My coal forge was a mess until I switched to a specific grade of bituminous from West Virginia

For the first year, I was using whatever cheap coal I could find and my fire was always dirty, clumpy, and hard to control. I switched to a grade called 'Metallurgical Nut' from a supplier in Beckley about three months ago, and the difference is night and day. The fire is cleaner, hotter, and holds a coke heart way better, which made my heat control for forge welding so much easier. Has anyone else found that a specific coal source made a huge difference in their work?

2 comments

2 Comments

pat_hart13d ago

Honestly seems like a lot of fuss over coal. A fire is a fire, right? My old setup ran fine on the cheap bag from the farm store for years. Maybe some people just like to overcomplicate the simple stuff.

the_vera12d ago

Pat's "a fire is a fire" thing is what my uncle used to say, until he tried some proper smithing coal. He said it was like going from a campfire to a welding torch.