Warning about that new 'fast' coal from the place on 4th Street

Burned through a whole 50 pound bag in three days making a gate, it was way too hot and ruined the temper on my best hammer, has anyone else had this problem?

3 comments

3 Comments

pipera503mo ago

Ngl, that sounds like they're blending in some coke or anthracite without saying. It burns way hotter and faster than good blacksmithing coal. My buddy had the same thing happen with a leaf spring, it got way too fluid and just fell apart. You might want to stick a magnet in the next bag, if it pulls out a bunch of metallic dust that's your answer. Ruined a good hammer over bad fuel is a real shame.

finley9393mo ago

So the magnet trick actually works? How much dust are we talking about?

alice_reed4729d ago

Oh man, the magnet trick absolutely works, and it's honestly kind of horrifying (in a weirdly fascinating way). I tried it on a bag of "premium blacksmithing coal" I bought last month and pulled out enough metallic dust to make a tiny metal snowball. It was like a small handful, maybe a couple tablespoons worth, which is way more than I expected. And yeah, my forge has been acting up with that batch, flames getting weird and stuff, so I think pipera50 is onto something there. Of course, I'm also the person who once tried to forge a knife out of a driveway scraper (don't ask), so maybe don't take my advice seriously.