He told the radio interviewer that it took a long time to learn the skill needed for good smithing. I made the mistake of taking a book out of the library to start. You really can learn it that way, because there are so many subtleties in the metal and in the coal. In fact, he said, it took me two years to learn how to make a proper fire in the forge. The quality of the coal used is critical.
Any impurities can spoil the job.
They burn off from the coal and collect in the bottom of the forge, around the air intake, lowering the temperature in the forge. It takes time and experience, said the blacksmith to select the purest coal to produce the hottest fire and purest coke for smithing. It is a quality we desire in things we consume, like water, food, medications, things we use in manufacturing, things we look for in one another-love that is pure, intentions or motives that are pure. Yet there is the shadow side of purity. Some things we consume would harm us if we took them in, in pure form.