Mad Rabbit Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 Until yesterday i was buying coal by the 25 pound bag. It was dirty and expensive (26 cent a pound). My girlfriend borrowed her dads truck and took me on an hour and a half long adventure to the Gateway Mine in Coulterville, IL. It was awesome. I picked up half a ton for $25 (2.5 cent a pound). It is much better quality and im very excited. Now i have enough to burn for the whole summer, and her parents have a few projects they want me to work on now. Double score! The Mad Rabbit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faber Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 Score Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmccustomknives Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 At least they (the mines) will sell to you. We've got coal mines all around, not one of them will sell to an individual. It's pretty much all going to china. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 A girlfriend that is interested in you AND your blacksmithing. Awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Rabbit Posted June 22, 2013 Author Share Posted June 22, 2013 Absolutely the best girlfriend ever. She pushed me to follow my dream to become a blacksmith. She bought me my forge (break drum forge off craigslist) for my birthday and paid for half my anvil, which she also found (another craigslist score). 100 pound vulcan. I love her to death. She has been my motivation and inspiration. The Mad Rabbit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 Rabbit dude: I do NOT know what you have to be Mad about. You have one of the best girlfriends I've heard of in a long time. You my friend are almost as lucky picking a lady as I am. Oh the coal, good score there too. Treat that Girl like a queen or I'll give you grief if I have to fly down and slap you for hiding out! Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshua.M Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 wow... i thought the coal i was getting now was a good price, $40 for 70lbs. im moving to the states! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Rabbit Posted June 23, 2013 Author Share Posted June 23, 2013 Im not angry at all... just the opposite im delightfull happy most of the time. Im just mad as a hatter. I treat her like the queen she is, no worries there frosty. Im working on a set of heart for her now as a sneaky side project to give her though its hard kuz she LOVES to watch me at the forge. The coal isnt the best. Dont think its clean enough to forge weld with, though i havnt tried. But it cokes up very well so i can always just ise that if the itch to weld strikes me. Would love to get my hands on some metallurgical grade coke. Compare the consumption rates and the speed of my heats. Im a little out of shapr though, had to go 2 full months without any forge time due to lack of funds for coal. The Mad Rabbit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted June 23, 2013 Share Posted June 23, 2013 The coal isnt the best. Dont think its clean enough to forge weld with, Clean coal does not make a forge weld any more than the dirt in coal keep it from making a forge weld. It is the heat in the coal that raises the temperature of the metal to welding temperature. Different fuels have different amounts of heat per pound, but it is not the fuel that makes the fire hot, the amount of air (given ample fuel) makes the fire hot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R. Posted June 23, 2013 Share Posted June 23, 2013 The real problem I find in welding with poor quality coal is the amount of time you need to spend on the fire cleaning out clinkers and junk. At some point you have to tear the fire up pretty good and get the junk out and then it takes time to get welding heat up again. Recently got a chance to work in a friends shop with some really good met. coal. We were welding old wrought iron sections of wagon tire up to build a skelp up for a rifle barrel. Kept welding heat in forge nearly all day with very little need to pull junk out of the fire.The only problem with using the met coal is it spoils you when you have to use something else, sort of like forge welding with wrought iron. You don't want to forge with steel after you've used good wrought iron.My future son in law just took a job as an accountant for a local coal co.. He says they are mining met coal. I told him if he marries my daughter he's got to hook me up with some coal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielC Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 I buy high quality coal out of WV from a friend for $200 per ton. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DickyPitts Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 Rabbit dude: I do NOT know what you have to be Mad about. You have one of the best girlfriends I've heard of in a long time. You my friend are almost as lucky picking a lady as I am. Oh the coal, good score there too. Treat that Girl like a queen or I'll give you grief if I have to fly down and slap you for hiding out! Frosty The Lucky. Frosty, tell deb I agree with you completely...Dick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilroy Posted July 2, 2013 Share Posted July 2, 2013 In my area I can only buy anthracite, while not as good as bituminous it still gets the job done. I also get it for $7 for 50lbs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted July 2, 2013 Share Posted July 2, 2013 Frosty, tell deb I agree with you completely...Dick Dick! Darned good to hear from you! How are you and Leah getting on? I think we agree about good choices in the sousal units eh? I sure wish we could've come to your wedding, just not in the cards. <sigh> Heck, I couldn't even get a call through. Are you getting any forge time in? Have you added anything to your kit? It has just been too long, I miss you. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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