Swapped to a coal forge on my old anvil and got a cleaner weld than my propane rig ever gave me

I tried using a coal forge for the first time last weekend on this junk steel I've been messing with, and the weld came out smoother than anything I've gotten from my propane setup in the last year. The heat control was trickier, but the scale just flaked right off and left less mess to grind away. Has anyone else found that older methods sometimes beat modern gear for certain jobs?

3 comments

3 Comments

avery_lopez23d ago

Used to think propane was just straight up better for forge welding, but after trying coal for the first time I totally get what you mean. The heat might be harder to dial in but the scale issue is night and day, way less cleanup for real. Definitely changed my mind on old school methods having their place.

allen.charlie23d ago

... and honestly that's just gonna piss off the propane purists even more, lmao. I swear half the guys I know think you need a 300 dollar burner setup just to not suck at welding. Meanwhile here I am burning my eyebrows off in the backyard like a caveman and getting better results than I ever did with my shiny propane forge. The soot is a pain yeah but the way that scale just falls off the second you hit it with the brush is absolutely filthy. Almost makes me wanna throw my gas forge in the river but then again I'm not that tough, I like my electric blower too much lol.

samjohnson22d ago

Propane purists are right though, fancy burners give way more control and way less frustration than choking on coal smoke for half the heat.