Emet Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 Myself and a friend are very new to blacksmithing, we've done very simple work on rebar and made some ugly railroad spike knives. Although we have a coal forge the forge we use mostly is a bulk size can (that used to hold nacho cheese) we lined the inside with a 50 50 mix of sand and plaster to insulate it. Originally we wanted to run it of of propane torch fed in via a hole in the side, very similar to designs using smaller cans. but it didn't get hot enough, so we moved to MAPP gas which gets the forge barely hot enough, but it will get iron and low carbon steel yellow/white hot. I'm wondering if there is any way to improve the design? It's open on one end, but I'm thinking about redoing it with two open ends so we can do bigger projects, but I'm worried it won't be insulated enough. we already have to put the metal directly into the flame for it to get hot. Price is a big issue so low cost is better, sorry I don't have any pictures I'll try to post some soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodge Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 Yellow or white hot isn't enough? What are you trying to achieve?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emet Posted September 22, 2014 Author Share Posted September 22, 2014 I get very small sections that hot, yes its enough to heat railroad spikes enough to work them, but eventually we want to make bigger things swords eventually and with this design only the ends could be heated and only with careful balancing and placing of the torch and the metal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcornell Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 Do a google search for coffee can forge. Sand and plaster is a heat sink, you need an insulating and reflective material, and a hotter torch. There's a very good example of what I'm talking about at www dot zoellerforge dot com I've done lots of fairly big stuff in my very small forge (I have a pass through hole in the back). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emet Posted September 23, 2014 Author Share Posted September 23, 2014 Ok so I'll need a burner whigh means we can go back to propane right? What do you think would work best to insulate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodge Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 Even forging larger items doesn't necessarily require a larger forge (Or even hotter if it heats ok to begin with) Most high carbon steels shouldn't be forged to hot anyway, but my main point is, you don't want to heat more metal than you can forge at one time. Generally 4 to 6 inches. With a gasser, this usually means you need a rear opening so you can heat longer pieces. If you really want a hotter forge (honestly, yellow to white is just dandy in my shop) you may want to explore other refractory solutions as jcornell suggests and other more efficient burner options. Zoeller Forge is an excellent start. Good luck Scott Edit: I was writing while you were posting ^_^ . Ceramic blanket such as Kaowool or Inswool is a good refractory for fast forge heat but large pieces suck a lot of heat from it and it needs to be coated with a refractory coating to contain hazardous airborne fibers. The trade off is a solid refractory; brick, castable or ramable. They generally take longer to heat but hold the heat better when heating large pieces. There is a tone more in the forge sections and I can't remember it all and certainly don't want to type it either. But that is a very general idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emet Posted September 23, 2014 Author Share Posted September 23, 2014 Thanks for the help, I'll talk to my buddy this weekend and see what we can do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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