ChrisDial Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 Hey I am new and I was wondering if you could use wood instead of coal? I can't seem to find any around Athens, GA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 I use charcoal made from wood scraps (old lumber, dead trees, construction waste, whatever I can get basically) pretty much any kind of wood will work to start. You'll find that some is nicer to work with than others, but I'm not too picky. It doesn't smoke like coal does, but it doesn't burn as long either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dablacksmith Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 harde ta forge wood... kinda crumbles ... but it does burn .. charcoal works . georga is a lot closer ta good coal country than arizona tho... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayco Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 Chris, welcome to Iforgeiron! As to your question: Yes, you can forge with wood. The main problem with wood as a fuel is that , like a campfire, it puts out a lot of radiant heat. It's not so much a problem in winter, but in summer it can make forging an unpleasant experience. There is another option: to burn the wood down into charcoal.......and then use the charcoal as your forge fuel. There threads and blueprints on IFI that show you how. I prefer making the charcoal : less radiant heat, less smoke, and a more predictable fuel. As to finding coal, there are a bunch of Ga. blacksmiths who are members of this site and might be able to help. There is also a" list of coal suppliers " thread that might be useful. enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Bower Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 I started with charcoal and it works well. (You do know that it's the original blacksmith's fuel, don't you?) I switched to propane because my living circumstances weren't conducive to making my own charcoal, and it gets expensive to buy. I also got tired of wasting time hunting for wood and processing it into charcoal, when I'd rather have spent that time forging. But yeah, if you don't mind the smoke it's possible to forge in a wood fire and let it convert to charcoal on the fly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 Welcome aboard Chris. Ditto what's been said. You CAN use wood but it's a LOT better to convert it to charcoal first. Propane works really well too. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbob Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 Hey I am new and I was wondering if you could use wood instead of coal? I can't seem to find any around Athens, GA. If you can wait until May you can get all the coal you want in Madison at the SERBC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oakwoodironworks Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 If you really want to use coal, you could call Buster Grubbs, who lives northeast of Macon, Ga. He is a member of the Ocmulgee Blacksmith Guild and sells coal as a sideline service to the guild members,etc. The last time I was there, he had about 17 tons on his coal pile. He can be contacted at: Shady Rest Forge Route19, Box 739 7475 Hammock Rd. Macon,GA 31217 478-743-4244 Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisDial Posted January 13, 2009 Author Share Posted January 13, 2009 Thanks for all the great ideas, and thanks for the warm welcome! I found a coal dealer in Jasper, but I am going to try to make charcoal so that way I wont run out of fuel! Thanks Yall, Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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