I have decided to write a series of posts explaining some of the main essentials to the craft of bladesmithing. For the first of these posts I will talk about a quality feul source. Charcoal. Now we are not talking about charcoal briquettes from your bar-b-que, we mean natural lump charcoal which you can make yourself.
Charcoal is a good bladesmithing feul for a few reasons. First is that it is a clean, hot burning feul that does not impart impurities into the steel you are working with. Another reason to choose charcoal is for its ease of use and availability. Not to be overlooked is also how easy it is to build a charcoal burning forge.
You can buy lump charcoal from some grocery stores and restraunt supply houses and it works very well. I make all my own charcoal from scrap lumber that I get from construction sites. There is usually a house going up near most of us with a pile of junk lumber laying out front. Just ask before you take it.
Charcaol is easy to make. All you need is a large steel drum with a lid you can throw over it and the scap wood youve collected. Cut up the lumber with a saw to about 12 to 18 inch pieces. Then I will split those pieces with a machette into roughly 2x2 inch strips. See the picture for a look at the wood prior to burning. Start a fire in your drum and start adding the wood. When your drum is full, let the wood burn for a while till all the wood is black in color. Throw on the lid and let it burn with the lid on for a few hours. For me it usually takes anywhere from 2 to 4 hours. After it has burned long enough, I will tip the drum over and spray the charred wood with a hose to stop it from burning. Shovel out the new charcoal into a wheel barrow and spray it down some more. I have a drying rack I made from some metal screen and 2x4's that I shovel it onto. This also helps romve alot of the dust as well. After about a day in the sun it is dry and ready to use as forge feul. I store it in a plastic garbage can until I need it, just make sure it is completly dry before you take off the drying rack.
Check out the pictures of the wood before and after to see what it looks like. My next post will describe the forge used to burn your charcoal.
