INSTRUCTIONS FOR STARTING, MANAGING, BANKING AND

EXTINGUISHING "L" BRAND”® FORGECOKE®.

A)  IGNITION OF "L BRAND”®

"L Brand”®  needs more air than coal. An  electric blower with a rheostat (a light dimmer)  is preferred over a hand-crank blower or bellows. A blower from an old vacuum cleaner, or equal, is needed for full heat potential from "L Brand"®. However, you can use a lower power or hand-crank blower with no particular problems. Use what you have and see how it works. But remember, the more air, the hotter the fire.

As a general rule, just use more of what you use to start a coal fire.  It takes more heat  to start "L Brand” ® since it lacks volatiles that ignite at low temperatures.

B) FIRE MANAGEMENT

An "L Brand”® fire needs air, to start it and to keep it going. The intensity of an "L Brand”® fire (with a little experience) can be controlled  by the amount of air. The more air the hotter the fire.  Since "L Brand”® burns cleanly, there is not too much fire management to do. You will need to rake more "L Brand”® into the fire from time to time as it  is used.

DO NOT ADD FRESH “L BRAND” ®DIRECTLY ON TOP OF A HOT FIRE.

Since “L Brand”® contains some moisture even when dry to the touch, fresh “L Brand”® will popcorn when added to a hot fire. This is because an “L Brand”® fire is so hot that it does not give the inherent moisture time to evaporate, it just turns to steam and pops. Use safety glasses and protective clothing  when using

 “L Brand”®. Popcorning can be minimized or even  eliminated by heating “L Brand”® at the edge of the fire before adding.

If you do forge welding, a clinker may form composed of excess welding flux, ash and scale from the metal. Just dig it out with your  poker.

Since an "L" fire  burns hotter than an  equivalent coal fire,  watch your work a little closely until you gain experience. You may burn your work if you are not

careful. The "L" fire can not be left without air as long as a coal fire. If you are

not using it to heat metal, one needs to add air to the fire to keep it burning.

Experience will be your guide.

C)  BANKING AN "L BRAND”® FIRE

Since "L" has no volatiles, the fire will begin to bank when the air is cut.

The hot "L" fire will heat the firepot to a much higher temperature than coal.

If you know you will be away for a time, you can try putting a piece of wood (like a piece of 2 by 4) into the center of the fire and leave the ash dump/gate open. Doing this can keep a fire going for about 25 to 30 minutes.  With experience, you will find methods that work for you.

D) PUTTING OUT AN "L BRAND”® FIRE

To put an "L" fire out, just turn off the air and pull the fire apart. If you have a flat surface around your firepot, pull the fire onto that surface and let it go out. It may take some time for the firepot and the remaining coke to cool down. Another way is to scoop out the fire with a shovel and to dump it into a metal container. Use of water is not recommended. Putting water on a hot “L Brand” ® fire could cause an explosion. Do not pour water on the firepot to cool it since it will crack due to the high "L" temperatures.