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Btw I don't know if this is true or not, but in a vikings novel I once read a description of a smith making steel from iron by shoving bars in between the wood that was being turned into charcoal. In...

A benefit of coal or charcoal is that the heat goes up, whereas with propane, there is typically a horizontal cone of heat.
And unlike propane, neither can go boom.
Of the 2, charcoal is the...

One smith told me that while ABS journeyman knives are supposed to be forged by hand, there's probably a good number who stock remove. As you say, after HT no one knows.

Oh well. I will still be expecting you in November, Mike :D
Btw, note that I wrote 'in the time needed to forge a knife' or something to that effect.
A couple of heats to forging temperatures....

You know, my charcoal says on th ebags that it comes from CO2 neutral sustainable forest management. Might be a good marketing slogan for the tofu crowd :)

There are other factors why forging is preferable to stock removal imo.
You can make shapes that are outside of the size of the stock you're working with.
You can forge the shaped almost to finish,...

There are specific ways in which you can carbonate steel, but forging isn't one of them. No matter what, carbon content goes down during forging. In the time needed to forge a knife, i doubt you...

Not as far as I am aware. I know some smiths have a personal preference. I know one who swears by coal. Another who uses propane. And I myself use charcoal. Trust me on this one: the type of fire you...