Cleaning coal?

[Dave M]

I am not able to buy washed coal so my question is has any one washed thier own coal. I am thinking of building a frame with small opening hardware cloth that I can screen and wash the coal through. If so how long should I let the coal dry. I am sick of all the coal dust and the way it flares up when you dump a fresh scoop of coal onto the forge.

[jayco]

I usually dampen my coal down with a sprinkling can( a soup can on a stick)
My coal is in 5 gal. buckets. If it's really dusty........I sprinkle about a can's worth right in the bucket.

With some kinds of coal, dampening aids in the coking process.
I don't wait for it to dry.....I place it right in the forge........around the edge of the fire.
The fire will dry it.

If coal is REALLY dirty....with dirt and rocks and stuff mixed in, you can shovel the coal into a bucket about half full of water.......slosh it around....and the dirt and rocks will settle to the bottom, and you can scoop out the cleaned coal with your hands.
There's a Blueprint on that somewhere.........it works suprisingly well.

[mike-hr]

The club got together and bought a container load of Lazzari coal a few years back. I got a ton as my share. It was probably 60% dust, and the rest, pea gravel size. At least one member screened his entire batch. What the rest of us did is dump a half sack into a 5 gallon bucket with some water and stir it until it made a pasty gravy. Don't add fresh coal on top of the fire, add some wet stuff to the outer edge, let it dry out and coke up, and gradually push towards the centre of the fire. Some folks prefer using dust.

[ThomasPowers]

The coal I get is dust and I dump it into a 5 gal bucket and pour water on it until it shows.

I save coke from a previous fire to start a new one and then take a shovel full of wet coal, let the "loose" water drain off it and add it to the fire around the edges.

Pretty much the same as other folks above. (And what my Father had to use when he was in college in the 1950's and electrical engineers were still required to forge a screwdriver and use steam tables to design a steam engine.)

[Phil Patrick]

Just chuck it into the dishwasher.
I will promise you something cool will happen.

[jimbob]

Thats about like giving a sugar cube to a Raccon to wash ...not much left when your done!

[Dave M]

I always use a watering can to control my fire so I know wet coal will burn but the coal dust was making me nuts and I will tell you it doesn't take much to do that:o. Thanks for the advice I did screen some today and I will throw it in 5 gal. bucket of water later on after work.

[Glenn]

I prefer to keep my coal fines damp-ish.
Just pick up a hand full and put it on the fire.

[triw]

I agree with the rest of the folks I wet my coal and put it on the fire wet and let it dry out. You can make "mud" out of the dust and it will coke up as it drys and that saves money.

[Ten Hammers]

I have some rat wire ( 1/2" galvanized hardware cloth ) that I use to clean the stuff that's left in the forge after a few fires. Put the wire on top of a bucket, load with forge coal/coke/fines/dust and get the stuff cleaned. The stuff in the bucket gets pitched. The stuff left on the wire gets put into another bucket for cover for next fire. This cover bucket sometimes doesn't get used a lot BUT it is saving. Mostly what you might call dead coal but works in some applications. Good coal I seldom wet. Average to junk coak gets wet in a steel tray that sets beside the coal forge. I start with charcoal lotta times and use coke in the forge to fill the pot. Then I put wet coal on the rear of the fire and drag up towards the front to let it coke. Sometimes on the sides to let coke and make a trough. Depends on the needs. I have had coal that contained at least 3 three lb coffee cans of pure talc size powder in a 50 lb bag. I just put it through the screen. Forge coal dust ain't fun but this ain't a tennis match or an accounting job. My hood catches and disposes of most of the smoke and dust but not all.

Edited September 4, 2008 by Ten Hammers

[Woody]

One Cavaet, wet coal under the right conditions is subject to spontaneous combustion. Be careful where you store it.

[Lurchwv@BJS]

I have to bust up my coal before I can use it. I pick most of it up along the Shortline RR,or There are a few old coalmines along the route I drive to work so most of my coal is in lumps of 5-10lbs a few my go as much as50- 200lbs I use a pressure washer to clean any mud or clay from it. as for any dust left over from busting it up, 5gal bucket of water pack it into clumps and let dry.

Rich

[Jymm Hoffman]

Another example of why I like propane, no need to wash it. Think of all the time you spend dealing with coal, you could be making stuff.

[Francis Trez Cole]

I have seen it keeped in a bucket wet all the time. the mud is great for forge welding you build your dome and coat the out side with the mud it holds in the heat real well