[TheForge] Phlip--using charcoal in your forge

[Phlip]

Ene bichizh ogsen baina shuu...

> Phlip:
> I would be interested in hearing about using charcoal
> in your forge.  Please tell me what kind of charcoal
> you buy,

I've gotten the real charcoal. I wound up with 80 lbs after the MSS we held,
and haven't been able to forge much because of the weather, but I seem to go
through about 25 lbs in 6-7 hours. I'm still looking for sources nearby, but
I should be able to get it for about $5/ 20 lb bag, according to my friends
who have used it and are from this area.

how fast you go through it, adjustments to
> the way you tend the fire, etc.

As far as tending the fire, it's easier- basicly pour it on and keep it
heaped- a lot less of the constant fiddling and readjusting you need to do
with coal. It also lights faster and burns down quicker. It's more bulky
than coal, but it tends to come in rather convenient bags- a 20 pound bag is
the size of a 50 lb pet food bag.

It's particularly convenient for me because I've been taking my forge etc to
SCA events- it doesn't smell bad, and I can tell the site owner that my
forge is basicly a barbecue with an attitude ;-) It's also easier for me to
bring the heart of the fire up over the rim of my fire pot for heating
things in the middle. And, because there's less fiddling, I found I was able
to guide my students and talk to interested spectators without having to
interrupt by messing with the fire.

You do have to watch your piece, though, just as you do with coal- one guy
burned up a railroad spike when he got distracted (and I'm not letting him
live it down ;-) It will most definitely bring steel up to welding heat.

My forge pot is fairly deep- it's a brake drum forge, and while it works
well, coal just didn't work as well as charcoal does. You do hafta be a bit
careful about cranking the blower, though- I asked one young kid to crank
for me, and the charcoal being lighter, and, being a bit overly
enthusiastic, he nearly blew the fire all over the area- slow and steady is
the key ;-)

>
> Thanks in advance.
> --Lou

I suggest you try it in your own forge, see what you think. What you want is
real, hardwood charcoal, like what the higher end restaurants use, not the
grocery store briquets. They'd work, in a pinch, but not as well.

Phlip

 If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it is probably not a
cat.

Never a horse that cain't be rode,
And never a rider who cain't be throwed....