PSA: A demo at the Oregon forge meet changed my mind about using a coal forge for small work.

I was at the big meet in Portland last fall, watching a guy make tiny hinges for a jewelry box. He was using a small gas forge, and he could get the exact heat he needed in about thirty seconds. My old coal setup would take five minutes just to get to a good orange heat for something that small. I switched to a small two-burner gas forge for detail work about three months ago. Has anyone else made the jump from coal to gas for small projects?

3 comments

3 Comments

henrybaker2mo ago

Wait, five minutes for a small orange heat? What kind of coal were you using? My old setup with good bituminous could get a rivet heat going in maybe ninety seconds... I can't imagine waiting that long for a tiny hinge. Maybe your air blast was way off or something.

harris.drew2mo ago

Yeah but @henrybaker, is a hinge heat really that big of a deal? Five minutes isn't the end of the world.

richard_ramirez1mo ago

Buddy of mine tried running his forge on some cheap anthracite he got from a hardware store. Took him almost ten minutes just to get a small bar to a dull red, and the heat was all uneven. Switched to a proper bituminous and his fire was ready in two minutes flat.