Well, I thought I have confidence and I even tried the file/borax mixture Brian Brazeal had so highly recommended, but I, too, have not practiced well with forge welding, except for making damascus. Promise to make some serious practice runs.
Back to coal. Can anyone give me the contact info for the Blairsville outfit? Googling does not help. I checked on the usefulness of anthracite, but bitumenous appears to work more comfortably. However, could we mix both, may be 50/50? And $8 per 50 lb bag sounds enticing, especially if we can get the bitumenous type for the same price. On the appalachian blacksmith chapter website they list coal suppliers in WV and NC selling for $30 per ton in larger quantities. So, $25 per 50 lb bag sounds like a serious mark-up to me.