Blacksmithing to coal or not to coal.

I want to get into it but i know gas is easier to start with but it only seams right to do it with coal.



Suggestions?




Edit


Also whats a reputable place to get a not Chines shit anvil, i mean have access to RR rail but i want a real anvil.

Black smiting?

#blacklivesmatter

Get an anvil

First 2 posts had me

Coal gets ficking hot

Go for it
I'm watching

Waste motor oil burner.

Free fuel and the convenience of gas.

Also, it's a form of recycling, so the environmentalists will love you for it.

I decided to get into learning how to blacksmith and went the way of the olden days, right now im using lump hardwood charcol instead of actual coal so i can practice my heat control both in the metal and the fuel itself. And lump hardwood is pretty cheap

Coal if you can find enough of it.  Kingsford charcoal works almost as good.  Stock up on it when Lowes or Home Depot has it on sale.

Be a real hero and take an old cast iron bath tub, crush it up into small pieces, and amend it to make crucible steel.

I use coal.  But if you really want to be hardcore, go charcoal.

I went to Antique Gas and Steam Engine Museum in Vista, CA just before Christmas.  The black smithing exhibit had a sign:  Dear Santa,  I've been bad.  Send COAL.

Coal.

Coal is king.

Then again, I'm biased since I heat my home with coal.

I use coal. Gas is much easier. I have access to cheap or free coal, so it makes sense to use it. I hope to fire up the forge tomorrow.

I drive a duramax so coal.

Coal is too impure. Coke is where it's at.  They heat the coat to remove its impurities and to make coke.  Stuff burns cleaner after that.

And honestly that doesnt matter with a forge.

I'm not an expert or even a dilettante but it depends on what size anvil you want.  A 140-160 pound anvil is going to cost you over a grand likely in the 1800 range.

There are some good German and Czech anvils out there.  

The harbor freight junk is just that.  On the blacksmith websites they call those things ASO's.   Anvil shaped objects, other than the outline they have nothing in common with a good anvil.  

I was eyeballing a 120ish pound anvil from Germany.  It was on sale for a bit under a grand.  Solid forged and not cast with welded forged surfaces.  

Used is another story, condition condition condition. At least $3 a pound for one in decent shape.

Lump charcoal is cheaper than coal if you can make it yourself.

Coal.

Heh, yeah, they're a good group of guys.



 

I knew this lab manger who decided to grab the
leftover coke from the testing. One morning he
threw in two handfuls into his steel stove. Went to
shower and get ready for work. Got out of the
bathroom and the house was full of smoke.

Turns out the coke got hot and melted through
his stove and the floor. If you want hot get coke
or find some cannel coal.

You are going to want wood, charcoal, and coal around. What kind of forge do you have?

Coal gives you less scale, gas gives a better regulated heat.

When using coal you've got to wait a while to get a good lump of coke going, gas is light & go.

Coal gets hotter if you're wanting to forge weld, gas is easier to source.

We've got both in our shop.  The gas forge gets used the most.

ETA - go to trade fairs to get your anvil.  That or check craigslist regularly.  You can get a good deal, but you have to wait for them.

All coal is not created equal. I like low sulfur myself. 9 times out of ten 10 coal is overkill for a home forge. The only time I have really needed it was for folding leaf springs from an old C70 into axe heads. As far as an anvil, I got both of mine from craigslist, and had to drive over 200 miles for one of them. You also do want a piece of rail. The curve is perfect for a surprising number of things. Get at least one anvil with a center hole. A large piece of oak tree cut about 3 feet long is the best thing I have ever put an anvil on.

If you're properly building the fire around your firepot / forge pit, you'll have what is basically a ring of coal that is being converted to coke at all times.  That coke is fed into the fire and used to put heat into the workpiece.

A proper forge runs hot enough to make its own coke from coal.

Better have a good blower/bellows then.  The heat must be hot enough to melt the steel. The impurities can slow down the heating process.

Ain't no way they let them burn that stuff in Commifornia.

 

Undecided planning to build a Semi-permanent one tho.

Gas forges fire quicker and you can start working in minutes. Coal takes a lot longer to get a good heat worked up and a lot more maintenance to keep it clean and hot. Downside, building a gas forge can be more costly than a coal. And fuel cost can be a killer.





A lot of gas forges are made with 20# propane bottles lined with ceramic blanket coated with high temp mortar and heat reflective liner. Burners are the big part. You can roll your own to get in the door, but buying one form a place like Hybrid Burners, will be much more efficient.





Coal forges are the old school, tried, true, cheap, and simple way to do it all. Downside, it's filthy, hungry, and a little temperamental. Coal with a lot of impurities can form a lot of clinkers. And, IT'S HOT!!! You WILL burn your metal in a coal fire if you are not careful and get distracted. It's not if, it's when.





A coal forge can me made from things as simple as an old car brake drum and am A/C blower motor attached to a tee on the bottom of the drum with flex pipe.
The local forge group I'm with is on the grounds of a train yard and museum which operates and maintains old steam locomotive, so coal abound. I am building a gas forge for use at the house since there is a 500gal LP tank on the property.





Gas, once dialed in, you can be working with it in less than 5 minutes and is clean. Coal takes a more effort to keep it stable and dirty, but is usually cheaper.





Coal IS more fun to work with (to me at least) because you are more immersed in keeping things rolling. Gas is better if you want to actually work.



E.T.A. Get both. If you stick with it, you are probably going to find some things you need a coal forge for (large pieces that need a truckload of heat) and some for gas (small pieces that you REALLY don't want to burn up...again).



 

Yep, I have pulled clinkers the size of a baseball from a fire that I let be for too long.



Dirty coal = bigger, faster clinkers



 

Heheh. Yep, they've been trying to shut them down for years. Still ain't happened. Museum grounds are smaller than they were ten years ago, though. Too damned many folks around here.



 

I would start looking in old antique barns and flea markets for a really old anvil. That Is how my dad and I got his. Took us both to get it out.

There is one in the shop at the high school from idk how far back, i'm going to go talk to my old shop teacher about buying it from the FFA seeing as they are always in need of money and never use it.


I know its got to be a good anvil i broke many a thing on it while in high school.