01tundra Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 I bought some coal from a guy last night for $25, it filled up my little truck bed to the rim (approximately 25 cu. ft.). The best I can tell, it's somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,000 lbs.? I know I could hardly move the 96 gallon trash bins after filling them, so they definitely felt at least 500 lbs to me. I have a 50 lb. bag of blacksmithing coal that I bought online and this coal "feels" and looks similar, but I'm not sure if it's really Bituminous or not, if seems to be fairly soft. It seems to have a lot of fines, but so did the bag I bought online. The fines aren't as bad as they look in the picture, since everything on top was the last thing out of my truck after sweeping the fines up. The coal appears to be really clean, there wasn't any trash in it and it was stored in a big wooden bin. Other than being an experienced blacksmith and forging with it, is there any general way of figuring out what type of coal it is? I'm hoping I didn't waste my time and gas moving all of this last night, but he did also give me a bucket full of old RR spikes (maybe 20 or so) and a 6' long piece of 3/8" rebar, so really to me that alone was worth the 30 mile drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Lodge Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 Good Score! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 Forging with it. "The proof of the pudding is in the eating!" Fines don't mean a thing. Some places the coal is ground into fines before selling to smiths! (Like where I am...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
01tundra Posted August 21, 2012 Author Share Posted August 21, 2012 OK thanks. I've already sifted the fines out of the bag I bought online with my makeshift sifter. I placed anything under 1/4" in a metal bucket and then wetted it with water to use around my fire. That may have been a mistake, but I convinced myself to do so after reading about other people doing similar on here and figured since the air holes in my tuyere cover are 1/4", that it would help prevent fines from dropping through.....again, that may have been a wasted effort? I can't wait to attend the Fiddler's Grove forge class next Tuesday.....being a clueless newbie gets old at times, but at least I usually learn from my mistakes :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HWHII Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 I have a 55 gal barrel full of fines. Works well. Some like to put it in a bucket and make a mud with it and use it that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marksnagel Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 You hit the/a jackpot. $25 and a thirty mile trip? Me thinks you've done well. Fire up the forge and have fun. Mark <>< Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaughnT Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 The trash can storage is brilliant, too! I'm stealing that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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