Coal or coke

[old rascal]

I'm just starting out and bought my coal from Centaur Forge in Wisconsin. After leaving their establishment I realized the sold coke at the same price as coal. Wouldn't I be better of just using coke rather than coking the coal or is there a reason for not doing that?

[GustavDebels949]

Some fire pots, and forges for that matter, ar'nt built to use coke. Coke gets much hotter than coal and can burn up or crack a fire pot that's not built to use coke. If you're using a brake drum as a fire pot it doesn't really matter, as brake drums are easy to replace if they get burnt up, assuming your using some variation of a "break drum forge" to start out with.

[Joel OF]

Ditto what Gustav said. Ontop of that I'd say that coal was probably the better choice if you're just starting out because coke is "higher maintenance" and requires a little more attention regarding air supply. There's a million and one threads on the forum about coal vs coke so if you do a search you could read till your eyes bleed.

 

One other thing: other users of the forum will want as much info as possible about your setup to help them give you a better answer. I.E how big is your fire pot, do you have a forge table to mound coals up, what is your air supply, is it a side blast or bottom blast forge, what size of coals are you using etc etc etc.

 

Kiss goodbye to any social life you had and welcome to the addicting world of forging...

[ThomasPowers]

what kind of air supply do you use?  Coal is easier to keep going with hand powered air---bellows or hand crank blower.  It is also easier to light by far!

[old rascal]

Thanks for the replies. My forge is cast iron and has no fire pot and has a Champion hand powered blower. I think that the next time I go I'll get a bag of coke and try it. Can't hurt, can it?

[Donnie]

I burn coke. It is as Mr. Powers, harder to light and requires more of a constant air flow. I have used it with a hand blower. I had no problems keeping it going. You just can't let it sit without turning the blower as long as you can with coal. I like coke because for me it burns a lot cleaner and hotter. If you give it a try, let us know what you think.

[Joel OF]

I think that the next time I go I'll get a bag of coke and try it. Can't hurt, can it?

Only if you struggle with keeping a coke fire going and lose time messing around with it when you could be spending the time hitting hot steel from an easier to manage coal fire. Other than that, no. Whatever fuel you use don't be stingey, get a good deep mound piled up, say 6 inches deep, and you'll have more joy with the coal/coke retaining heat so that when you're away from the fire and not cranking the blower the fire isn't dying too quickly.

[ThomasPowers]

If you are in a suburban setting; using coke and a Fisher (or Vulcan) anvil can do a lot to help you slide under the radar WRT your neighbors

[Steve Sells]

Thanks for the replies. My forge is cast iron and has no fire pot and has a Champion hand powered blower. I think that the next time I go I'll get a bag of coke and try it. Can't hurt, can it?

no fire pot? is this a flat table with side blast air  ?

[ThomasPowers]

Sounds like a rivet forge.

 

"It is as Mr. Powers, harder to light"------ouch this is a tough crowd! 

 

(I love a good typo!)

[Donnie]

I meant to say, "It is as Mr. Powers, said."..........sometimes I'm just not as smart as I'ld like to be! :D

[ThomasPowers]

Hey I prefer it the way it first came out!  And as sweaty as we can get down here in the summer we are harder to light! (until we dehydrate....)

[Guest Johnnie]

I am using coal. Not too difficult to light and burns for up to an hour with the air off. 

 

But OMG the clinker........nightmare especially if I am forge welding. 

 

I belive coke doesn't produce so much of the stuff but don't quote me on that.

[Dan C]

I don't have experience with coal but can say I get clinkers with coke. No problem getting it lit as I start with a small amount of homemade charcoal.