Anchor B. Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 Hello! I'm new to the site and the trade! I was wondering if oiled coal has any disadvantages compared to non-oiled in a forge? Any help would be much appreciated! Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 Why oil the coal? Any oil would burn off long before the coal got up to working temperatures in the forge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 Welcome aboard, glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in the header you might be surprised how many Iforge members live within visiting distance. Oiled coal? Never heard of it but there are a LOT of things I've never heard of. Or perhaps you're asking about "coal oil"? Okay, I exercised about 2 minutes of my Yahoo fu and determined oiling anthracite heating coal is a dust control method. The company advertising the service only charged $180.00 / ton to oil their coal on request. Blacksmithing coal is typically bituminous and no we don't oil it even if the squeeking is annoying the neighbors. If the missus complains though we get right on it! No oiled coal. Wrong kind of coal and we don't run stokers so dust isn't the problem it is in your basement. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anchor B. Posted August 4, 2016 Author Share Posted August 4, 2016 Where I live they sell stoker coal but they put oil on it because they say it cuts the dust and makes it burn hotter. The latter I'm guessing is false. This is bituminous coal from Wyoming but could I still use it oiled? Would it form clinkers more frequently or just make a dirty fire all together? Thank you for your replies! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 7 hours ago, Frosty said: Welcome aboard, glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in the header you might be surprised how many Iforge members live within visiting distance. Oiled coal? Never heard of it but there are a LOT of things I've never heard of. Or perhaps you're asking about "coal oil"? Okay, I exercised about 2 minutes of my Yahoo fu and determined oiling anthracite heating coal is a dust control method. The company advertising the service only charged $180.00 / ton to oil their coal on request. Blacksmithing coal is typically bituminous and no we don't oil it even if the squeeking is annoying the neighbors. If the missus complains though we get right on it! No oiled coal. Wrong kind of coal and we don't run stokers so dust isn't the problem it is in your basement. Frosty The Lucky. Well, there are a number of folks here burning anthracite and liking it just fine, thank you very much! (Especially if it's the only thing we can get our hands on with any degree of affordability or consistency.) The oil burns off pretty quickly, and I haven't noticed any effect on clinker production. That said, I don't see any point in oiling bituminous (soft) coal. Hey, Frosty: are you still going to be able to use the Yahoo Fu now that they've been acquired by Verizon? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anchor B. Posted August 4, 2016 Author Share Posted August 4, 2016 So this oiled coal would be alright to use with no problems? I'm planning on buying my coal by the ton and I want to make sure oiled coal will work just fine without hiccups. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmoothBore Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 Yes, ... it will work for you. When coal is first lit, ... or placed into a burning fire, ... it's referred to as "green" coal. As it begins to burn, the oil and sulfur that's present in varying amounts in all coal, burns off first, ... and then, the coal begins to turn into "coke". Green coal gives off a gray/white/yellow smoke as the impurities burn away. The coke burns very clean and hot, ... creating the kind of fire necessary for Blacksmithing. All coal forms coke as it burns, ... we prefer Bituminous Coal, because it lights at a lower temperature, ... and remains lit, without need of a continuous air blast. This allows us to let the fire go "dormant" for short periods, ... and then heat right back up, when the blower is restarted. Anthracite has an annoying tendency to smother itself, if left unattended. ( That's why coal furnaces, ... designed for Anthracite coal, ... have "shaker grates" in the bottom of the firebox. ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anchor B. Posted August 4, 2016 Author Share Posted August 4, 2016 Thank you very much for clearing that up! All I have to do now is go get some and start working! Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 8 minutes ago, Anchor B. said: Thank you very much for clearing that up! All I have to do now is go get some and start working! Thanks Hey, we're a friendly and helpful bunch! Welcome to IFI! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Ling Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 59 minutes ago, SmoothBore said: Yes, ... it will work for you. When coal is first lit, ... or placed into a burning fire, ... it's referred to as "green" coal. As it begins to burn, the oil and sulfur that's present in varying amounts in all coal, burns off first, ... and then, the coal begins to turn into "coke". Green coal gives off a gray/white/yellow smoke as the impurities burn away. The coke burns very clean and hot, ... creating the kind of fire necessary for Blacksmithing. All coal forms coke as it burns, ... we prefer Bituminous Coal, because it lights at a lower temperature, ... and remains lit, without need of a continuous air blast. This allows us to let the fire go "dormant" for short periods, ... and then heat right back up, when the blower is restarted. Anthracite has an annoying tendency to smother itself, if left unattended. ( That's why coal furnaces, ... designed for Anthracite coal, ... have "shaker grates" in the bottom of the firebox. ) Just piggy backing what he said, you can not forge with coal, only with coke. that seems to confuse lots of people, but what I mean is that green coal doesn't reach efficient forging temperatures only until it turns into coke. Oh yeah, welcome to IFI, glad your hear! Littleblacksmith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 Oil just adds to the smoke issues; but smiths have worked with peat and lignite before in the "anything that can be made to work" theme of smithing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcostello Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 Is oiled coal harder to pile up? Might keep sliding down to the floor! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 It looks like heating coal is oiled to control dust and feeding a little oil into a heating furnace is going to up it's output. I can't imagine oiling blacksmith coal doing anything but making it smoke more while you're coking it. No, I wasn't badmouthing anthracite it's just not popular when there's an alternative, folk in the 3rd. world to quality work with the regional dried dung. Well YES oiled coal is harder to stack, attempt to stack it as steeply as regular old dry coal and you're likely to fall victim to a coalvalanch. Please use a bin with sides to completely contain oiled coal the SAR folk will probably find you in time but just think how hard it is to wash oiled coal dust out of the search dog's coats! Oh the Humanity, Caninity? Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SReynolds Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 On 8/4/2016 at 10:50 AM, littleblacksmith said: Just piggy backing what he said, you can not forge with coal, only with coke. that seems to confuse lots of people, but what I mean is that green coal doesn't reach efficient forging temperatures only until it turns into coke. Oh yeah, welcome to IFI, glad your hear! Littleblacksmith I have mentioned that a number of times to folks visiting the shop, my students and here on the forum. You can't forge with coal. It seems to form coke. I see the jokes haven"t gotten any better here on the site. Though I did enjoy the SAR dog reference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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