Most of the smiths I know are wet (West) side, but I do have some contacts on the dryside, including a good one for small amounts of tool steels.

The thing to remember is that bladesmiths have been HT carbon steels for 2K years, without tools more sophisticated than a magnet and their eyes. A pyrometer can be had for less than $50, so that is a good investment. Most of the information in the machinery handbook is good, but it's aimed at more industrial processes, the data is based on 1 inch cross sections. A .250 or less section often behaves quite differently. As an instance, L6, (an old formulation for industrial bandsaws) is a pretty standard oil quench steel, if you go by the handbook. In thin sections, it can be treated as an air quench steel. I did a test run of some hard duty tactical hatchets in L6. Air quenched I got 65Rc (+/- 1) on air quenched coupons and the axes. I tempered them to 55Rc and I can chop up concrete building blocks without damage to the edge. All of that was done in an electric HT oven. I have also gotten similar results using a gas forge.

It's difficult and expensive to get good coal out here in the West. If you are burning BBQ briquettes you might as well be burning wood scraps. You can buy lump charcoal at the big box stores if you must. Propane is really the way to go, though, depending on your design, it can be trouble running a forge low enough to HT, gas forges run well in the 1800 F to 2300 F ranges.

In my experience, the folks who use HT foil (BTW my steel supplier can get you rolls of it) are mostly guys working in the high carbon stainless steels, and even then, it's not needed, it just makes clean up quicker.

Geoff