Gas Forges

im looking to buy some good burners to build my new forge. i was going to use my old hells forge burners but i think it makes sense to keep that guy like he is. no reason to rob peter to pay paul. my new forge is planned to be 16” long. i have a 100 pound 14” diameter propane tank im cutting to size. im going with 3” of wool. the floor will be flat. thinking ill build it up with extra wool then cover with 1/2” kastolite . i think that should reduce the inside size about 40% compared to a full circular chamber. that leaves roughly 400 cubic inches. i cant seem to find recommendations for good burners makers, thanks for anyone you can recommend. …

I'm going to build a ribbon burner forge. A solenoid shutoff on the gas flow in case of power loss sounds like a great idea. How large do the inlet/outlet ports need to be for gas flow rate? I've got 11" WC propane (plenty of flow rate). Right now, the forge is 700 cubic inches, so maybe 300k BTU? The solenoid valves I've been looking at are north of $100, which I was not expecting. Advice will be greatly appreciated. Steve

Hello, my name is Stefan and I have been lurking on here for a while trying to learn as much as I can. Now I need some specific help. I bought myself a 2 burner forge (Fucina Forge) that came ready to be assembled and fired up. I might have jumped the gun on buying one before doing all the research, but it was a good deal and, well you live and you learn After learning that the ceramic fiber blanket is hazardous by itself, I decided to rigidize it and then cover it with about 1/2" Kast-O-Lite 30. Now I am wondering if that is causing some back pressure because it seems like the forge is not running as it should. Especially on one side, the flame sputters …

So, I opted to go the lazy route and buy a relatively inexpensive Devil Forge. It came with a prebuilt burner. I modified the burner to change the hose barb size and to extend the rubber hose about 5 inches farther from the ball valve. The burner works and seems to heat up this tiny forge VERY quickly. The interior of the forge is about 5" diameter and 10" long and I have closed up the back with two insulating fire bricks. Ceramic wool has been coated with satanite and ITC100. My question is, should the tip of the burner get hot enough to start glowing a dull red? I have the regulator set at around 9psi. I would have tried a bit more, but I ran out of propane after about…

I recently did a bit of maintenance on my trusty gas forge. I built this 3 years ago using an old air tank and advice from this site. I use it at least once a week and I guestimate it is 250 cu.in.. I got the parts from Mr. Coe and I have a little over $150 into it including the commercial burner (mathewson) which has worked great I built this forge about the same time I bought the coal forge it is sitting on and it works so well and is so convenient that I have only burned coal a dozen times since. It has worked great but I needed to patch a couple cracks and a couple voids near the burner inlet. I also replaced my kiln shelf floor, expanded my sliding door sh…

I’m building my new forge. Everything is going wonderfully. I’m getting so excited to get this thing done and bang some hot steel on my recently-acquired anvil. I put down two layers of 1” 8# ceramic fiber blanket, got it all sorts of rigid, started applying the refractory, got it all finished and wrapped up with a wet towel in a garbage bag and BOOM… it hit me. I forgot to drill my burner hole. Is this a major setback or will I be able to just drill right through it? And right after I just ruined what was going to be an awesome handle for a Gyuto I’m working on. Face palm!

Hello I am trying to figure out what I need for my first forge. I have read threads on this forum and came up with this and am wondering if I got it correct. I am starting with a propane tank for the shell. With the first 1 inch layer of kaowool I am buttering the outside with water and then spraying it with rigidizer (hydrophilic fumed silica, water and a bit of dye). Putting the kaowool inside the tank, buttering and rigidizing the inside of the first layer. Repeat with the second layer. Wait for it to dry and make sure it has been rigidized, should be about the consistency of stale pound cake I think someone said. Drill holes for the burners. …

so I am working on tuning my frosty t burner and it appears to be constantly burning rich i have 3/4 pipe so according to the plans I should be burning lean with a 1/2 inch gap instead of the .5D of 3 /8 but it doesn't even seem to change when it is 3/4 in. off the tubes start. if any one can give me a hand that would be great this pic shows the nozzle all the way down tried a video but didn't upload proper

This is a topic to see if I am on a decent track or if I am simply insane. I have just been getting started and have been getting more and more frustrated with my solid fuel forge. I just don't seem to be getting the kinds of temps I want with any consistency. I also can't seem to figure out how to build things with what I have in order to be able to heat different parts of the metal when the piece is long or oddly shaped. I'm also frustrated that wind and the weather keeps me from lighting the forge as often as I'd like. I do understand that this mostly speaks to my impatience and inexperience, but.... I'd like to build a gas forge for as little monetary in…

Being a relatively new person to the craft and reading around, it almost seems like a right of passage to build a forge. I am looking into building one out of an old 20lb propane tank(s) I have acquired from a family member. I know the very VERY first thing to be done is to make sure they are empty and if they are not, to safely empty them and clean them out with soap water/bleach overnight. Is this a project someone like me could undertake? I very little experience in something like this. I think (much emphasis one that) I can do it. Worse case I suppose is I ruin a tank. Ive been reading this site for quite some time and after getting to use a Chili forge the other…

I started this tank build a couple days ago and wanted somewhere to keep the progress, And maybe get some tips. I ordered 20lbs of kast-o-lite 30, 24x48 2400 degree kaowool, Quart fumed silica. I have an atlas 100k burner that I'm hoping to use on this. I started with an old 20lb tank that I knew was empty, then removed the valve and then filled with water + soap for the night Day 2 I cut the rough holes and then in the fire it went to burn the paint off Day 3 The remaining paint came off pretty easily I moved onto cutting the face off, I'll either hinge or weld it back up after the blanket is inside I al…

I have already spoken to some people on this forum, and have been enjoying reading around learning everything. I am new into this craft and have not yet figured out how to correctly...tune? is that the right word? my burners. I have a Majestic knife maker 2 burner deluxe. I know I have heard mixed takes on them, but they are located right down the road from where I grew up. Literally. So, why not buy local? Anyways, should I set my regulator to a certain psi, then use my burners control to adjust as needed? Or just I get the forge going, the run the burners wide open and control via the regulator? Does it matter? It seems like the end results would roughly be the sam…

A little background. I built my forge last spring following the the info I gathered here along with a lot of helpful input. However internal volume was to large for my single venture burner. So I went to a 1in forced air burner. I have a gate valve on the air supplied from a 2in blower. I also have a needle valve to control gas volume along with a gas shutoff valve. I have my air gate valve set and don’t usually touch it. My startup procedure is as follows. 1. Turn fan on 2. With gas shut off valve and needle valve closed, turn on the tank and adjust the regulator at 4 psi. 3. Light my handy dandy torch 4. Torch in forge, open shut off valve. Start ope…

If i have a double burner and only want to use one. Should i close the air valve on the other? I am learning so please keep the negative answers to yourself. How long should it take to get up to steel forming temp? Is 10 psi too little?

Hi, I'm looking to build a 72 inch vertical forge with minimal volume. Does anyone have any advice on design? My basic plan is to use a steel pipe (8 inch diameter) lined with 2 inches of Kaowool. This will provide a 4 inch diameter mouth that runs the length of the pipe, which will give me enough room to hang longer pieces for a heat treat soak. I'm not looking for forging heat, but definitely need to get thicker steel to critical temperature for heat treat. I'm thinking about using a 3-burner system, evenly spaced along the length of the pipe to try to keep my heat even but I'm concerned that I'll end up with nasty hot spots around the burners. Is there a way to …

Hi all, I am new to blacksmithing this is my first forge. The forge is a propane tank lined with 2 layers of ceramic fiber blanket, 15 lbs refractory, and a layer of metrikote (bought and followed instructions from Wayne's website). I am using firebricks to block of the back port and about 3/4ths of the main port. I am running 2 prebuilt 1" T style burners with a 0-20 psi regulator. This is the description of the burners from ebay - (air choke, 3 way tee with 2 mouth, feed tube is 8" long ,3/4" thread , outer diameter is 1", flame cone on the bottom is 1-15/16"). I would like to try forge welding in the future but can not seem to get the forge up that high, the highest I …

Hi i just got a devil forge the one with two burners and one door. I lit it for the first time and i had blue flames coming out of it i adjusted everything to try and stop the problem but i cant figure it out can anyone help me

I've been a hobby blacksmith since 2009, using propane at home. I've built maybe half a dozen burners (T-burner, Wye Burner, Porter style burner) in that time and I just got around to building a new burner in March. I've used Mig tips in the past, but only for forge burners, I've never done mig welding. I just discovered that some of the Mig tips in my stash are threaded 1/4"x 28, whilst the Mig tips I bought at the big box store are threaded 1/4"x20. The ones I bought at the big box store are Lincoln, whilst the ones in my stash are Tweco 14T-30. So, my question for the day - which brands typically are 1/4"x 20 thread versus 1/4"x28? I've never seen anythin…

I have built a gas forge and am having issues with cold spots in it. I've adjusted the fuel to air by regulating the fuel to between 1-5psi and lifted and dropped the height of my burner. I'm still not able to get the burner to jet in the center. The fuel seems to ignite toward the edge of the door. I'm thinking that I need more interior space in the forge to allow more space for the fuel to burn properly. Please help me solve this puzzle as I'd really like to get on my way with trying this craft. Sincerely, Phil

My mig tip that’s tapped in to pipe on forge burners has a tiny leak where it screws in. is this safe to use?

Hello everyone, So I caught the itch for beating on hot metal as a kid and finally have started gathering supplies to begin my trip down the rabbit hole. I managed to horse trade my machining/lathe skills for an old home built gas forge which needs some serious love. Outer dimensions are 16" diameter x 18" long with a 4"×4" fold down door in the rear and a roughly 7" x 8" front door with a counter weighted, pulley operated door. The burner pipe is 2" i am guessing... (2.25" OD x 1.875" ID) The refractory is shot and will be replaced soon with new floor bricks and kaowool around the sides, and coated with refractory cement. The burner unit looks sketchy as all get ou…

Hello, I am quite new to the blacksmithing and even newer to the forums. I am really hoping I am not violating any of the Read First Rules. I tried multiple searches first and wasn't having a whole lot of luck. I was hoping to take the time to peruse the site much more and hopefully find the answer in the vast amounts of threads and knowledge in here, but my hand has been forced needing an answer so I figured I'd ask the question. My father and I recently got into blacksmithing after his retirement and my moving our family down to the Iowa area to be near him. We have decided that we are going to build our own forge, (of which I believe I will be sp…

My forge is setup up in a way that makes my propane hose hot...not on fire but hot. I can touch it without getting burned or anything like that but I feel uncomfortable having my propane hose getting hot. I have a simple question, how much heat tolerance does a propane hose have?

Hello and thank all of you members for the wealth of knowledge that is shared here. I'm beyond amazed at the vast amount of information that can be acquired. I have a project on my hands thats slightly offbeat, but is related to the burner technology you folks have developed and tested so well. I would like to ask for some experienced guidance on which burner design would suit my needs the best. I'm building myself a custom crawfish cooker, a fairly small and simple stand for a 120qt pot that I want to heat as effeciently as possible using one of the heavy duty burner designs I've seen on here. The commercial jet burners that are sold today in my mind are jus…

So i built a pair of 3/4 sidearm burners for my propane tank forge. I calculate the volume to be around 460 cu in. I know two 3/4 is a bit over kill but two 1/2 burners was going to be under sized so I plan to turn down the pressure or turn down one burner once I get the forge hot. Anyway, I ran the forge a bit this weekend and the "dragons breath" seemed a little overwhelming. I pulled the burners out today and tuned them in a vice, then re-install and adjusted a little. The dragons breath still seems a bit much once the forge gets going. I'm attaching some pics of the forge running at 5 psi and 8 psi after just lighting it. Also a pic of both pressures when the for…