any thoughts on the subject of forge fuel. These types of threads are most helpful to me, and I'm sure, others. :)

[oakwoodforge]

I voted for charcoal, but I do need to explain: I love the way coal/coke holds the heat , I love how long it lasts ( you dont need to keep shoveling fuel into the fire ) What I don't love is the clinkers and the yellow/green toxic smoke, not to mention it takes only a few million years to produce coal and we will eventualy run out, It is also harmful to the environment to burn or mine, strip mines suck for the planet, Shaft mines suck for the miners. I like charcoal because it burns clean, the ashes act as a flux when forge welding. I can produce it in my own backyard with minimal labor. I can buy a full pickup load of post industrial scrap kiln dried maple, pre-cut into small chunks for about $10 (which I think goes to the forklift operators beer fund) I fill (2) 55 gallon drums with the wood , start a fire underneath them, let it burn for about 1.75 - 2 hours and then cap the drums with a heavy metal plate to smother the flames. The next day I have lots and lots of great charcoal for almost nothing. I am saving money and landfill space at the same time. I will always like the way coal/coke burns in my forge, but I think that charcoal is better for my pocket book, my health , and my environment. Not to mention that since I have been using charcoal the quality of my forge welds has improved 100% No more clinkers or black spots in my welds !!!!!! 8)

[bruce wilcock]

over the years i have use the lot including peat ,but for the type of work we do involving bigish fires and a lot of welding up iron coke has it for me throw it on blow some air through it and your away ,clinkers are no trouble so long as you leave them alone keep the air blowing through and dont keep digging holes in the fire trying to clear the fire of clinkers for each weld ,just look at some old photos of a chainmakers yard and the piles of chain at each anvil , the fire was not cleared at each weld ,to clear the clinkers three times a day was usual on small chain

[Don A]

I'll second what oakwoodforge said.

But the survey said "prefer". Lately I have been too lazy to build up a good charcoal supply at my home shop, so bituminous coal is what I use on a day-to-day basis.

[HWooldridge]

I prefer coal for all the wrong reasons - I like the smell and it takes some work to use - BUT - I use propane almost exclusively because I do a lot of production work. I can start it and forget it plus propane is real easy to get at the gas dealer two miles away.

[elkdoc]

I'm suprised that charcoal and bituminous coal are running pretty much neck-and-neck at this point. I figured charcoal and coke would be about the same.

I'm a coal guy, so far. I am very intrigued by charcoal as a fuel source, though. I work in some areas where coal mining has pretty much left the environment in sorry shape. I don't care much for the smoke, either.

I do like the way coal clumps together as it cokes and can be left alone without going out while I do other tasks in the shop.

I may have to get a bag of coke and give it a shot...

[Don A]

Any of you coke users ever have trouble with the coke pieces exploding in the fire?

I bought 50 lb of the metalurgic grade coke and used it, usually mixed with a little coal. Maybe it had drawn moisture or something, but occasionally a piece in the heart of the fire would go off like a small firecracker.

That'll get your attention when you're looking right at the fire.

[HWooldridge]

Don,

That's exactly what it is - moisture. I had some coke that would go off repeatedly and throw pieces everywhere. I push the fresh coke in from the side and it usually heats up enough to drive off the water without tossing shrapnel.

[Daryl]

Don, Wooldridge is right about the water. You will find it is common from guys who sell the coke by the pound and have soaked it in water to make it gain weight. While it may not be entirely scrupulous, it must be a consideration when purchasing coke or coal by the pound. Those that tell you it is common for coke to be wetted down either don't know what they are talking about, or are suffering from an acute case of cranial-rectal inversion.

[gerald]

I use soft coal as my primary heat source. Two reasons: (1) It get HOT and (2) it's what I learned to use when I first started smithing.

I have a one burner propane forge that I use fairly regularly, particularly when I need a quick fire for a small job. It's a neat, useful tool, but no match for the coal fire when I want to get serious work done.

[yesteryearforge]

I use coal / Im not so sure that it takes any less time for nature to make oil or natural gas/propane than it does to make coal and Im pretty sure that my burning coal doesnt pollute the atsmophere any more than a lot of other things that I do / mainly garbage in the landfill / emissions from my vehicles / electricity / welding gasses etc.
Besides I really like everything about coal.
To me its like the smell of a campfire or a woodstove and its a comforting and familiar smell that instantly produces pleasant memorries. :)

[Shane Stegmeier]

What I use and what I might prefer are two different things:-) I use propane, it is clean efficient (for most of the size work I do:-) I can do production runs with a pile of pieces in the fire. But I need a couple more gas forges, as well as a couple of solid fuel forges aswell:-)

A one burner gas forge, (unless it is a big burner) is only really suited for small stuff, and really can't be compared to a solid fuel forge of any variety. They are the tinners forges of gassers;-) For versitility a solid fuel forge can't be beat, need to work bigger stock, build a bigger fire, up to a certain point... For big stuff you a coke fire and an electric blower are the berries, or a BIG gasser. I used to work with a Johnson Gas Appliance trough forge, it was a big glutton, but you could stack it deep with pieces and work straight through (I wish I had it now, i have job it would be perfect for....:-)

I HATE BAD COAL!!! Good coal is hard on my breathing, but bad coal tears me up, cheap high sulfer stoker coal is the pitts... I do have a terrible nostalgia for coal smoke, and like working in coal, charcoal, and coke... especially forgewelding (I can weld in my gasser but not in the configurations that I normally have it set up in...)

[Rick Rowlands]

To Oakwoodforge. I read in a book on the history of mining in West Virginia that in all of recorded history about 13 million tons of coal has been mined from that state, and their estiamte of the coal in WV is something on the order of 112 million tons. So I don't think that the few pounds of coal used in a forge is going to hasten the day when we run out of coal, which will probably be hundreds of years from now.

If anyone is interested I have more metallurgical coke here than I will ever use, and if you're within driving distance of Youngstown, OH I will be more than happy to sell a barrel or two of it.

[elkdoc]

Hey Rick... What's yer source on the coke?

[Rick Rowlands]

Youngstown used to be a steelmaking area, and the industrial park that I rent a building in was a former coal and coke storage area for one of the mills.

So when I need coke I just drive out back, find a pile and fill up the pickup bed. There is enough here to last a lifetime, and I hate to see all this fuel go to waste as they slowly fill in the property.

[elkdoc]

Lucky so-and-so... :wink: :lol:

[Strine]

I can't believe coke is lagging behind. Is it because we coke users can't vote because we're spending all our time enjoying working at our forges?

[elkdoc]

I haven't run the numbers, but I doubt if there's much of a significant difference between coke and charcoal with a total of 35 votes.

8)

[Michael]

I use charcoal, neighbors within 30 feet on every side of the house, I can pass it off as a high powered grill. There's a neighbor who heats with wood and I can "hide" my smoke making under cover of his fireplace keeps the firemarshall off my back. I like coal, but restrict the use to the wintertime, when the wind is blowing off the bay and the neighbors windows are closed.

Michael-San Francisco

[blacksmithtech]

...........

[frogvalley]

I am about a fifty fifty user of coal and propane, we have two coal forges and two propane. Just about equally split for production of our art pieces. There is nothing cleaner than propane for forging. However, its a bit impersonal. I like the smell of coal burning and use it whenever I am doing demonstrations for the general public or one of our "Studio Tours", people seem to identify blacksmiths with that aroma. And of course I have been told that sweat and coal smoke are aphrodisiacs. LOL

[elkdoc]

You never forget the smell of a coal forge, do you?

It's one of the first things that pops into my mind when I think of watching the theme park blacksmiths as a kid.

8)

[Ten Hammers]

Coal is what I use. I also use a lotta acetelyne to weld with and for some finish work. I sometimes use a weed burner for finish but not too much. a Brenzomatic torch gets used sometimes to cook oil onto utensils. My shop is small but I do plan to build a gasser on wheels so I can use it half in the door. Good coal is hard to find around here. Glad I got what I got.

[hterag]

I use charcoal for the similar reasons as have already been mentioned by others;

Environmental, coal being a non renewable resource and the local effects burning it would have on my suburban neighbourhood.

Gas powered forges seem expensive and also use a non renewable resource.

I am just starting out with blacksmithing and charcoal is the only fuel I have been able to get hold of.