coal stove anyone?

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Has anyone ever built a coal stove? I'm putting up my shop in a couple of weeks and was discussing put ing a wood burner in there for heat with my dad he's from Tennessee and said to know its tobad we can't get coal around here (texas) because that heats much better .....well I can get coal by the bag or by the ton for a not so  large fee and so I'm considering it but being that I'm from Texas I have no idea how to build a coal fired stove .....any one know how to do it? Mite sound like a simple question to some but I don't know the burning chrachteristics of coal so I'm compleatly lost the only thing I "know" about burning coal is it produces lots of black smoke and a sulfer smell with the bitmus type any way thanks for any pointers in advance
Reply:Burn Anthracite.  I have the Coal stove right in my living room where we sit every night.  No Smoke or Sulfer smell.  That sulfer smell is Carbon Monoxide.  The Coal will burn alot hotter than wood and Coal is a constant heat.  I had a Wood Stove since I was a little kid and we switched to Coal a few years ago,  I will never go back to wood.  And I swear up and down that wood is dirtier than Coal.But anyway.   My Coal stove is from the 1940's and Is just a Thin wall Mild Steel with Fire rated Concrete blocks as a liner inside.  Those Concrete blocks have channels in them to allow gases escape along with a nice flame.  The Bottom door and top door is Cast Iron.   With the coal stove you the coal elevated with a constant draft coming from underneath.  Unlike wood.   The you need a "Shaker" grate, to shake the burnt Coal out.....I got my Coal Stove from a Junkyard for $40 and and Blasted it and Painted it Flat black with hemi orange Doors......Some Blue , Some Red & Some GreyProverbs 16:2-3.2 "All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the Lord. 3 Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans."
Reply:I think in my area the only coal I can get is bitmus and I can only get that from one supplyer in Texas like 2 hours away but if its better than wood I'm willing to give it a shot and hey if it don't work I can allways put wood in the stove later thanks for the input
Reply:Try to find a Moncrief Coal furnace out of a home that was used in the old days. That is what I did and you have the main unit just install it and good to go. There are other manufacturers too but check that the furnaces shaker grates are good in it and the brick is intact. These things were built to last ten lifetimes or more.
Reply:Here in northern Minnesota I have an Ashley wood/coal stove.  I see other Ashleys often - must have sold a lot of them.  Mine has the shaker bottom and a forced draft blower. US Stove makes them currently. http://www.landmsupply.com/departmen...Fag7MgodRFsA0ADave J.Dave J.Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance. ~George Bernard Shaw~ Syncro 350Invertec v250-sThermal Arc 161 and 300MM210DialarcTried being normal once, didn't take....I think it was a Tuesday.
Reply:I just noticed Yall are both from Pennsylvania land of coal no one uses coal in Texas like at all except blacksmiths and ferriers that's why I wanted to build one .....you can't find them here just like I'm sure youwould have a hard time finding mesquite trees there its hard to convey tone in text I'm not trying to be a smart alleic  just trying to tell what I'm up against ....I do appreciate any input
Reply:The only thing that I remember as a kid,about burning coal.The stove was pretty much a wood stove with an elevated grate,so that the air could come from underneath.The ash was less than from wood,and the grates got a lot hotter than from wood.Might be good to make the grates replaceable,because of the extra heat and sulfur.Sorry I don't remember more,been a long time ago.
Reply:If you want to build your own follow the designs of the old coal stoves/furnances- specifically you want 90% of the air to come from underneath the fire vs the top as in the case of wood.       Most good old coal furnaces had a fire box that was Round and not square or rectangular-coal burns best in a round fire box. The walls should be vertical or nearly so lined with firebrick.        The grate should be able to 'shake' the fire so that the ash drops down into the ash pan-and coal has More ash than wood typically. The good old coal furnaces had grates made of cast iron to withstand the heat and not burn out. Some guys have successfully build grates from Rebar with the knowledge that in time it will have to be replaced.    A good online resource for burning coal is www.nepacrossroads.com/forum-there are some really knowledge folks there including some that have built their own coal fired stoves.     One final comment is bituminous is MUCH easier to burn, anthracite is often started via a bituminous fire first because it is much more difficult to start as it lack the volatiles in bituminous.  Living in Pa that is what I use once you start burning coal as was said you will not want to go back to wood. Hope that helps.
Reply:You need a bottom draft stove to burn coal, and a shaker to get the ash out.Disclaimer; "I am just an a$$hole welder, don't take it personally ."
Reply:I was planning on building a shaker out of rebar  and using an old airtank for the burn chamber .....all good info guys thank you so much .....just out of curiosity I am going to drive 2 hours to get 1 ton of coal for $348 what's it go for in Pennsylvania? Or some where coal is more prevalent?
Reply:Hate to tell you with that kind of price I paid $72 for run of the mine as they call it- right at the mine- not washed or graded. Bagged anthracite last year was < $6 a 40 lbs bag.
Reply:As everyone else said, it's no different than a wood stove except the ash grate at the bottom and the air channels to feed the fire which should be below the grate but not at an angle greater than 45 degrees in regards to the ash grate... this is to prevent the ash from settling and falling out while the fire is out. You'll also want an ash pan.As for the ash grate, what works well is to have it resting on internal tabs and an external handle which you can give a downward whack which will lift it off the tabs. When it comes back down and lands on the tabs a good quantity of ash will fall through without too much trouble. The holes in the ash grate should be fairly small. A larger quantity of smaller holes is best and prevents unburnt coal from falling into the ash pan.If possible (i.e. if the bottom of your chamber has a curve) make the ash pan opening smaller and the ash pan itself deeper, rather than a wide shallow ash pan. Makes it easier and cleaner to dump.Last edited by Rora; 02-13-2013 at 06:45 PM.
Reply:In Ohio coal is 160 220 for bituminus and anthracite respectively. I burn wood and bituminus at the same time. It give off plenty of heat and you only burn about half the wood.  That might be another option for you since your coal is expensive and far away.
Reply:Just make sure you get your rebar in grade 6, the highest carbon content. I've made fire place grates out of them that lasted 15 years.
Reply:Originally Posted by DieselDon16Burn Anthracite.  I have the Coal stove right in my living room where we sit every night.  No Smoke or Sulfer smell.  That sulfer smell is Carbon Monoxide.
Reply:Im paying $200 for 1 Ton of Anthracite Coal.  Rice, Chestnut, Pea and Buckwheat all the same price.  My house is 3600sqft.  That 1 Ton last me 5-6 weeks depending on the temperature outside.  Plus Im a big "Friends Of Coal" Supporter and Im for Coal 100% so its nice to support Coal Mines and Coal Miners.Some Blue , Some Red & Some GreyProverbs 16:2-3.2 "All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the Lord. 3 Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans."
Reply:Well I figure a coal in my 1200 square shop a ton should last me a couple of years we have probably only had 10 days below fourty this year......I just hate being "chilly" I do best in tripple digit weather lol
Reply:Oh Heavens!  I dont work when we hit the triple digits.  Perfect Temperature for me to work in is about 40*-55*Some Blue , Some Red & Some GreyProverbs 16:2-3.2 "All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the Lord. 3 Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans."
Reply:40-55 I got on my carharts ....but I am kind of weird like that 105 110 heck 120 with body armor weapon and full gear I'm good to go everyone else is melting lol
Reply:40-55 I got on my carharts ....but I am kind of weird like that 105 110 heck 120 with body armor weapon and full gear I'm good to go everyone else was melting lol
Reply:We burned coal when I was a kid in Gillette, WY. We bought our coal from the local powerplant(WYODAK), who mined thier own coal onsite. In the '80s we were paying around $8 - $10 a ton. Market price now is around $20 a ton, last time I checked. Growing up we burned through roughly 6-8 tons per year. And Mom kept the house around 82 deg! She's ALWAYS cold! We had a Russo freestanding wood/coal stove. Worked perfectly. Anyway, If you have a railroad that runs near you, you should be able to find some coal. All you have to do is wait till they have a derailment, and talk the cleanup crew into loading your truck. You may end up with a little trash that will need to be sieved out, but free is good. We ship ALOT of coal to the San Antonio power. It runs on UP down through KS,OK, eastern TX corridor. That coal is coming out of the Powder River Basin in WY. It is what they call sub-bituminous low sulfer coal. Runs about 8500 btu/lb."The beauty of the Second Amendment is that it will not be needed until they try to take it." - Thomas Jefferson If the Lights are a Flashin', STAY OFF the tracks!!! It might be me at the Throttle...
Reply:loloddly, that's a fond childhood memory....the smell of burning coal.we didn't have a "coal" stove though, just a normal woodstove. we'd get a wood fire going first then just throw chunks of coal in.Lincoln SA 200Esab Caddy 160Thermal Arc 201TSMiller Dialarc HFI don't like making plans for the day because then the word "premeditated" gets thrown around the courtroom....
Reply:I don't want to dissuade you from building what you want to build, but if you have ready access to trees/wood I say stick with wood.  I kind of skimmed through the posts, but I feel like you may be chasing something that just doesn't make economic sense.  Sure we can all argue BTU content of different fuels and which one you should burn until we're all blue in the face, but in the climate you and I live in a wood stove can easily get a 1200sf shop nice and toasty.MikeConstans Fides et IntegritasLincoln Weldanpower 150 ACAirco Aircomatic MIGet CAV II w/ spoolgunMillermatic 30a wirefeeder
Reply:well honestly living in central texas its prety barren for wood i rarely run across any one selling it by the cord ,,,,,there just arent very many trees around here anymore its the heart of cattle ranching so most fields and pastures have been cleared years ago for open grazing  so all things being fairly equal as far as fuel availability.....hell i might just put a propane heater in there and get a small tank i was just thinking about cost and the longer burning and lasting coal but if i have to spend a day going to get it and about 100 bucks round trip propane may be the way to go,,,,
Reply:I knew a fellow that had a welding business sometime ago that purchased a hydraulic cylinder from me to make a chopper for his stove he built.   I quested him about what was a stove chopper.   He showed me a few weeks later what he was doing.   He was burning a little wood,carbord boxes, anything that would burn,  and then chopping tires into tiny pieces.  He was feeding the little pieces of tires into his secondary combustion chamber which was red hot.  There he had forced out side preheated very hot air at a high volume feeding the tire pellets and  a little drip of burnt motor oil /diesel fuel mix.  From there he had another little chamber with baffle that he added a little more air and all this went into a square box on the back and top of the furnace.   He was heating a very large building with the this.  I went out side and looked at his 24 ft stove pipe and all I could see was clear heat coming out.  Dont know how all of it worked  but he used some truck rims in part of the furnace to get a clyclone effect going.   He said he had very little in the furnace and didnt spent any money on heating his place.  richey   sweet home alabamaOriginally Posted by texasrednekwell honestly living in central texas its prety barren for wood i rarely run across any one selling it by the cord ,,,,,there just arent very many trees around here anymore its the heart of cattle ranching so most fields and pastures have been cleared years ago for open grazing  so all things being fairly equal as far as fuel availability.....hell i might just put a propane heater in there and get a small tank i was just thinking about cost and the longer burning and lasting coal but if i have to spend a day going to get it and about 100 bucks round trip propane may be the way to go,,,,
Reply:thanks for all the input everyone my shop should go up in the next couple of weeks then long nites of pulling wire after work to get it electrified im prety sure im going to do a thread on the build most people want a shop and cant afford to put one up but im  going to get this one done on the cheap and any one can do it...if you can live with a dirt floor for a while lol