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Charcoal
- Thread starter Brutus
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Yes, it will. That being said, it takes real charcoal, not the briquets you buy at the local store, they are only partially charcoal with sawdust and other junk in them. Do a google search for Abana. It's a site for blacksmith artizans (sp) Coal will still be your best bet. You should be able to get more help there.
Bill
Bill
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Charcoal will get iron hot enough , it did
centuries ago so it should still.
Now , the smart ass detail : Where do you
find iron today !
What is called wrought iron today really is
a steel alloy . Charcoal will get it hot enough
no big problem , but since I mostly ( actually
only ) have steel to work with , I do not have
moral or ethic problems using minaral coal .
Maybe when I get more experienced ( and find more iron ) I will switch again to charcoal .
I use chracoal to melt lead and pewter , cook
and warm the glue pot .
centuries ago so it should still.
Now , the smart ass detail : Where do you
find iron today !
What is called wrought iron today really is
a steel alloy . Charcoal will get it hot enough
no big problem , but since I mostly ( actually
only ) have steel to work with , I do not have
moral or ethic problems using minaral coal .
Maybe when I get more experienced ( and find more iron ) I will switch again to charcoal .
I use chracoal to melt lead and pewter , cook
and warm the glue pot .
I use charcoal all the time for blacksmithing, I buy it at wally world in 10 lbs bags. I've tried mesquite wood too but it pops and has a terribly white ash.
My best method it to use charcoal in the center of the fire, and coke around the edges. Coke is way cheaper and burns way hotter. The charcoal keeps the fire going, Coke burns real hot but doesn't stay lit. Together I don't have to tend the fire as much but it heats up the fastest without any smoke. I live in a subdivison where I'm constantly worried about the home owner ass. N@zi's. Charcoal works way different than coal, I have a bunch of tricks that I use if your interested.
Regards
My best method it to use charcoal in the center of the fire, and coke around the edges. Coke is way cheaper and burns way hotter. The charcoal keeps the fire going, Coke burns real hot but doesn't stay lit. Together I don't have to tend the fire as much but it heats up the fastest without any smoke. I live in a subdivison where I'm constantly worried about the home owner ass. N@zi's. Charcoal works way different than coal, I have a bunch of tricks that I use if your interested.
Regards
I have not used it for Blacksmithing.
But have been using "Royal Oak"brand Charcoal in the Weber. It's real wood chunk charcoal, puts out lots of heat,(in red bag)heats evenly and burns clean.
There are two Walmarts within 20 miles of me.
One Carries it on a regular business, the other does not.
But have been using "Royal Oak"brand Charcoal in the Weber. It's real wood chunk charcoal, puts out lots of heat,(in red bag)heats evenly and burns clean.
There are two Walmarts within 20 miles of me.
One Carries it on a regular business, the other does not.
Brutus, I use only charcoal in my wash-tub forge. It is made from a small oval washtub with clay molded to the sides leaving a deep valley down the middle, with a tuyere (pipe with hold in it) buried at the bottom. I have the pipe attached to an old Champion hand-cranked blower, and this outfit gets steel up to non-magnetic in just two or three minutes. I have used bagged charcoal (not briquets, as the others point out) with perfect success. But I have also had good luck simply combing out the charcoal left from the fall and spring vegetation burn pile. You go through the latter faster, but it still makes a not enough fire when you have a blower. If there has been a wildfire in yoru area, you could fill a couple of gunny sacks with excellent forging fuel in a few minutes. My forge is based on the Tim Lively design. Don't know if he still has a Web site, but I have his tape, "Knifemaking Unplugged," that is very useful for a beginner like myself.
I get lump charcoal at the Menards up in LaCrosse WI. The brand is called Cowboy.
Charcoal works great for blacksmithing - hot fire and clean. You're only left with a little white wood ash. But it does take a whole lot more fuel to do the same amount of work that you can do with coal/coke. And you really need a "deeper" fire - to get your work into the middle of it with enough fire around it. A bottom draft forge/fire works well, but a side draft takes a lot of getting used to. The side draft is much more traditional, especially for time periods before the Civil War.
Wrought iron is available. There is a company in Sweeden still producing it - but it's pretty expensive. But old wrought iron is also still available. The two main places you find it are in the old wooden waggon wheel rims (and some of the other waggon parts if the waggon is old enough), and old bridges. A check with some of the local scrap iron yards will usually lead you to a number of those waggon wheel rims. And, if you're lucky, to somebody that has scrapped out an old bridge. I got a bunch of square stock from one - 3/4 up to 1 1/2 inch square - but already chopped down to 10 to 16 inch lengths. Some of the tie rods were 1/2 round, and up to 1 1/2 inch round. Another friend got ahold of several 3/4 inch round rods that were used to hold a large wood vat together - like a silo. The vat was in an old pickle factory. It works great, but your shop smells like cooked/burnt pickles for a while - from all the juice it absorbed over the years.
There is also a new alternative to wrought iron, if it's still being made. It's called Pure Iron. It is 99.something percent chemically pure iron. Works like a dream. Soft and flexible like wrought iron, but without the slag inclusions and grain structure of wrought. You also don't have to work it at white hot temps like wrought (which needs those hot temps to keep from splitting/cracking). You can also work it well into the black heat - enough that it will spoil you from working regular mild steel. It's also like wrought in that it has less "strength" for its size when compared to normal mild steel. So you have to weld and rivet parts like the originals instead of relying on the metal to be strong enough and not bend.
Just my humble thoughts to share.
yhs
Mike Ameling
Charcoal works great for blacksmithing - hot fire and clean. You're only left with a little white wood ash. But it does take a whole lot more fuel to do the same amount of work that you can do with coal/coke. And you really need a "deeper" fire - to get your work into the middle of it with enough fire around it. A bottom draft forge/fire works well, but a side draft takes a lot of getting used to. The side draft is much more traditional, especially for time periods before the Civil War.
Wrought iron is available. There is a company in Sweeden still producing it - but it's pretty expensive. But old wrought iron is also still available. The two main places you find it are in the old wooden waggon wheel rims (and some of the other waggon parts if the waggon is old enough), and old bridges. A check with some of the local scrap iron yards will usually lead you to a number of those waggon wheel rims. And, if you're lucky, to somebody that has scrapped out an old bridge. I got a bunch of square stock from one - 3/4 up to 1 1/2 inch square - but already chopped down to 10 to 16 inch lengths. Some of the tie rods were 1/2 round, and up to 1 1/2 inch round. Another friend got ahold of several 3/4 inch round rods that were used to hold a large wood vat together - like a silo. The vat was in an old pickle factory. It works great, but your shop smells like cooked/burnt pickles for a while - from all the juice it absorbed over the years.
There is also a new alternative to wrought iron, if it's still being made. It's called Pure Iron. It is 99.something percent chemically pure iron. Works like a dream. Soft and flexible like wrought iron, but without the slag inclusions and grain structure of wrought. You also don't have to work it at white hot temps like wrought (which needs those hot temps to keep from splitting/cracking). You can also work it well into the black heat - enough that it will spoil you from working regular mild steel. It's also like wrought in that it has less "strength" for its size when compared to normal mild steel. So you have to weld and rivet parts like the originals instead of relying on the metal to be strong enough and not bend.
Just my humble thoughts to share.
yhs
Mike Ameling
blacksmithshoppe
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Where in Indiana do you live? There is a Coal yard in Brazil? Near Terra Haute In. If your near the Michigan border come on up to my shop and I will show you around. I may even be able to hook you up with a little coal just to get you started.
Jeff
Jeff
When I was in high school I used an old hand cranked forge on our farm to play blacksmith. At that time I didn't know any better and used to buy charcoal at the local grocery store (the briquette kind) and even managed to do some simple forge welding with it. I never saw any problem with it, just kind of expensive.
blacksmithshoppe
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Henry said:Now , the smart ass detail : Where do you
find iron today !
What is called wrought iron today really is
a steel alloy .
Old Wagon Wheel Tires are a good source of Wrought Iron. I snap them up any time I find them. I love to work with Iron, as opposed to Mild Steel, and it forge welds beautifully. Not to mention most folks that know the difference will pay more for Wrought Iron over something made from Mild Steel
Jeff :thumbsup:
blacksmithshoppe
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Brutus said:
Thats about three hours from my place but your welcome anytime, just shout,
Jeff :thumbsup:
For all of you guys that may be new to blacksmithing you can always get coal by looking in the phone book under horse shoeing supplys they sell it in 20 lbs bags usually . It will work better than charcoal it gets much hotter and lasts longer . There are so many things to learn when blacksmithing why make it more difficult or complcated along the way . Technicaly you could use anything that will burn but nothing burns better than coal , now propane works very well but it's still not as hot as coal when it comes to things like forge welding . When forge welding it's got to be hot and it's got to be clean . Good luck to all you up and coming smithy's but beware it's as addicting as Black Powder . One of the other posts said to contack ABANA American Blacksmith Assn of North America thats a good call those folks are great they'll help you out with anything you need , good shooting folks .BP Junky
my blacksmithing teacher uses half coke, half charcoal...
with a strong air blast he reckons the charcoal blows out of the forge, but he says charcoal burns hotter and faster and is easier to light.
for forging high quality steel (like HSS), he uses 100% charcoal
if you cant get real iron, it may be worthwile trying 1004 low carbon steel. Don't be tempteted to use "free machining" steel - the added sulphur makes it crack when you forge it
with a strong air blast he reckons the charcoal blows out of the forge, but he says charcoal burns hotter and faster and is easier to light.
for forging high quality steel (like HSS), he uses 100% charcoal
if you cant get real iron, it may be worthwile trying 1004 low carbon steel. Don't be tempteted to use "free machining" steel - the added sulphur makes it crack when you forge it
