Was reading a 1920s smithing manual and it said a forge could burn through a ton of coal in a single week.

Found that in a scanned copy of 'The Blacksmith's Craft' from the Milwaukee library archive, which really puts the scale of old commercial shops into perspective for a hobbyist like me.

3 comments

3 Comments

theaward20d ago

Wonder how they even moved that much coal around without modern equipment. @spencer_hayes71 has a point about keeping the heat steady, were they just constantly shoveling fresh coal on top of the fire? Like did one guy's whole job just be feeding the forge nonstop, maybe in shifts? That's a whole different level of labor compared to turning on a propane burner.

spencer_hayes7120d ago

That's a crazy amount of fuel. Makes you wonder how they kept the heat consistent all week.

drewc6219d ago

A ton of coal in a week sounds like a lot until you do the math. That's about 285 pounds a day. A big shop with multiple forges and several guys working ten hour shifts would go through that easy. It wasn't one guy shoveling nonstop, it was just part of the normal work. Keep in mind those manuals were written for real businesses, not a guy in his backyard on a Saturday.