When ever I start up my forge and pull a piece of metal out 95 percent of the time lumps of coal or molten coal sticks to it if I scrap it ,it comes right off if I hit it ,it embeds in my metal am I doing something wrong?

Let the fire establish itself and go from coal to coke. You are just in a hurry (grin).

ok glenn ill try that!! thanks.

Why you always save some coke from a previous fire so that when you start the next one you can be working using the coke center while you are coking new coal around the edges. Lets you go from cold to ready in only a couple of minutes rather than a looooonnnnggg wait to coke all new coal. When I get a piece of coal stuck on the workpiece I rap it on the lip of the forge to dislodge as it's nowhere near the area I want to hit as that is heated in the working area of the fire that's only coke. If you still have green coal in the working area it's not ready for work!

When you get ready to extinguish your fire and close up shop for the day. What is the best method to put out the fire as to preserve the coke left in your fire with out ruining it or it smoldering away to ash. If you dump water on it would it not ruin it and possibly bust your cast iron forge if using cast iron such as a break drum. I have read some good info on starting the fire and maintaining it but not on putting it out. Being an ex-fire fighter my way of putting out the fire is probably not appropriate, surround and drown technique. :D

I spread the contents of the firepot out on the forge table when I'm done, and let it sit and cool off for a few minutes while I'm putting everything else away.  Once it's had a bit to cool, I dump the works in a bucket of water, and let that sit for about an hour or so while the forge cools down enough for me to carry it inside.

 

Once everything's moved inside, I pull the forge contents out of the water and put it into another dry bucket.  While I'm doing that, I sift out the ash, clinkers, and other assorted junk that seems to collect during a session.  Usually the coke is dried out enough that it's ready to use at the next session.

Cool, thanks for the info.

Maybe this a no so good of a way but i spread the fire around the edges then slowly squirt water on it . Can anyone tell me if thats a good idea or not?