[TheForge] Water on your coal forge fire?

[Michael H. Murphy]

You're right, we don't use water in our propane forges.  However, I do quite
a bit of demonstrating and reenacting, so I also use coal.  I use water to
control the size of the fire.  I have also heard about water helping the
coking process, and it does seem to be true.  When I hit hot coal with
water, the steam comes off smelling like sulfur, so I guess it's pulling at
least some of the impurities out of the coal.  As for clumping, I did a demo
one time with borrowed equipment which included a couple of buckets of coal
dust for fuel.  I had to use water on this stuff to get it to burnable size
chunks.  It actually seemed to work pretty well once I got the hang of it,
but I still prefer pea coal.

Mike "Murf" Murphy

> -----Original Message-----
> From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:theforge-
> bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of David E. Smucker
> Sent: Saturday, May 29, 2004 4:19 PM
> To: AAA TheForge AAA
> Subject: [TheForge] Water on your coal forge fire?
> 
> I am looking for information on the subject of using water on your coal
> forge fire for a future article for the AACB Newsletter.
> 
> 
> 
> Many folks do not use water or at most just a little bit - while others
> use
> quite a bit.  Why?  In our part of the country smiths who spent time with
> Francis during their formative years seem to use quite a bit of water to
> control their fire while many others I have watch do not.
> 
> 
> 
> I have read statements by some self-appointed blacksmith experts that
> putting water on your fire is stupid because it just wastes BTUs.  Is this
> really the case?  I don't think it is a waste of BTUs because I feel it
> aids
> in the production of coke.  Coke is what we really want to burn in our
> forge
> because of its high local BTU output and clean fire.  (If forming coke
> were
> just a waste of BTUs the steel industry would not go to all of the trouble
> of making coke - they would just use coal.)
> 
> 
> 
> I am also interested in the chemical reaction of water on hot / burning
> coal.  It generates CO as a gas (blue flame) and at one time was used as a
> production method for "town gas" before the wide spread availability of
> natural gas (methane).
> 
> 
> 
> How many of you use water on your fire and how much.  Why?
> 
> 
> 
> And I all ready know that most of you don't use much water in your propane
> forges.
> 
> 
> 
> Dave Smucker
> 
> Editor, AACB newsletter
> 
> 
> 
> 
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