January 27, 201412 yr Greetings All. I seem to have a problem with my coal... I need to get it going to thaw out my Hawkeye power hammer and get the ol Buffalo forge cooking again ... Any suggestions or help would be great... Thanx in advance.. Just a little laugh on a very cold day in Michigan Jim
January 27, 201412 yr I always start a coal fire with a wood fire. I'm always picking up wood scraps where I can find them, construction sites are great because I want pine specifically. Cut offs of 2x4's and 2x6's are perfect. Split them into kindling with a hatchet, pile up some crumpled newspaper in the firepot, add the sticks on top and light it. You will have a bed of red hot coals in no time and rake on the coal. Never fails. Once you do that you will be known as "Mr. Coke", LOL!
January 28, 201412 yr You can't beat open pine cones. I'll use 5 and have a mature fire in 15 minutes. After that, wood or charcoal.
January 28, 201412 yr I think I heard something about rubbing two sticks together...... But that might have worked becuase it was in a Texas summer noontime. Perhaps a giant microwave to heat away all that frozen water?
January 28, 201412 yr "Houston, we have a problem". Next winter, build a dome over the stuff. Or just wait about two months. Hope you survive this week. I would not want to be up in your neck of the woods this winter.
January 28, 201412 yr Author Greetings John, Flying out on Monday... Enough is enough... The chunk of anthracite is just to show students Hard Coal... Nice and shinny ... I won't need a map.
January 28, 201412 yr Naw, you know how hard it'll be to scrape frozen napalm off the coal? Break a few chunks off with a chisel and send them south. By the time the roads are clear of all that funny lookin' white stuff and they can ship it back, should be warm enough you to build a fire a few feet above your forge and melt your way down to it.
January 28, 201412 yr Hidden by Dale Russell, January 28, 2014 - No reason given You could try rubbing 2 boy scouts together, I've heard that is a way to make fire in the wilderness.
January 28, 201412 yr Split them into kindling with a hatchet, I split mine on the hardy. napalm ? "I love the smell of napalm in the morning" ...
January 28, 201412 yr I always use a sheet of newspaper wrapped in a sheet of newspaper wrapped in a sheet of newspaper then twist tied at the frillies. Light the frillies, put it next tho the input, cover it with coal, turn blower on full blast. 100% lighting chance so far. catches green coal easier than coke or charcoal
January 28, 201412 yr Cedar kindling split small over some birch bark. Coal banked lightly on one side . Lite off, add air as it gets going. The cedar burns hot and fast, always does the trick for me. Peter
January 28, 201412 yr Author Greetings Guys, Just posted this as a little fun.. My old Buffalo forge and my Hawkeye are just lawn ornaments and the coal is just a training aid for students.. Forge on and make beautiful things. Jim
January 28, 201412 yr I fire up the woodstove to get the shop warm, then a shovelfull of the coals from the stove go into the firepot, cover with coke/coal and add air........Voila!!
January 28, 201412 yr Jim, best thing I can think of is to put 2 pieces of coal in your pocket and by the time you land in Fla. they should be warm enough to light. "Flying out on Monday" Sheesh, Come back and watch us thaw out in the spring!
January 28, 201412 yr I have been using a weed dragon to start the forge up lately (http://www.walmart.com/ip/6435919?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=3&adid=22222222227010046964&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=42066771310&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=34439695870&veh=sem). I have been meaning to post to see if anyone else does this. All you do is put the torch on full blast directly over the coal for about 15 seconds until they get nice and orange. Then turn the blower on and push all of the orange coal into a ball. I can be up and running at forge welding temps in about 1 minute :). Probably not the best method for conserving coal but it has given me more time to work at the forge which was sorely needed because I usually only get 1-2 hour chunks of time I can spend.
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