i want to burn coal and i was told i need to coke. i have no idea what coking is and would like some help. Thank you.

coke is coal that has the volatiles burned off (like charcoaling wood) you can usually buy it, sometimes at the same place you buy coal ... if you want to coke up some coal you can do a little in a forge ( its the coal after it quits somkeing but before its burned up) it usually is harder to start and requires more air but burns cleaner..you are much closer to coal country so it should be easyier to get ... good luck!

We burn green coal, so we have to make coke as we forge throughout the day. This doesn't present too much trouble. If I don't have any coke to start the fire, I start a fire with some wood scraps and newspaper. When it is going good, I start adding the green coal. Put a bunch on and put the air to it. You will see why it's called green coal. After the smoking stops, you should have a nice pile of coke, and a red hot fire, so get forging! We put a pile of green coal at the back of the fire, and pull it in with a little hook we made. I will even clean out the clinker and ash in the fire to get it good and clean, and shovel some of it to the back of the forge for storage. When we go to lunch, we mound up the fire with green coal to make coke while we are away.


Dave

i was burning today and i burn out side and the wind was blowing so there smoke should have not been a problem but when i went inside my chest was hurting a bit. so here is my new question. should i wait for all the smoke to not be black and yellow before i get near the fire or can i forge with the smoke still billowing out?

It is ok to smoke - just don't inhale (grin)

What is the difference between green coal and just plain coal?

I have some big chunk coal right now. It burns great and clean. I have some coke too, but I don't ever worry about using one or the other. Sometimes I start with coal, and sometimes I start with coke, and sometimes I start with both. Does that mean I don't know what I am doing?
The kidsmith,
Dave Custer

Green coal is just coal that hasn't been cooked into coke yet. When you burn the impurities off of coal you get a lot of green and yellow smoke.


Dave