nashdude Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Someone mentioned this yesterday, and it sounded like a really interesting alternative to coal or charcoal. I know a few of you have tried this, so if you wouldn't mind, I'd like some comparison (especially since I can get yellow feed corn for $6.75 per 50lb hehe) 1) How hot will a corn fire get compared to a charcoal or coal fire? 2) Will a corn fire get welding hot, or just forging hot? 3) How FAST will a corn fire get forging hot? 4) How fast will a corn forge go through fuel compared to a coal forge? How fast will a corn forge destroy its fuel compared to other forges? What I'm looking for is as indepth an analysis---effectiveness of fuel, durability, cost comparison---as I can possibly find. It won't matter much to the overall design of my forge. I just want to be fully informed on what my options are, pros and cons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highlander Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 fuel consumption and efficiency varies a fair bit with different forges. i say buy a bag of it and go to town! see what happens and report back to us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nashdude Posted January 10, 2009 Author Share Posted January 10, 2009 LOL never tell a cheapskate "just buy it and see" ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 A number of guys have used corn in their forges and most say it behaves more like coal than charcoal as it sticks together like coking coal. It'll weld. I don't recall any comparison for consumption vs. work done. That'll be up to you so please let us know what you find out. Take careful notes, we like good data. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archie Zietman Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Wullo! In my experience corn works just like coal. It burns at the rate of charcoal, and the flame from the burning gasses is very very large. It definitely gets up to welding heat, and you can burn steel in the heat. be merry, Archie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetalMuncher Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Interesting....Do you carbonize it first or just put it to burn in the forge? Sounds pretty neat.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nashdude Posted January 10, 2009 Author Share Posted January 10, 2009 A number of guys have used corn in their forges and most say it behaves more like coal than charcoal as it sticks together like coking coal. It'll weld. I don't recall any comparison for consumption vs. work done. That'll be up to you so please let us know what you find out. Take careful notes, we like good data. Frosty I'll do my best. Just remember, I'm still a smithing newb, so don't expect super-expert documentation Wullo! In my experience corn works just like coal. It burns at the rate of charcoal, and the flame from the burning gasses is very very large. It definitely gets up to welding heat, and you can burn steel in the heat. be merry, Archie That, my friend, is EXACTLY what I was looking for. If I remember my notes, charcoal is consumed faster than coal, right? Which would mean that although corn behaves like coal, and is similar to coal in regards to heat, you go through more of it faster. Also, if it produces such a high flame, it seems as if it's more volatile than either coal or charcoal. Excellent details. Any others? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferrous Beuler Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 nashdude says $6.75 per 50 lb. bag. That's what good smithing coal is going for here in these parts but corn would certainly be easier to come by and closer to home. Specifically what sort of corn are we talking about here and does it have to be dried or anything? Can I go to the farm up the road with a pick 'em up truck and have Cletus fill up the bed right from the combine with cow corn and use that just as it is? BTW I've never had a problem keeping mice out of my coal heap but this could raise some concerns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tech413 Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Corn off the field would be too wet and needs to be dried. You really couldn't even store corn without drying as it will mold. I think I'll get some out of our bins and try it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
element Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Ive heard that dry willow branches works good, can anyone attest? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave English Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 When I saw the title I thought that you may have a "wood gasser" stove or as I learned, a producer gas stove I was looking at last night on you tube. This was the gas Europeans used during WWII because of the shortages of oil. It is mostly carbon monoxide, it will kill you, but it works quite well but isn't too high in heat content compared to oil or the numerous types of gasses. Interesting post and information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeaverDamForge Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 What flammable gas won't kill you? :confused: I use an updraft gasifier in my forge, it makes good use of corn instead of heating the air above it. Corn seems to have more volatiles (oil) than it does charcoal, wood is about 50/50. Good Luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave English Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Tell us more about your updraft forge. Has it been discussed in the past? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeaverDamForge Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 (edited) Tell us more about your updraft forge. Has it been discussed in the past?I was introduced to gasifiers and built mine in this thread:http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/f7/fuel-5001/ Not much has changed since then, a couple different ovens (volume and opening size), and the grate burned out (now I have a piece of thin firebrick laying on ashes in the bottom). Next time around I'm going to make it modular, a base with ash cleanout and a (brake rotor) grate; a center section with larger tubes (6" inner and 8" outer); and the oven, which I made a box with tapered sides to form. The air valve will be external so the air to the grate is not preheated. My present oven is from the box but I have some improvements in mind. I'm still trying to get hotter than bright orange - I can't weld (although I have seen it done at that temp) but I haven't burnt any steel. I took it to a club meeting to demo it, and the guy I got to help load it up said it looked like a big ant hill. Later I had some wood with ants in it, now I call it 'Ant Hell'. Good Luck! Edited January 14, 2009 by BeaverDamForge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petere76 Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 A lot of folks use corn in pellet stoves in this part of Maine. It burns hot, relatively clean and it produces a cliker of sorts from the carbonized sugar. Obviously the corn is dried. I am not certain what the burn rate would be for forging. Good luck. Peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim L. Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 OK, here's a stupid question..... Any problem with the corn popping? Jim L. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 Why, don't you like popcorn? Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orgtwister Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 come on now your giving away the secret of using corn to forge with Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fe-Wood Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 Popforge and a movie? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisB Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 I had a dedicated corn stove for two winters. It kicked out some serious heat. Clinker was an issue and the exhaust had a delightful smell very similar to burned microwave popcorn. I got rid of it once the local grain elevators started to only sell corn in $5.00 50lb bags vs. the 66lb bushel at market price that at the time was around $3.50 One would need a electric blower from what I've seen corn is like coke and needs that constant air. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Thompson Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 How about pop-corn? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Emig Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 The good thing about burning corn is VERY low levels of pollution. We all know how bad burning coal/coke is for the environment. We have a bunch of corn farms right near here-I think I'll try it. Don't forget that it is a renewable source of energy also. Great idea. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KELTOI Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 I really like this idea....what is corn burn like for ash and spark fling-age and the like....starting and the like? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NateDJ Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 In my experience Corn will burn very fast compared to coal, It will burn very hot though. It sparks just like or a bit more than charcoal so watch out for that the best part is that it sticks together even better than coal. I can make a 5 Gal bucket of coal last ~8 hours easily but it will take the entire bucket of corn in about 1 - 1.5 hours. If you had a way to use the corn gasses you could do more with less t would think. I have had no time to look into building a biogasser yet though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KELTOI Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 well, I already go through A fair amount of charcoal per session which is usually 2-4 hours, so If corn could save me anything, weither it be time, or give me longer burn with less it would be nice...I use homemade charcoal, but the rate at which I burn through it, and the rate at which I produce are very different...I produce on rather small scale, so, corn could be the thing to do... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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