Using Hard or soft coal in this stove?

I bought this little cook stove about a yr ago for.50$ I burnt some nut size hard coal in it and it put off heat.

Where these kinds of stoves made for hard or soft coal?

Need a better pic of the grate. Is there a handle to shake the grate?

If it is a leaker then tighten up all mating surfaces or nothing will keep it from running way too hot and not for very long.

that's a laundry stove and were not built to operate very fancy...

Yup, laundry or canning stove. Neighbor has a canning stove about the same size that has an oval brick lined firebox and grate.

They were often small to be portable to take outside. And the top is just the height and size for a "water boiler" tank to sit on and be the right height for a house wife to still be able to put things in and out of the boiler.

You could cook on it,.... if you like leaning over a lot. And unlike a regular cook stove the small firebox would need to be refueled more often to get through a day's worth of cooking.

Without a proper secondary air supply it'll soot up on soft coal.

With hard coal, the small amount of air leakage around the top plates and front loading door are enough secondary air.

Paul