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Went with a coal forge over propane after 3 years of swearing I'd never go back to solid fuel
For 3 years I ran a propane forge in my garage in Boise and kept telling anyone who'd listen that coal was dirty, slow, and for old timers. Then my buddy Dale invited me to his shop in Nampa and had me forge weld a billet in his coal forge, and I watched him bring a 1.5 inch bar up to welding heat in maybe 4 minutes while I stood there holding my torch. What sold me was the control, I can dial the heat down to just a dull red for heat treating without any guesswork, and the firepot lets me work odd shaped stock that never fit right in my old tube forge. My propane rig is sitting in the corner now and a 50 lb bag of coal runs me 12 bucks and lasts a good while. Anyone else made the switch back to coal, or am I just late to the party?
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the_lily8d ago
How bad is the smoke situation in your garage though, because that's the one thing that kept me on propane living in town. Dale's shop has a big roll up door and a hood so he's fine, but I can't picture doing that in a closed up two car garage without the neighbors calling somebody. Are you venting it somehow or just forging with the door wide open year round?
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