Who has actually tested some anthracite coal?
spaco
But does anybody out there have some testing of "non-blacksmith coal"
that they'd care to share.
Don't be shy. I don't think anybody will flame you for trying some
"mystery coal" and then ratting on yourself.
Blacksmiths must use more than one kind of coal. For instance:
When we were in France at a blacksmith conference at Arles-sur-tech
some years ago, they were burning coal that had more volatiles than I
have ever seen before or since. The smoke from it would go a couple of
feet into the air and then actually ignite again!!!
I might even have a picture or two of the flames.
I got some coal at a blacksmith auction once. It looked like the old
stoker coal that our neighbors used back in the 1940's. Dull gray, it
was and no pieces were larger than about 1/2" cubed. It would NOT coke
up at all. It did not get very hot in the forge. Don't remember ash
content or smell (sulphur).
Don't tell anybody I told you this, but I gave up and buried it (about
50 pounds). Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, coal back where it came from,
says I. Wait till the archeologists find THAT some day!
I was browsing through my 1973 copy of "Marks Handbook for Mechanical
Engineers" a few years ago and found 55 pages in it about coal. Very
enlightening.
Pete Stanaitis
------------------
Curt Welch
> We all know that some forms of coal don't work well for blacksmithing.
> But does anybody out there have some testing of "non-blacksmith coal"
> that they'd care to share.
> Don't be shy. I don't think anybody will flame you for trying some
> "mystery coal" and then ratting on yourself.
I don't know much about coal at all (I'm learning), but I've got a story to
relate that will add some data.
In our guild forge (bgop.org), we burn anthracite in a pot belly stove to
heat the place, so we have both anthracite as well as the bituminous coal
for the forge. Recently, at the annual shop clean up, some amount of coal
on the floor was cleaned up, and thrown into the barrel for the forge. It
turns out a great bit of that was the anthracite for the stove but whoever
was cleaning up didn't realize the difference. The two types of coals were
too mixed up to make separation an option. So recently, we have had to try
and use this mix of anthracite and bituminous coal in the forge.
It didn't work well at all. Hard as hell to keep the fire burning and hard
to get enough heat out of it to forge with. I don't know how much of this
was the particular coal we had, or if it's true in general for trying to
use anthracite for forging.
The anthracite we have are fairly large chunks (like 1" size roughly). I'm
guessing that larger size really needs a larger sized pot and fire to burn
well. So the normal size of the forge pot might simply be too small to
burn that larger sized coal. But I suspect it simply doesn't burn as
quickly or as hot as normal blacksmith coal, even though the anthracite in
general has a higher BTU/ton rating. Maybe a larger sized fire pot, and
maybe greater air flow would be required to make it usable? Or maybe it
simply doesn't tend to burn as hot no matter what you do making it a very
poor choice for forging?
All I know for sure, is that it was a true pain in the ass for us when it
got mixed in. Luckily, most of that "mistake" has been burned up now.
--
Curt Welch http://CurtWelch.Com/
cu...@kcwc.com http://NewsReader.Com/
thetradition...@hotmail.com
First off, don't try to start it directly from newspaper, that's a guaranteed failure. Light the forge with charcoal first, then slowly add bits of anthracite on top and keep the blower going strong. You will need a good blower, I recommend an electric blower.
Secondly, anthracite is a bit like coke (only denser), so you do not have to go through the trouble of adding coal to the side of the fire and waiting for volatiles to burn out. Fresh anthracite can (and should) be added directly on top of the existing fire.
Thirdly, anthracite tends to leave behind a fair amount of clinker. Every hour or so, you will want to remove the clinker that builds up in the bottom of your firepot. This is Anthracite's only drawback.
Anthracite burns incredibly hot in a forge. Welding temperatures can be easily achieved.
bat...@gmail.com
I've only recently started up smithing again as a hobby I rekindled, so my experiences with coal have been limited, but I know what my friends burn (bituminous), and how it burns; green/yellow, sooty and smelly. Locally I've been able to source some Anthracite that is in our mountains, and at first I wasn't sure it was coal. It was denser, didn't smear my hands nearly as bad, and wasn't coking over in the forge..
As the last guy said, Anthracite is particular, but it is because of it's purity. There are very few impurities to burn off being 95-98@% carbon, so there is little to no smoke, no where near as much ash, but clinkers like he said (though I hadn't discovered the same hourly necessity).
It takes a hot fire to get it burning, and it doesn't like being moved around too much.
I start with a wood fire (charcoal works well) and leave the blower humming. After there are some coals developed I add some Anthracite.
After another few minutes of hot burning I nearly smother the fire in anthracite, most of the flames extinguish.
keeping the blower going, a few minutes later it's burning hot hot hot.
I add the steel that I'm working, and before I remove after heating, I shift darker coal onto the hot spot so that by the time I'm returning to the firepot, the darker coal is heated up quite nicely.
As stated before, it burns hot, welding temperature is easily attained.
Bert Olton
There's only one thing on which I'll disagree with you here; namely
starting a "hard" coal fire directly from newspaper. I do it all the
time.
I've only been smithing for a bit over a year, but in that time I've
experienced lots of trials and far more errors in getting an anthracite
fire going in a forge. My first forge was a "rivet forge"...more
appropriate term might be an adapted BBQ grill... but I've since built a
decent forge table and because soft coal is so hard to get hold of
around where I live, I've been using nothing but the tough stuff.
What I do is wad up a slightly flattened disk of newspaper, light the
thing, stuff it down into the fire pot, turn on the fan, pour a big
Folger's can worth of pea coal over it, then scoop leavenings of the
last fire over the top of that (yeah, it's almost smothering the fire),
then stand back and let 'her roar.
Like the old Hubba Bubba Bubble Gum commercial used to say, "Big
Bubbles, no Troubles".
Best regards,
Bert
--
To those who have served or are serving the cause of
freedom, whether in peace or in war, at home or
abroad, thank you. Si vis pacem, para bellum.
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93, September 11, 2001.