Well i am trying to pick out a solid fuel to use and wood seems the most viable, or cowboy charcoal which i see at trader joes. Can wood be a good fuel source?

yes it can
It' can spark something fierce and you'll have some steam mixed into your fire.
I've done it in a pinch and found that the excess fire becomes a little cumbersome.
As wood burns you dry the wood (which is why we season wood) then you char the cellulose creating wood gas then you burn the charcoal.

There are anecdotal stories of Appalachian blacksmiths welding using green hardwoods.

and you tend to use a watering can to shape and limit the fire

Edited August 17, 200817 yr by solvarr

I think that's the kind of coal we use at our shop. I can burn the heck out of 1x1/4 mild steel bar with a bellows and a burnt-back forge pipe, so I should hope you can weld with it.

The lump charcoal I've used sparks like crazy when you start getting the heat up. The "fleas" that pop out are pinhead sized and they "bite"! Burning wood down to charcoal doesn't produce "fleas" but pitch pockets may pop.

The wood gas solvarr mentioned is half the energy in the wood, it's a shame to just burn it off. If I set up another wood-charcoal forge I'll burn the wood in a chimney and preheat the fire air in a jacket around the chimney.

Good Luck!

When you use wood you are actually just using charcoal but making it on the spot. Lots of heat and smoke and sparks on you. Nicer to make the charcoal first and then use it.

If you can build a wood fire in a 55 gal. barrel safely and legally where you live( in your back yard,etc) you can make charcoal.

One trick for doing this in urbia is to have a BBQ rack handy and if someone official shows up toss it on the barrel and slap a couple hot dogs on it. There aren't many places in the US where you're aren't allowed to BBQ.

Not talking fire country of course. If you tried this in S. Cal. chaparral "forest" you'd get jail time.

Use good judgment, keep fire fighting equipment handy, clear all vegetation, make sure you're on mineral soil, no wind, etc. when playing with fire. Always.

Frosty

Edited August 19, 200817 yr by Frosty

I sift the ashes from my wood stove and collect any "leftover" charcoal. Get a couple of sacks worth each winter; been saving it up for a smelting run one of these days.