February 11, 201511 yr Some industrial forges used heating oil, just like you would use at home. A good hardwood fire with a good air blast would work, especially once you get a good amount of glowing embers. You forgot to list propane or natural gas. But they are not "odd". Induction heaters are certainly "odd" to me. Electricity is the fuel. They are certainly interesting to see work.
February 11, 201511 yr Burned walnuts in the woodstove last year and they burned like charcoal. Forgot about nuts, and their shells. They would probably work, but burn very fast. I burn all the shells from peanuts, pistachios, and walnuts in my wood stove. Burning whole nuts would get expensive real fast. Perhaps if you had a lot of black walnut trees around, you could gather the nuts, dry them, and use as fuel. Just wear gloves or you will have brown hands for weeks.
February 11, 201511 yr Or you could stop by a place that shells and packs nuts and pick up a dump truck load or 4 cheap. Probably not common in NJ; but down here we have pecan orchards that stretch for *miles*... Most unconventional I know of historically would be peat used in northern UK areas where trees are not around for making charcoal. (BTW for historical biomass fueled furnaces may I commend to your attention "The Mastery and Uses of Fire in Antiquity", Rehder as a readable work on how they fueled heat intensive tasks; he also includes plans for a "foolproof" bloomery in the appendices) My homes primary heat source is thermonuclear...
February 11, 201511 yr I take that to be fusion, TP? NJ, soft woods make better forge fuel. (To include "softer" hardwoods) much less ash as they contain less silica. i also find there are less fire fleas. A bottom blast like Tim Lively uses "cokes" wood around the edges of the work zone just fine, wile a small "viking/iron age" forge doesn't (tho it is much more fuel efficient) Ive heard tell of using cow and buffalo "chips"
February 11, 201511 yr NJ, soft woods make better forge fuel. (To include "softer" hardwoods) much less ash as they contain less silica. i also find there are less fire fleas. Hardwoods like white oak, hickory, locust,and hard maple make wonderful fuels here in the NE. I don't know what kind of softwood you have in the midwest, but the pines and hemlock up here make the sparks, burn too fast, and leave too much creosote on the chimneys. I have added maple to my coal and it does great. I never add pine. Never an "ash" problem, and would not know about any silica.
February 11, 201511 yr While not unconventional in heating sources, I've heard tell of wood pellets being used as a fuel source for forges. Upside: Cheap and easily attainable. Downside: Can't water (Turns into a clump of sawdust), burns entirely too quickly, and you need a LARGE amount.
February 11, 201511 yr Willow was prefered for charcoal for making blackpowder and ISTR a preferred wood for Japanese forging; I'd forgotten meadow muffins.
February 11, 201511 yr Anything you can control the rate of burn of mate could be used, from waste oil to paper wetted down and rolled up real tight.
February 11, 201511 yr The silica content of the plant fibers make for most of the difference in weight of woods. Silica is just a waist product. I use a lot of construction waist as forge fuel, after the volatiles are driven off it works just fine, i'm certainly not opposed to using hard wood charcoal, Infact any pallet wood is likely to find its way into my forge. Many moons ago wile looking into making "metallurgical" charcoal i read about using the "softer" woods in preference. Ader, birch, fur cotton wood, popular.etc. i find that there is less ash
February 12, 201511 yr I tried cow chips for making coffee once. My advice Keep the Meadow Muffins to your self. They are not for me!!
February 13, 201511 yr Smith...you are supposed to dry them first!!! (jus' messin' wit ya...) Arkie: Does drying the cow chips before brewing make better coffee? Good grief this brings up the questions. Do you add milk to cow chip coffee or add the coffee to the milk? Does . . .Uh. . Er. . Nevermind. Do . . .Ugh! No MORE STOP STOP! I just visualized trying to get a double shot of cow chip espresso without wearing rain gear!! Oh the VERY idea Arkie! How could you? Now I have to figure out how to poke out my mind's eye! I'll get you for this! Frosty The Lucky.
February 13, 201511 yr I can tell you what it smells like when cats go in your coal....does that count? Known of some people to use feed corn, they say it burns about like charcoal, and cokes up. Ain't tried yet as my wife and the chickens start eyeballing me anytime I get near the bags.......
February 13, 201511 yr Just obtain 5-10 pounds of plutonium-238, keep them stored in a thermally insulated salt bath, and you would have free forge heat for 100 years or more. It's safe enough, only alpha partials, meaning long as you don't touch it with bare skin or eat it, it's harmless. So no licking the steal when your done forging, wash it off first.
February 13, 201511 yr making coffee by cooking with cow chips---I always thought it was just a good example of what folks will do for their caffeine addiction. Now, making weasel poop coffee using cow chips for fuel would bring it to a whole nother level. I know of specialized tools for working peat fires for cooking and heating. Anyone know of ones for using the cow coke?
February 14, 201511 yr If you were a member of the DeBeers family, burning diamonds would likely work as well as coal.
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