[TheForge] Stoker coal

[Bob Ehrenberger]

Bob,

I've used stoker coal when I had some given to me.  It worked ok but wasn't
pretty, it had a lot of ash and didn't coke up very nice.

There was an article in "the Anvil's Ring" or "Hammer's Blow" a couple years
ago about a guy that used it exclusivly.  He had rigged up a cover for his
forge kind of like on a Johnson gas forge. He said the cover helped to get
the temp up.

Robert Ehrenberger
Shelbyville, Mo.

From: "Bob Smolen" <boka@mwt.net>
Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2004 00:42:50 -0500
Subject: [TheForge] Stoker coal

Several years ago, a fellow member of UMBA told me he has been using regular
stoker coal for forging for a long time.
If you live in the country where the initial smoke would not be a huge
concern, would this be practical? I have not used coal for years and
occasionally would like to selectively heat something or make a forge weld.
I have some stoker coal and wondered what would be the problem. Not as good
as Pochahontas but is it useable?
Thanks,
Bob