October 31, 201213 yr Living and working in Northern Nevada has given me some interesting opportunities. One of which is the occasional work at a coal fired power plant. After getting to know the guys there they gave me some coal to try after I explained the difficulties in obtaining coal in this area. I was told it is sub-bituminous coal from Wyoming and Utah. I was thoroughly displeased with it. It builds HUGE clinkers in a very short time. It cokes up but won't stick together and form a cave of any sort. Very hard to maintain a fire worth having which sucks the fun out of forging. I decided to try and mix it last week with corn from the local fed store. Now forging is fun again. I found if I put a layer of corn on top of the coal it caves up nice and it isn't nearly as hard to maintain. I still have an issue with HUGE clinkers but it's alot better than not forging.
October 31, 201213 yr I've read of them using peat to forge with in some places; sounded worse than briquettes!
October 31, 201213 yr I have found corn burns almost exactly like coal, except for 2 things, it is less dense, and it is reported to have 1/2 the energy content by weight...together mean feeding the fire very frequently. (and it smells like popcorn instead of coal, no green smoke!) Good stuff. Phil
November 1, 201213 yr I wonder if corn could be charred like charcoal to drive off the excess moisture?
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