Hi All, Ive been offered some coke beans which I'm told would be excellent for a forge.
Are there any questions I should ask about its composition? I now know what ash/carbon I'm looking for in coal but know nothing about coke
and would I build/maintain the fire differently than using coal
ok 3 questions...
would these be better or worse than a decent coal?
Many Thanks
John
Hi John! Well the nice thing about em is they are free!...if you think of coal like popcorn unpopped then coke is the popcorn. The fire will spread faster, light faster, and burn more quickly using coke. But if it is free who cares how much you use! And composition is all about what kind of coal it is coked from, Lignite? Anthracite? Just try it out and see how much clinker you end up with.
Coke has a tendancy to go out much faster than coal as it is purer carbon, no volitiles. With an electric blower this is not a problem, but with a hand powered blower you can find youself tired quickly as you have to turn quite hard. Also pieces under 1 inch are better than larger chunks. Some of the smiths from the UK would know better it qualities as I have only used it once when I got a bucket full free, but they use it all of the time over there. Doug
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