[TheForge] charcoal question

[Jerry Frost]

Sure Bob, you can use wood directly in a forge though 
there are things you have to do differently.

The biggest hassle for me was the wall of searing flame 
I had to stand in front of. What I did was build a heat 
shield from a 15gl. grease barrel with openings front 
and back to access the coals. It was still way hotter 
than you want to be but it was workable.

Charcoal also has the benefits of no smoke and more 
control than a wood fire. Still, I've done a lot of 
forging in a camp fire and when I wanted serious heat I 
used a 12v Coleman Inflatall and a length of pipe for a 
blast.

Frosty
-------------------------------
If it ain't forged
it ain't real.
Wrought iron is.
The FrostWorks

Meadow Lakes, AK.


From: "Bob Smolen" <boka at mwt.net>


> An earlier post on ccharcoal mentioned that chunks of 
> wood kept around the
> fire would "coke" into charcoal. Is that correct? 
> Could I take wood scrap
> and go directly to the forge without charring the 
> would in a reduced oxygen
> atmosphere. Makes sense as wood embers in a stove and 
> burning charcaol look
> the same to me. Is this correct? Why bother with the 
> extra step other than
> to avoid the hassle of managing the fire a little 
> more carefully when using
> wood?
> Bob