Tried coal vs. charcoal for the first time side by side

Got a 50lb bag of anthracite coal from a buddy who quit smithing. Normally I just use cowboy charcoal from the hardware store. Fired both up last Sunday on two different forges. Coal got way hotter way faster, held temp steady for a good 2 hours before I had to feed it. Charcoal burned through in 20 minutes and I was constantly messing with the air. The difference in welding heat was night and day. Coal stuck two 1/4 inch bars together clean on the first try. Charcoal gave me a cold shut after three attempts. Anyone else find coal worth the extra hassle to source?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_paul25d ago

...and you got a cold shut on charcoal after three tries? Man, that's rough but I believe it. I've been messing around with coal for about six months now after burning through a pallet of charcoal in two weeks. The steady heat thing you mentioned is no joke. I can set my forge up with coal and walk away for almost an hour without touching it. Charcoal had me dancing around the blower every ten minutes. It's a pain to find the right stuff, but for welding heavy stock I don't think I'd go back.

derek_schmidt625d ago

Man I had a buddy who tried the same thing. He built his first forge out of a brake drum and used charcoal for a year. Swore by it till he tried to weld a set of leaf spring eye hooks. Three heats, three cold shuts. Pulled his hair out for two weeks before switching to coal. Now he's got a whole setup with a side blast and everything. Says he only fires the blower once every forty five minutes.