Gas Forges

I'm new and still learning and researching. I don't get here as often as I should but do when I can. I'm hoping to get some insight from anyone who has some experience or an opinion. If I purchase or build a forge what internal shape would be best? From what I've learned so far if the body is round and if the burner is set up right it will swirl the flame/heat making it more efficient than a square body. My main use will be knives but also plan on some scroll work. Thank in advance for any help.

Hello All; These burners have really amazed me so far; and given how many of these I've traded / sold already, I think more people should know. Specs: 1" 316 stainless pipe (not in the picture is the 316 bell reducer from 1 1/2" to 1"). Pipe is about 10 inches long. The aluminium cast flare is bought of amazon (search for "Metre Star Inlet 1" BSP ") for about 20€'s shipped. The center rod is 1/4th BSP threaded 316 rod, with a 3 mm hole drilled through on a lathe. The tip has M6 thread to house the 1mm copper MIG-wire tip. The aluminium disk to reduce airflow is 4 mm thick, also threaded 1/4 BSP thread. The locking nut on top used to be …

Can someone give me suggestions to reduce dragon breath coming from my forge.

Hi everybody, I just found out it has been 10 years since I last logged in to this forum. Time flies. Anyway, I really appreciate it still being very active and full of supportive people. The pages about Frosty's burner really helped me out. I had some problems with forge welding more difficult damascus patterns and I partly blamed my current single venturi burner gas forge. For big billets I had to put the choke sleeve fully open in order to have enough heat, but I guess all the oxygen also contributed to some bad welds. I also had a hot spot in the middle, so I wanted an oven with a more evenly distributed heat and with more control over …

Hello All, This flame was part of my first firing to dry the rigidizer applied to the blanket after 24 hours of cure time. I built a 3/4” Mikey burner ( it’s pretty ugly looking, and definitely could be better), but I’m pretty colorblind, so I can’t really tell what a good flame looks like. Side note: I threw a scrap piece of 1” pipe in there just to see if it’d get hot, and it did.

Hello everyone my name is Eric and I am posting today in search of help! The past two weeks Ive been having issues with my burners I have built. The first one was just a general easy burner build I found online. It didnt have a name to it and was cheaply built. The one I just built and am having issues with now is a Venturi/blower hybrid burner. I found the design on a different blacksmith forum website. The problem I am having is my burner is not producing a correct torch flame. At 10 psi i cannot open the ball valve 100% without the flame being own out. And when it stays lit the flame is very rich and it sputters. Can someone please help me? I live in colorado at a…

I've been processing the info on here as best as I can, and I've been struck by the concept of keeping the flame in the forge as long as possible so that ALL THE FUEL CAN COMBUST before exiting. Velocity. Volume. Thermodynamics. Aerodynamics. Mixing. Reradition. Flow. Flow path.The brain tries to model it, but inevitably builds itself a universe of unique physics and it's hard to separate reality from fantasy. So I doodled one of these thoughts and I'm curious if there is any merit, or off it has already been tried (and failed). I had a go at the forum search but came up dry. (I'm making some simplifications to hone in on the big concepts, in a similar way to ho…

I finally got my stuff together and built the forge. Here is my parts list and estimated time: Research - 800 hours (OK, maybe not 800, but at least 40) Shopping - 12 hours (Don't go to HomeDepot or Lowes in AZ, they don't have any small fittings. Ace Hardware for the win!) Fabrication - 7 hours (1 hour for the T-Burner and 6 for welding and grinding) 1- .035 mig tip 1- 1" coupling black 1- 3/4" nipple 8" black 1- 1x1x3/4 tee black 1- 1/8" brass coupling 1- 1/8 to 1/4" reducing bushing brass 1- 1/4" 90 ell brass 1- 1/4" nipple 4" brass 1- 1/4" coupling brass 1- 1/4" MIP to 3/8" flare brass 1- 1/4" bal…

Good morning, I’m in the process of building my forge. I’ve made me burner and just wanted any input or advice as to how the flame looks. Will it be hot enough to forge weld? Also, as far as firebrick vs insulation. Will insulation walls correlate to a hotter forge since the brick will absorb some of the heat or will the brick act as a radiant heater once the heat has soaked in? Here’s the burner in a make shift housing of fire bricks. I’ll be building the housing later today.

I'm building a propane forge. All the videos I've viewed show the iron pipe that enters the forge have a "bell" on the end. Do I need to install one?

hello. I am wondering if anyone can help me with setting up to welding temp. The forge is running but tried to weld with it and its not happening. Im new to forging so tepms all a problem for me but I tried to blast the forge to 4 bars of gas and still did not weld the piece. Home made burners with 0.8 mig tip in them. The last pictures of the forege are at 2psi and last ones at 1psi of gas insulation all around with ceramic blanket and bottom soft fire fricks. There is picture from when i fist made the forge since then I added ceramic blanket to smaller the volume but i have tried today…

Hi all! I quickly progressed from coal to gas in a matter of trying coal once. we dont agree. Anyrate. Disclaimer: I am 99% self taught so..I followed the plans laid out by a youtuber i made a gas forge and burners out of an old propane tank and some pipe. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiSgR-IJMyk) I am quite proud of myself i learned how to stick weld also. After a couple of small projects (simple tons, knife and Kukhri) im getting more comfortable really cranking the heat. I have since then got a fire brick to go inside and i stack on the backside of the forge. I am running a 30 psi regulator. Being said when i light the forge i steadly increase the gas, when i hear…

What can you use to insulate a gas forge? Can you use grout or fire brick?

I read on here that some people use bentonite cat litter in a tray as a sacrificial refractory when forge welding, so as not to destroy the floor of the forge with flux. I tried some (Perlax brand, I think?) It was the cheapest and claims to be 100% Fuller's earth aka bentonite, hopefully. I found, however, that the top layer fused together at normal forge temps, and at forge welding heat the whole thing melted into goopy lava. Did I do something wrong or is this the expected outcome? I still managed to get some okayish welds but it wasn't much fun trying to extract the workpiece from the goop every year. I had tried previously using coke in the same tray and t…

Took my first crack at 1/4" T burner. I'm still waiting on 3/8" x 1/4" reducing tees, so for this initial attempt I used a 3/8 x 3/8 tee and a 3/8 male x 1/4 female hex bushing. Parts: 3/8 x 3/8 black iron tee 0.6mm 3d printer nozzle (M6 x 1mm threads) 1/8" NPT x 1/4 flare fitting adapter 3/8 male x 1/4 female hex bushing 1/4 x 2 black iron pipe nipple 1/4" x 1/4" stainless coupling 1-1/2" cutoff section of 3/4" pipe 4 screws 8-32 As far as the instructions, it's pretty much a standard frosty T burner except it uses the 3d printer nozzle instead of a mig tip. After drilling and tapping the 1/…

So let me start by saying I am very green to blacksmithing/bladesmithing so if this subject is an age old question, I apologize, I did try searching. My father and I have both started getting Into the hobby and each are creating our own workshops in different ways. One thing we both have done is start with a relatively small single burner forge. I opted for a devil forge, he bought a burner and made a coffee can style. So far both work great for our skill level. A question that we keep coming back to is if we want to upgrade our forges in the future, what sizes could we/should we go with, with the goal being repurposing the burners we currently have? I understan…

Hi all, I've been looking back through this forum to read other folks advice on UK-based gas forges available to buy, but seen nothing about Mayes Forges. I remember using one at the college I studied at a few years ago (mostly used a coke forge mind, but I think I'll struggle to install a hood in my garage). Now I'm in a position to buy some equipment I was curious whether these are still available to buy? Most I can find is some posts from the Concave Horseshoe Company but these are dated 2014. Hoping the hive mind can help me out here! I understand Swans seem to be the gold standard in the UK, but they're pretty beasty on the budget. A part of me a…

Hey folks, I'm somewhat new to the forging community. I built my first firebrick forge a little over a year ago. It worked OK, but it wasn't very efficient. So this last month I've built a new forge. It has 1" ceramic insulation then about 1/4" refractory cement over the sides and ceiling and about 1/2" to 3/4" on the bottom. The chamber is 7" wide, 4" tall and 13" long. I'm using the burner I built for my first forge, but I'm having some issues with it. If I open my tank more than a quarter to half a turn the flame starts to puff and sputter. So leaving the tank just barely cracked open and the pressure cranked pretty high it stays solid but it seems pretty rich. I get n…

I'm in the process of making my first gas forge. I inherited a brake drum coal forge somewhat recently. It's fun, but Coal is a pain & brake drum forges aren't a great design. So I've started chopping up an old propane tank with an obsolete valve to make a propane tank propane forge. I've done a pile of research here and, on various other forums & been pretty depressed watching some of the hacks do stupid things making poorly designed or dangerously implemented things on YouTube. I have a couple questions to try & make my first gas forge build successfully. Is it better to rigidize the blanket then install it before it dries or to install it then try to c…

Hello all. Brand new to the hobby and have been having some issues with my forge. I have a top mount burner and due to this I keep developing leaks. I'm hoping you all can help me find a solution. I'm assuming I'm having problems because the weight of the line and gravity are playing havoc, I was thinking maybe I can just have it come 90 degrees off to the side, that way the hose doesn't have to come up and then go off to the side to go back down to fuel source, but im open to any suggestions you more experienced folk have. You can see where the o ring separated here, but I had the same problem with a different fuel line as well. Sorry if this is super…

Hi all, Mentioned in another thread, but I've decided to move towards a two-brick forge with a 1/2" Frosty T. I don't need to do any forge welding, but I plan on working mainly 1018 and A36 in the near future, so I would love to get white hot temperatures. I've got a handful of questions. Any advice on selecting a K26 firebrick manufacturer? I've never bought anything other than the cheap hard firebrick, and I'd prefer to spend on bricks that I won't regret this time around. I checked the pinned threads on forge materials but didn't find much to go off of. Any tips to make a two brick forge last longer? Can ITC-100HT be applied directly to the firebric…

Hi I am building my gas forge from a compressor tank. I just received two burners I purchased and want some advice. First off I was surprised to see a restrictor plate with holes on the end of my burner tip. I fired them up and really don’t know how they look. Adjusting the nozzle in and out of the burner tube didn’t have a lot of effect on flame. They are Fucina burners. How does this flame look and do you think it would help to either make the holes larger in the plate or to remove it. It seems like it would create back pressure. The flame starts like 3/8 inch out from the plate and is pretty finicky about getting too much air. Just really not sure if this flame looks …

I've been running a Venturi burner on my forge for a few years now but I'm looking to change to a forced air burner. Anyone got any plans for one? All the links in the forum's for designs or websites are all outdated and expired

Hi all, I am in the process of building my first forge out of a 20 lb propane tank, I have seen quite a bit of variation in the way forge burners get attached. The main thing I cant seem to understand the depth the burner is inserted into the forge body. I plan to line the inside with 2" of ceramic fiber blanket and then about .5" of castable refractory. I plan on using 2 different sized hole saw bits to create a little lip for the end of the burner to sit on. (Like this video @ 3:50 https://youtu.be/b8zOQ4hyQzc?t=229) Does this look like a good position? I decided to buy 2 burners that come with a 0-20 psi regulator, since I plan to…

Hi All, I'm attaching pictures of our current "brick pile" forge with a blown propane pipe burner. I have some questions and I'm hoping some of the knowledgable members might be able to help me clear up some questions and/or make suggestions of how we can do more/be better with what we have until we have v3.0 planned and built. This forge has an internal space of H4.5xW7xL27.5, so an internal measurement of about 866.25 inches^3. We can and have forge welded in it, but we have to hold our tongue just right and turn the gas up quite a bit. I know the burner, being a 1" pipe burner modified from a N/A venturi design and now blown with a leaf blower, is underpowe…