charcoal forge

[Ed Tipton]

Well guys, it's been a while. I was pretty active for a few years, but I was forced to close my shop and lost all of my equipment.
I am considering building a charcoal forge, since the only place I have to work in now is my back yard.
All of my previous work was done using simple high carbon steels such as 1080, 52100, and cru5v.
If I do get back into forging again, I will be staying with these same steels since I was very satisfied with the results, but I do have some reservations about building a charcoal forge.
I am a small-time maker and will only be building probably 5-6 knives per year. I have plenty of time, and I'm not in any hurry, but I am simply not sure of how satisfactory using a charcoal forge will be. From the little knowledge I have about charcoal, I am concerned about getting the steel to a high enough temp for adequate forging. I am lucky in that I do have a Paragon oven, and so I see no reason to expect trouble in controlling the heat for the heat treating...provided there is enough heat to forge the steel correctly.
I know it has been done many times, but I am uncertain about what the quality might be. I am not concerned about the cost of the charcoal, or about how much of it I use, I just want to be certain of being able to achieve sat results.
All responses are appreciated.

[jmccustomknives]

Charcoal is more than enough heat to ruin a blade. You can even forge weld in it if your forge is well designed. The one draw back is the fireflies. They hurt.

[Ray Rogers]

Welcome back, Ed! Some reason why you don't want a propane forge? Cleaner, easy and cheap to build, faster to get into operation from a cold start, stays hot as long as the propane keeps flowing, and never any question of having enough heat...

[Ed Tipton]

Thanks for the responses.
When I was in my shop I did have a propane forge.
As mentioned, I had to get rid of all of my equipment. In my shop, I had an outside propane tank and everything was set up to do daily forging if that was needed. I no longer have the outside tank, and working out of a 20 lb. bottle just doesn't appeal to me...but I could go that way. I just feel that for my present situation, a charcoal forge would be a better option. Using coal is not easily done in my area since the closest source is about 100 miles away, and it is only available in 25 pound sacks...and coal is much dirtier. For my situation, and my projected frequency of use, I am definitely limited to either charcoal or propane.
I haven't ruled the propane out yet, but I am seriously considering the use of charcoal. Also, without the use of my shop, the charcoal forge is easier to build if it will perform sat.
I am just trying to consider all the different approaches since I only want to do this one more time. It's getting late in the game for me as it is, so I'm just trying to get by and enjoy the pleasures of a great hobby for a few more years.

[Crex]

Ed, do you want to forge blades or play with fire? Using charcoal to heat steel requires a lot of "tending" all the time you are working. For a newbie at it - figure more than 50% of your effort and time will be wasted tending fire to keep it at the right heat.
If you want simple portability, simple heat control, and all the things Ray mentioned...Lp is the way to go. A 20# (BBQ) tank will last 1.5 to 2 full days of forging, talking 8 hr. days - if your forge is set up right. That translates into quite a bit of forging.
Big plus is once you are done forging for the day, you just cut things off, close all the valves and walk away. Best not do that with a charcoal fire. Also no "smoke dancing" required. Hard to beat 10 min. rampup to forging heat, especially if you only have a small project or just one blade to forge out.

I used coal/charcoal for a long time, made me an Lp forge and never looked back. I've probably built 10 to 12 since then, for special projects and different types of work. Guess I'm more about forging blades than playing with fire (and I never liked standing in smoke).

[Ray Rogers]

Carl, Ed is not a noobie, he's just been out of the game for a while. He's used both types of forge before so even though I can't imagine choosing charcoal over propane he does have the experience to make an informed decision....

[Doug Lester]

Glad to see you back, Ed.

Doug

[Crex]

Ray,
I am well aware that Ed has been around the block more than a few times. He makes beautiful knives. I was merely responding to his qualifying statement in his original post in which he indicates very limited experience using charcoal for blade work.

As stated:
>>I have plenty of time, and I'm not in any hurry, but I am simply not sure of how satisfactory using a charcoal forge will be. From the little knowledge I have about charcoal, I am concerned about getting the steel to a high enough temp for adequate forging. I am lucky in that I do have a Paragon oven, and so I see no reason to expect trouble in controlling the heat for the heat treating...provided there is enough heat to forge the steel correctly.
I know it has been done many times, but I am uncertain about what the quality might be. I am not concerned about the cost of the charcoal, or about how much of it I use, I just want to be certain of being able to achieve sat results.<<

No intention of impuning his overall experience, expertise and skills. I apologize Ed if this is how my response was received.

[Ed Tipton]

No harm-No foul. Yes I have been out of circulation for awhile.
I was trying to think of every possible consideration...including charcoal...but I have made my choice...and it will be propane.
It's strange since I have advised others about the advantages of propane myself...but being on the other side of the fence, I felt the need to at least investigate a charcoal forge. It is true that I have never used charcoal as a heat source. I have used both coal and propane, but since I have never used charcoal I felt that I should at the very least, not rule it out. After getting your responses, and looking into the price of using charcoal, I have again decided to go the propane route.
Thanks to everyone who responded, all recommendations were taken to heart, and once again I am comfortable with propane. Thanks again.

[VanceHanna]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQN7EqGMTuo

Ed Here is a video for you to check out since your going propane.