Office of Steam Forum for Model & Toy Steam Gas & Hot Air Engines

Quote from: Stoker on January 17, 2026, 07:58:19 pm

Any hobby blacksmiths or knife forgers about then?

All use charcoal now.

Very sad that!!!

Any hobby blacksmiths or knife forgers about then?

G'day Wayne, I've only ever seen the BBQ briquets for sale I've never used them before. Doesn't sound from what you wrote they would make meat taste all that good.

Simple plain charcoal briquets are not a problem and have no bad odors nor harmful ingredients. There is a type that are sold as "self lighting" that have some sort of petro-chemical volatiles, likely as waxes, in them that I also would not recommend, but the plain ones should offer no issues and barbeque stuff without harming flavors!

On another thought, natural coal often has many inclusions that could be considered contaminants, Sulphur especially, that could stink up your steaming room, so perhaps best to run outdoors when using coal. Sources easiest to access are usually Farriers (horseshoers) or Blacksmith supplies sources, but it typically comes in about 50 pound bags or the like. Maybe you could go online and find your nearest Ferrier or Blacksmith and buy a few pounds from them?

G'day Wayne, I've only ever seen the BBQ briquets for sale I've never used them before. Doesn't sound from what you wrote they would make meat taste all that good.

The best runs I've had with the SE-03 is from 75% ethanol based hand sanitizer, the burner tray on the SE-03 is perfect for it.

I was displaying at a show a couple years ago and had two different families talk to me about engines they had at home but hadn’t ran them in years because they didn’t know where to get fuel, so I told them to try hand sanitizer… both came back the next day, told me it worked and thanked me because they were happy to finally run their engines after many years! 

I still like using Sterno and have a couple dozen cans because it brings back memories of my first running of a Jensen 65 with my dad. He had found it at an antique shop and bent up an aluminum tray for Sterno.