Coal forge potential problems

[Dean S]

I've been interested in getting into forging since I was a kid and now that I have the time and a little start up money (with the Ok from the Mrs) I'm looking into getting my first forge. 

I really like the ease of a gas forge setup. Turn on when needed and off when you're done but I've always loved the nostalgia and old school feel of a coal forge. 

My question is about the embers and sparks. I live in a mobile home park and my neighbors are fairly close. 

How bad are the embers that float off? Am I liable to start a fire if I'm even remotely close to a house? My fire would be about 4ft from the back wall of my house. I live in southern California and its generally pretty dry here so I'd like be taking appropriate precautions

[Glenn]

What fuel are you planning on using?  Coal, Charcoal, Corn, Wood, etc ?

 

[Daswulf]

I don't get embers or sparks from the bituminous coal I use. I get a rare pop sometimes but its just a few little pieces that at best travel a foot or two. 

Tho, the smoke from the startup of soft bituminous coal may annoy close neighbors. 

There is a lot to learn about each fuel type and how it performs. Some researching here may help get an understanding of them. Just remember to do a search in your web browser with iforgeiron after. Works better than the search function on site. You can find that tidbit and more on this.

 

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

I can get my coal forge lit and be forging before my propane forge comes up to heat and shutting it down is just as quick. I have no problem with sparks or embers and the forge is about two feet from a combustible wall and the shop is in a heavily wooded area YMMV though.

BTW... Welcome to IFI,  We won't remember your location once leaving this post, hence the suggestion to edit your profile to show it.

[Daswulf]

May I add that you could check local code and restrictions in Your area. No matter what, play it safe. 

[Dean S]

I didn't even think about checking building codes. Thank you for the link I'll go look through but honestly I'll probably just use whatever fuel is available and not to expensive. No point spending loads on what's going to start as a hobby. 

I'll go edit my profile now lol

 

[swedefiddle]

Good Morning,

Isn't there a Spring CBA Conference (in California)?

Check them out, California Blacksmith Association.

Neil

[anvil]

I too like coal over propane.  And as was said above, its often quicker to start forging than gas. 

The better your fire control, the less smoke when starting up.

And sparks and the like are pretty non existant. That occasional pop is from shale or something similar in your coal when it heats up. It rarely leaves your fire area.

   

[pnut]

Welcome to ifi, I use charcoal and tried corn. I don't have much experience blacksmithing but perhaps this may work. If not anyone else could point out the flaws. Charcoal does have a tendency to have some fire fleas especially when you're dialing in the air flow.  I haven't had any problems it's been exceptionally wet this year. 

Would a hood with the flue traveling vertically  with a 180 degree bend with another straight section pointing down above a bucket of water catch any stray embers and deposit them into the water?  

  Pnut (Mike)

Think of a hood with candy cane shaped flue with a bucket of water at the end to catch the embers.

Edited March 26, 2019 by pnut
tried to clarify

[Latticino]

No, a flue in the configuration you indicate would not draw any fumes.  The water would form a "cap" at the end of the duct (in fact the measure of resistance to gaseous flow is often made in inches of water, which is equivalent to the height of the water column you can displace with gaseous flow of a certain velocity pressure).  It might be possible with a forced exhaust, but would be extremely inefficient.  Industrially wet scrubbers are used to remove hazardous particulate from an exhaust stream, but these are typically spray systems.  While effective, I doubt they would be appropriate for a hobby coal forge.

[Cavpilot2k]

I use "blacksmith" coal (a fairly clean burning bituminous) and get basically no pops or sparks leaving the fire area unless I crank up my blower to make a volcano out of it, but that's not a proper, or even usable, volume of air flow. 

But yes, there is some smoke that close neighbors may find objectionable if you have to start up with a fair amount of green coal. 

[Dean S]

A bit of smoke probably wouldn't get any complaints. I'm more worried about a massive bonfire cloud coming off the forge or a bunch of ash floating around.

Living where I do (desert) I have to worry about starting a fire more than anything.

 

[Glenn]

Build a good fire from sticks and get a nice bed of embers. Add coal a hand full at a time and let it catch fire before adding more. Keep a hole at the top of the coal for fire to escape and burn any smoke that may be produced.  With practice you can build a fire with relatively little smoke.  

Keep green coal on the outside of the fire so it can coke up and burn off the smoke as you forge. As the embers are consumed, rake the coke from the edge into the fire and replace it with green coal.