Switched from a coal forge to propane last fall and my hammer time tripled

I ran a coal forge in my garage for about three years and always felt like half my shop time was just tending the fire and hauling ash out back. Last October I picked up a two burner propane forge from a guy in Columbus and the difference hit me the first night, I got in a full two hour session instead of my usual forty five minutes of real hammering. The heat is steady, I can actually see the steel color without squinting through smoke, and my neighbors stopped complaining about the smell. Only thing I miss is the crust on the metal from the coal, that bit of texture was nice for some pieces. Anyone here run both and have a trick for keeping that coal forge finish without going back to the mess?

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chen.jade15d ago

The "half my shop time was just tending the fire" thing is so real, and honestly that pattern shows up everywhere. You spend years thinking a thing is just part of the deal, then you change one piece and wonder where all that time went. For the coal finish, a lot of guys just rub the hot steel with a bit of coal or charcoal while it's still orange, gets you that crust without the ash pile.

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