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Posted by Bruce in Bangkok on December 13, 2007, 5:20 am
Please log in for more thread options wrote:
>Carl West wrote:
>> I've run across stuff that seems to say that water is helpful in the
>> coking process, but it was a little heavy on the particulars of the
>> chemistry and I got lost in it.
>>
>> Can it be explained in somewhat less technical terms for the layman?
>>
> The coal we were getting was screenings and fines. If you dumped a
>shovel full on the fire, it would bugger off in all directions from the
>air blast.
>
> Water kept it stuck together until it coked and fused.
>
> That's as far as I ever looked into it.
>
> Never heard of any chemical reactions, just that it was easier to get
>a glob of mud to sit where you put it.
>
> If you have a link, though, I'd probably read it until they lost me
>with long winded explanations....:-)
>
> Cheers
> Trevor Jones
Way back when I was much younger we had a forge. I was taught to start
it off by loading it up with coal and starting a fire. Once the coal
got burning you doused all but the center with water to put the fire
out. When the smoke stopped the forge was ready for use. Frankly, when
I learned all that I didn't know what was happening, just wanted a
fire to forge a knife, but I think now that it was really a method of
coking the coal.
I don't even remember who taught me that but it would have been either
someone with blacksmith or farrier experience.
Bruce-in-Bangkok
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