Tractor supply messed up with coal order. Need advice

[DocGP]

After reading the Tractor supply thread about ordering coal in the southern states, I got them to order me a pallet of Nut Coal.  Can't find the stuff around here and that was by far the cheapest way to get me a supply.  WELL, they shipped rice coal.  Never used it before.  Will that work the same or should I make them re-order a pallet of Nut coal.  

Obviously I am a newbie here.  If it will work the same I will use it, but if not, will get a new pallet shipped.
Thanks
Doc

[JeepinJoe]

Rice coal and nut coal are both anthracite. Rice coal is just smaller pieces than nut coal.  Should burn the same and the rice may burn hotter since it's smaller.  Here are the sizes from the Penn Keystone Coal Company website.

Nut Coal:  1 5/8 x 13/16

Rice: 5/16 x 3/16

[DocGP]

Ok, cool.  I have a side blast in the works so the smaller size shouldn't be an issue. 

DANG lots to learn.
Doc

[George Geist]

First thing you need to learn is to order BLACKSMITH coal.

Nut, rice, pea etc are indicative of the size of the pieces not the type.

Two main types are anthracite (hard coal) and bituminous (soft coal) TSC and every other feed or hardware store will inevitably sell you anthracite as that's what is used for home heating. It is a very poor choice for forging. Ask for blacksmith coal

you'll get bituminous. They'll know what you're talking about and what you need.

George

[JHCC]

13 minutes ago, George Geist said:

First thing you need to learn is to order BLACKSMITH coal.

Nut, rice, pea etc are indicative of the size of the pieces not the type.

Two main types are anthracite (hard coal) and bituminous (soft coal) TSC and every other feed or hardware store will inevitably sell you anthracite as that's what is used for home heating. It is a very poor choice for forging. Ask for blacksmith coal

you'll get bituminous. They'll know what you're talking about and what you need.

George

George, see this thread; I don't know if TSC carries or will order bituminous. 

[DocGP]

It's anthracite;

Both rice and nut coal from Tractor Supply.

Doc

[jumbojak]

6 hours ago, George Geist said:

First thing you need to learn is to order BLACKSMITH coal.

Nut, rice, pea etc are indicative of the size of the pieces not the type.

Two main types are anthracite (hard coal) and bituminous (soft coal) TSC and every other feed or hardware store will inevitably sell you anthracite as that's what is used for home heating. It is a very poor choice for forging. Ask for blacksmith coal

you'll get bituminous. They'll know what you're talking about and what you need.

George

No, they really won't know what you're talking about. At least not at my local store. When I asked about them possibly stocking anthracite the guy looked at me and said he didn't know what that was. Fortunately regional demand has been great enough that my local store keeps it in stock now.

As to its suitability for forging I, and at least some others, can say it works very well. It's easy to light if you know what to do, burns clean with practically no smoke, and gets as hot as I could ever want a fire to be. This anthracite doesn't coke up and of course requires a constant air supply so you would be hard pressed to operate with a hand cranked blower or bellows.

For the cost and availability though, I'll make those tradeoffs any day of the week. Electric power for the blower works well enough and due to the low smoke output the lack of coking really isn't an issue. Quality bitumious coal is much more expensive in many places, so I use what's available. It gets the metal hot.

To the OP, I found that a mix of the nut and rice sizes works best out of the bag but if I only had one to choose from it'd be the rice. Some of the nut sized pieces can be nearly as big as your fist and it's nice not to worry too much about resizing. At least until I get my corn sheller up and running...

[Glenn]

Ask for an analysis document for the coal. This will list many things including BTUs, type of coal, etc.