Gas Forge what do you use

[mt2020]

I have been reading post on gas forges now for 2 months. I am trying to learn everything I can on Gas forges. Yes I am going to buy the "Book".

 

My question is if you did not build your own what did you buy.   And what ones did you buy and hate.

 

I am wish to learn the  the basics of blacksmithing for the pure fun of learning it.  As people say 1 gas forge will not do it all.

but what commercial model are you using,

 

Thanks everyone for sharing

 

 

[jmccustomknives]

I bought a Diamondback Knifemakers forge.  There were a few of reasons, one it was light enough to carry for demonstrations.  It used off the shelf brick sizes so i wouldn't have to work hard at relining the forge.  I reaches forge welding temps and can function on a 20lb propane tank.  The biggest draw back is the internal size.  It is very small and can't do anything much larger than a knife.  That being said, having a coal forge handy to handle the odd pieces and wrought (it doesn't really get hot enough to work wrought) complements the gas forge.

[SpankySmith]

I bought a Wilder single burner. Wanted something easy to use with a wider opening than many I saw available to give me more options on larger pieces. Couldn't be happier with it. Very simple and I went in a little leery of gas forges. I get a lot of work on a 20lb tank, always keep a full one in reserve. I like the big opening a lot, which I keep blocked on one end with firebricks to conserve heat unless I need it open. Price was definitely right, too.

[Frosty]

Do you know what you want to forge? Buying or building the "perfect" forge before we knew what we really needed or really wanted to make is why so many of us have a bunch forges. What works a charm for bladesmithing is going to fail miserably the first time you want to turn a scroll. Unless you can get a scroll right as soon as it comes out of the forge you're going to be stuck with what you have because you'll never get it back into a knife forge.

 

For guys who are just getting into the craft and don't yet know just what they want or are going to end up doing I recommend a farrier's forge. They're typically light weight, reasonably easy to reline and must be able to heat a horse shoe. A horse shoe is a pretty large product in the hobby world. Sure it's not a gate or railing but you are never going to need to heat the whole gate/railing, window grill, etc. You'll need  to work finials, scrolls, band, rivet, etc. and a two burner farrier's forge with a through hole will heat more metal than a person wants to beat in one heat.

 

So, my basic advice is to consider what your goals are in the craft and remember learning means mastering the basics first.

 

Easy to reline is really HIGH on my list of goodness things. You are going to burn the liner out of your forge if you use it much and especially if you weld in it.

 

You don't HAVE to use two burners to forge and one of my main tenets, heck life philosophies is, "it's better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it." Two burner forges are better in my book.

 

Light is a good thing, you WILL end up needing to move it. Its part of learning the craft, you can arrange everything the way it's laid out in books but WILL find an arrangement that suits you and your work better. Easy to move is a good thing.

 

I don't have a brand name to recommend or disrecommend, I've used a number of commercial forges and the ones that didn't get hot enough were easily fixable.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

[arftist]

Do you know what you want to forge? Buying or building the "perfect" forge before we knew what we really needed or really wanted to make is why so many of us have a bunch forges. What works a charm for bladesmithing is going to fail miserably the first time you want to turn a scroll. Unless you can get a scroll right as soon as it comes out of the forge you're going to be stuck with what you have because you'll never get it back into a knife forge.

 

For guys who are just getting into the craft and don't yet know just what they want or are going to end up doing I recommend a farrier's forge. They're typically light weight, reasonably easy to reline and must be able to heat a horse shoe. A horse shoe is a pretty large product in the hobby world. Sure it's not a gate or railing but you are never going to need to heat the whole gate/railing, window grill, etc. You'll need  to work finials, scrolls, band, rivet, etc. and a two burner farrier's forge with a through hole will heat more metal than a person wants to beat in one heat.

 

So, my basic advice is to consider what your goals are in the craft and remember learning means mastering the basics first.

 

Easy to reline is really HIGH on my list of goodness things. You are going to burn the liner out of your forge if you use it much and especially if you weld in it.

 

You don't HAVE to use two burners to forge and one of my main tenets, heck life philosophies is, "it's better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it." Two burner forges are better in my book.

 

Light is a good thing, you WILL end up needing to move it. Its part of learning the craft, you can arrange everything the way it's laid out in books but WILL find an arrangement that suits you and your work better. Easy to move is a good thing.

 

I don't have a brand name to recommend or disrecommend, I've used a number of commercial forges and the ones that didn't get hot enough were easily fixable.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

Frosty did you ever build the variable volume forge you has discussed at one time? I really liked that idea and have been kind of waiting around for it. 

[RP Coyle]

I kind of took a leaf out of the book of my old HS metal shop. I built a melt furnace for brass and bronze and I just put a fire brick cut to a 45 deg angle  in front of the burner so that the flame was thrown upward towards the vent hole.  The advantage is that instead of a limited diameter fire tube, you have a vertical flame from the vent hole  that you can place any length or shape over. just like a conventional coal fire. Most gas forges I have seen are horizontal and like Frosty says, scroll work is limited by the diameter .

 

I just got a two foot long section of 14 inch duct and lined it with fire brick and Kaowool and cut a whole in the side so the flame tube came through at the bottom kind of on a tangent. cut out a 14" steel flange with a 5" hole for the top and lined it with Kaowool underneath  so that it fit the duct and had instant forge/foundry furnace.

 

.

[ianinsa]

I kind of took a leaf out of the book of my old HS metal shop. I built a melt furnace for brass and bronze and I just put a fire brick cut to a 45 deg angle  in front of the burner so that the flame was thrown upward towards the vent hole.  The advantage is that instead of a limited diameter fire tube, you have a vertical flame from the vent hole  that you can place any length or shape over. just like a conventional coal fire. Most gas forges I have seen are horizontal and like Frosty says, scroll work is limited by the diameter .
 
I just got a two foot long section of 14 inch duct and lined it with fire brick and Kaowool and cut a whole in the side so the flame tube came through at the bottom kind of on a tangent. cut out a 14" steel flange with a 5" hole for the top and lined it with Kaowool underneath  so that it fit the duct and had instant forge/foundry furnace.
 
.

Picks?

[Frosty]

Frosty did you ever build the variable volume forge you has discussed at one time? I really liked that idea and have been kind of waiting around for it. 

 

Sure did, I've been using it for years, it was singed and on it's third incarnation before I was attacked by the Great White . . . birch. I posted a pic today to show the telescoping helpers.

 

The current lid is pleated, 8 oz 2,600f Kaowool liberally washed with ITC-100 and more recently washed with our home brew of 30% kaolin clay and 70& zirconium silicate. The kaowool liner in the lid is much more durable than the clamped in soft fire brick.

 

There should be plenty of pics of it in various incarnations and Sketchup drawings in the gas forge section. If you have Sketchup on your machine you can download the pic and it'll be editable.

 

I've changed details of how I build burners since the early incarnation so use the latest drawing to copy the burner from if you need burners. Of course I suppose you could ask me about burners if you need tweakage help.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

[mt2020]

Thanks for your replies

 

Frosty you say -----So, my basic advice is to consider what your goals are in the craft and remember learning means mastering the basics first.

 

As for what I want to do. I think I will start out trying artistic blacksmithing.   Scrolls. leaves different shapes in general.  I most likely will go in that direction. 

I can not use coal, I live in a residential area and I think the smoke on start up  will not be appreciated. I do expect to spend a lot of time on the basics!

 

any other recommendations?  

[Frosty]

I think I've written in my typically over windy form, pretty much all my basic gas forge recommendations. My general advice for getting into the craft is light a fire and start making things. Good projects to start with are nails, hooks leaf or "S" with a twist. I like leaf hooks as they pack a lot of basic processes in a small package. There are all kinds of things a person can forge for the garden, yard, patio, BBQ, etc. steak turners are excellent for practicing loooong even tapers.

 

If you start reading the sections on IFI, pick one that interests you, pack a lunch, a refreshing beverage and pull up a comfy chair, there must be a couple thousand years of experience and rank ameture opinion posted. If it won't "teach" you to smith it will give you a working handle on the vocabulary, terms and some processes. This will help you ask good questions and understand the answers. After a while you'll pick up enough to help winnow the grains from the chaff. Lots of chaff and I've contributed my share, I chafe at chaff, especially my own prolifically chuffed out chafy chaff. (Yeah, like it REALLY bothers me <grin>)

 

It doesn't really  matter how long a person practices the craft, every fire, question, answer, mistake MISTAKES!?! are school. I've never watched someone at the anvil without learning something, I learn something with every post I read or make. There's nothing like showing someone else how to do this stuff to teach the teacher. You find yourself having to explains WHY you did a thing THAT way.

 

Welcome to the learning curve, it's a lifelong ride. Enjoy.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

[WHS III]

I built a brake drum forge first and used that for a short time then bought a Chilli Forge Habenero (two burner) forge. I really like this forge and the people at chilli are great to work with. If I am forging small pieces I will only use one burner. When forge welding I'll crank up both burners and really cook. You will need a 40 lb. or larger tank to run both burners at max. I'm glad I got the two burner as it gives me more flexibility. These are not inexpensive forges but they are very well built and worth the money (to me).

 

Bill

[Dean1017]

Got a Chili Forge some time back and really like it - for all the reason Bill said.

Have absolutely no desire to build my own (if you do, that's great) and like the quick & reliable aspect of my forge and the truly kick-ass burners the Chili Habenero Forge has.

Have my coal forge too for when I want to do that - but for pure convenience and the fact that I do this for fun and it's not a business for me my 2 burner gas forge works fine.

Works for me - your mileage may vary.

Dean

[Mikey98118]

"The Book"? Is that what they're calling it now? How flattering; and how wrong. That book is ten years old. We have all discovered plenty more since then. I would call it a nice knowledge base to familiarize yourself with, but certainly not the last word; not on equipment construction, and certainly not on burners.There is a brave new burner now. Vortex burners combine all the extra power of fan-blown burners, and all the compact flame precision of naturally aspirated burners; they are also less work to build than mikey burners...more complex, but a lot less sweat equity.

 

Than, we have the furnace, itself: Gas tube forges are simply out of date. Even while I was writing that book oval shaped gas forges were commercially available; they are even more so now (check out Chili Forge). However, these older designs, with their rectangular enteriors are also outdated. You want a true oval enterior in your oval forge to get the most out of a Vortex burner.

The Author

michael.a.porter@comcast.net

[gearhartironwerks]

Michael,

I have your book and understand the simplicity of your venturi burners for those beginning the process of forge building. However, the most efficient, economical burner is a blown ribbon burner...also home made. I have no vested interest in this type of burner and the design is available on the NWBA website tutorials or thru ABANA for free. That being said, I still use 2 venturi burners for my salt pot to ht treat knives. You did a good job on the book and I congratulate you on helping the smithing community.

John

 

www.gearhartironwerks.com

[VaughnT]

I was given a Majestic forge for last Christmas.  Having never used a propane forge before, it's been quite a learning experience.

 

I can say with some certainty that you should avoid the Majestic brand of forges like the plague.  Horrible design, overall, and real gas hogs.  The paperwork that came with it says that forge-welding temps can be reached at 25psi (like that was some kind of bragging), and the reason for that is the absolutely horrible insulation.  A 1" hard firebrick for the bottom and some kind of proprietary cast insulation for the sides and top.  Neither is good insulation and the outside of the forge will boil water in 5 minutes.  Bad, bad, bad.

 

Making your own forge is rather easy, and it's  a lot better than buying a commercial unit because you don't have to worry about cutting corners to save money over the long-term.  Basically, you can build better for cheaper, even if you buy the burner.