[TheForge] propane vs coal vs charcoal

[Jeffrey Polaski]

I think it depends on where you are... around here in Southern
California coke/coal is about $20 a bag, when you can find it. You can
fill up a regular BBQ propane tank for that and get more use out of it.
Depending on what I'm doing I'll get from 8 to 16 hours out of a tank of
propane, sometimes more. And I'm running a big forge right now. When I
was using a smaller forge I'd get even more out of a tank. Plus, my
neighbors don't have to deal with the smoke from a coal forge.

There is a trade-off between a smaller "focused" coal fire and a more
efficient propane forge.

Not all propane forges are built the same. You can do it the expensive
way and run a lot of propane through multiple burners and a not very
well insulated forge, or run less propane through a well-insulated forge
with ITC-100, etc... In the long run the better insulated forge will be
far less expensive.





Jeff Polaski



> -----Original Message-----
> From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:theforge-
> bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of terry l. ridder
> Sent: Tuesday, June 10, 2008 1:50 PM
> To: theforge at mailman.qth.net
> Subject: [TheForge] propane vs coal vs charcoal
> 
> hello;
> 
> i am trying to do somethings this late spring and summer.
> using the propane forge is really out of the question given
> the current price of propane.
> 
> i have one 5 gallon bucket of coal left.
> i have at least 10 cord of boxelder wood that needs to
> be used up. i could cobble together a charcoal kiln.
> 
> i would be heating nothing large most small items.
> the largest being 1/2 square steel rod.
> the widest being 1/8 x 1 inch
> 
> i am trying to get a handle on which way to convert.
> it would seem to be logical for the short term to
> switch to charcoal. what of the long term?
> 
> what are you considering for the long term forge fuel?
> 
> 
> --
> terry l. ridder ><>
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