Used the shop vac on my coal forge after 6 years of sweeping, and I feel like an idiot

Alex Clark · 2026-09-17T06:50:03.587341+00:00

For 6 years I have been sweeping out my coal forge with a hand brush and a dustpan, which kicks up so much black dust that my whole garage gets a coat of it. Last week I finally dragged the shop vac over and sucked out the firepot and the ash dump in about 90 seconds, no cloud, no sweeping, nothing. The brush just moves the ash around, the vac actually removes it from the building. I still keep the brush for the anvil area but the forge gets the vac from now on. What do you all use on your coal ash, or am I the only one who waited this long to figure it out?

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Used the shop vac on my coal forge after 6 years of sweeping, and I feel like an idiot | Blacksmiths - Babble Community