i have an opportunity to buy a real nice coal forge for cheap.  and i have an enormous local supply of coal as well at our energy plant.  i think it would be fun to set up a coal forge in addition to my propane set-up, but i'm not sure i want to throw away the money if the power plant coal isn't the right kind.  i know that there are issues with using the wrong kind... but can you get away with it and still do quality forging?

I forged with coal for nearly four years.
Fun - but dirty.
Traditionally, blade smithing should be done with Pocohontas #3 bituminous coal. The amount of btus and sulfur content are well balanced.
I'm not sure what coal power plants use, but it may either be anthracite, which burns MUCH! hotter than bituminous, or they may be using coke, which is coal with all of the impurities burned out, which you will do during your regular forging process.
When forging with coal, and you will need a blower to keep it going, the heat can skyrocket!!
There's an old saying in blacksmithing which states that "the best thing a blacksmith can hope for is to end up with as good a piece of steel as he started out with".
Not only with coal, but propane as well, we have FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAr more opportunities to ruin a decent piece of steel than we do to improve it.
When you use coal, those opportunities to ruin it magnify.
There is a definite learning process to using it, but it can be very rewarding.

http://www.anvilfire.com/FAQ-article.php?bodyName=/FAQs/coal.htm&titleName=anvilfire.com%20Blacksmithing%20FAQs

thanks karl... i need to ask somebody over there what it is... i don' think coke though.   i actually did my first forging with coal... at the smokey mountain hammer-in and i really enjoyed it.  i helped Aldo make a damascus billet and he really scorched some it... sparks were dancing.

scott ,sent you a pm.

scott ,sent you a pm.

QuoteOriginally posted by mossanimal:
.......I helped Aldo make a damascus billet and he really scorched some it... sparks were dancing.

That's exactly the point I was making up above with the black smith saying.
By the time you get steel hot enough to start throwing sparks, you have destroyed it.
Now, maybe in a billet it had not hurt the steel deep within, but even inside it would have experienced grain growth EXTRAORDINAIRE!!
Coal can go so hot that looking at it will burn your retina.