Charcoal forge vs propane, the old way won me over

I ran a propane forge for 15 years, but last fall I dug out my granddad's old cast iron dish and tried coal. The heat control takes getting used to, but for scrollwork and leafing it beats gas by a mile. Has anyone else gone back to an older setup after years on modern gear?

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irishenderson15d ago

Man, that coal heat has a soul to it that gas just cant fake, especially for those tight scrolls where you can see the color change right in front of you. I switched back about five years ago and the trick is to bank the fire low and use a hand blower, not a rattlecan air nozzle, so you get that slow, even soak. Once you learn to read the coal crust instead of a gauge, you'll wonder why you fought with propane for so long.