Hot take: I finally gave a coal forge a serious shot after years on propane

The fireball was way bigger than I expected, but once I got the air dialed back, the heat control for forge welding was a total game changer. I was working on a Damascus billet and the weld took on the first try, which never happens for me on gas. Anyone else make the switch and have tips for managing the coke bed?

3 comments

3 Comments

lucashart2mo ago

Honestly, that's wild to hear. My experience was the total opposite. Switched back to propane after a year fighting a coal forge. The heat control felt like a guessing game, and keeping a good coke bed was a constant pain. Maybe I just never got the hang of it, but for consistent welding heats without all the babysitting, gas wins for me every time. That fireball you mentioned is exactly the kind of surprise I don't miss.

fiona2522mo ago

My uncle's old coal forge in his barn taught me more about fire in a week than propane ever did. That "guessing game" is just learning to read the fuel, and once you get it, the control is way more direct than any knob.

kevin_harris782mo ago

Wait, you're saying the fireball was a surprise? How do you not see that coming from a pile of burning coal? It sounds like you just traded one set of problems for another, and now you're calling it a game changer.