Induction Heating, Oil forges, etc

Hello everyone hope you all good in health . I am in the process searching for a 15kw Induction Forge . I have searched read for the past 7-10 days. I have seen several ``Youtube`` videos which i try to avoid if are not from professionals (welders , blacksmiths etc) So my main question is . A 15kw 220v will it melt steel in a crucible ? I don't want to cast steel . I want to melt it and then do the annealing and forging process as a normal piece of steel. I have been reading lately for damascus/wootz/crucible steel and all that triggered the need of the induction heater . So will it melt the steel ? If i have said something is stated wrong or mis…

Hey All, I am looking to buy a 15kw induction forge to help me make blades. It would be my only forge and I like that it can also melt steel down. I can't find a lot of examples, so i'm wondering if anyone knows how much steel I can melt at one time in a 15kw forge? I assume it wouldn't be enough to make a sword with 1 ingot, so I would probably need to forge weld a few of them together. Thanks, Max

Hello fellow blacksmith, I'm very close to purchase an induction forge for my hobbyist activity as a blacksmith (mostly knife making, bottle opener, some small jewellery etc). I found a promising one at US SOLID: https://ussolid.com/fr/products/u-s-solid-15-kw-haute-frequence-induction-chauffeur-30-80-khz-16-1-tours-ratio-single-phase-110v-or-220v-html?variant=46324229734655 The 15kw fit the amperage that I have at home (Switzerland) but I realise that there's two models of the same. One with 16:1 turn ratio and the other with 16:2 turn ratio. Could anyone advise me one the preferable one? Also, aside from the induction forge and the cooling syste…

Hello everyone, new here and first time poster. I couldn’t find a similar question asked on here from recently. I am totally new to forging and a complete hobbyist, primarily looking to forge smaller items out of iron and hopefully steel, mostly Viking inspired items. Possibly looking to make small blades dow the road. I am wondering if there are decent priced induction forges to purchase specifically for what I’d like to forge. I saw some threads about induction forges, but I couldn’t gather whether they would be a good fit for my needs. Also, I am not a very handy guy, so making my own I think would not be easy for me at all, I’d rather put out a some mo…

I recently got an induction heater. Holding the work in the coil without arcing was difficult. I made the work holder pictured below. It has proven to be a great tool, making heating various work pieces much easier.

Hi all, I've been looking into getting a 15kW induction forge and was discussing safety concerns with an electrician friend who would be installing a new circuit for the machine and installing a non-metallic box on the unit. Having not worked with induction before, he brought up some questions regarding safety around the coils themselves and accidentally shorting them. I've seen people shorting coils with a workpiece with no apparent harm aside from the few sparks, but since these are exposed bare conductors, I was curious about what could happen in a worst-case scenario. There are examples of people performing drop-tong welds with induction forges, so it doesn't see…

I've seen on Amazon and other online marketplaces these handheld induction heaters that are made for loosening old rusted nuts and bolts. I'm wondering if one of those could be used as a small forge. Does anyone here have any experience with these little heaters? They look like this

First test of a IH that my brother is currently building, heats 1/4" stock to orange in about 8 seconds running at 1/3 power. Very rough set up, will all be contained in the case when its tuned and complete, more pics and videos to come tomorrow(7/8/12). Will have digital controls and other blacksmith friendly features.

Bought induction forge. looking to buy the material to make a flexible wand extension similar to the type a company used to sell but apparently no longer does. Does anyone know what type of flexible hose/ copper tubing is used? thanks

Just finished up a Diesel forge. Internally it is 450mm (17.7") by 250mm (9.8") and 180mm (7") in height. 2" superwool xtra as insulation and about 1/2" of refractory on top, the floor is made of a layer of k-26 IFB with a layer of hard firebrick on top inside the forge so the floor can be replaced easily. We used the burner from an old residential water heater. Compared to our big propane forge with about the same internal volume it seems to get hotter whilst being cheaper. Gas has gotten pretty expensive here. The Diesel forge runs at about 2 - 2.5l/hr with the prices here thats about 20% cheaper than the propane forge that runs on 2kg/hr and it is quite a lot hotter a…

Good day to you all ! im new to the forum, and i hope im posting this is the right section ... I decided to build a electric kiln for in my lab, it should be a small kiln that does not drain my walled in operation so it should not consume to match power, as i never build a kiln i was wondering if ppl here had some experience, and maybe have some input on the current design . doing some research i found a few equations to calculate de amount of wattage needed for a given size kiln. basically its the surface area of the kiln in cm2 * 0.6 as firebricks where im from are quite hard to get, i decided to cast the hot chamber with fire concrete, and then …

I have recently been considering adding an induction forge to the shop in the near future and was a bit curious if one could be used for damascus welding and what sort of problems might arise. It would be primarily used for production forging in my shop which I know these are excellent for. I know welding flux chews through forge linings at an alarming rate, would it harm the copper coils? and would I need the entire billet covered in the coils, or could a simple loop get me up to an even heat? If need be I will stick to propane for welding.

A couple years ago I bought an electric furnace from a university's surplus auction. I believe something exploded inside the furnace as some of the silicon-carbide heating elements were in pieces and metal was strewn all over the inside of it. Anyway, I have no experience with this type of metal working, though I do weld and have experience with aluminum fabrication, but I would like to get into forging and learn about it. And so, I am trying to figure out how to convert it into a usable furnace. I'm not quite sure how to do that, so if anyone has any suggestions I would love to hear them. Should I try to keep it electric, or should I convert it to gas? Is the interior to…

I've been doing some experimenting with a liquid fuel burner of my own design, with frequent changes, and decided to document it on a thread. Any suggestions are welcome. the first two videos are of it running with methanol, which didn't work outside the forge, the flame would go out just as it would start vaporizing. The second video is it running with white gas, which improved the fuel air mixture (3.5 times more fuel/air) IMG_1704.MP4 IMG_1705.MP4 IMG_1724.MOV

Putting together an induction forge build, documenting it for others. Haven't added the radiator fan and hooked up power yet but will be doing that Sunday. 15KW Induction Forge, ebay - U.S. Solid - company is us based but looks to be just a retailer. Made in China but if anything happens you can go through a US company for parts/repair w/e. Input 240v single phase. Will measure amperage under load prolly this weekend but it should be around 32-35 amps max. 60 amp breaker on the line. All internals are heavily water cooled, note the bridged water cooled mosfet pic. Good stuff. Over the counter 200 psi braided pressure hose from Lowes for the 3/8" ID rear c…

Hello. It has struck me that with the whole global warming issue, or if you don't believe about that just the issue about how our atmosphere has gone from 220 ppm (units?) CO2 to 330ppm of CO2 in the air in the past less than 100 yrs proven due to fossil fuels and the speed of CO2 inflation rapidly rising so we might as well cut down on CO2 emmissions so that people in anywhere from 100 to 200 years in the future can stay alive because humans can't survive with 550ppm CO2 in the air issue, that smiths are still mostly using propane or other fossil gasses or coal. Okay, now the point of this thread:Are any of you lot also looking into eco-friendly (as in em…

Hello! I am using a homemade electric kiln(with refractory bricks) to do some light forging and heat treatment of some parts. The main steel I am using is similar to O1. However the parts out of the oven come with some grey/graphite looking scales, which I think might be decarburization. This (I think there might be some other issues with my process) reduce the surface hardness, making it harder to check with a file, and also introduce significant pitting, especially when forging, where i have to keep the part heated up for extended periods of time. Do you have any advice for reducing the oxidation? What is the simplest/cheapest method(I do not have an argon cyl…

I am looking to the possibility of obtaining an induction forge. I had been talking to Grant about this just before his passing and had decided on the 15kw single phase model he was selling. He told me that he modded a few things on the forge to make them more reliable and I believe more oriented for blacksmithing type applications. I talked to the folks at blacksmith depot and they are not sure if they will be dealing with the induction forges at all, in fact David told me it was quite likely that they wouldn't due to the impracticalities of servicing then. I do know that they are Chinese imports and that Grant recommend running them with a tig cooler. [Commerc…

Hello I purchased an old Hoskins induction furnace model fd 104 5 inch bore 5 1/2 inches high.I have searched fro some information regarding the proper size crucible I have silicone graphite a5 bell crucibles, but after a couple of pours from a crucible I tempered melted some cans; it is destroyed and unsafe to use with cracks. I need to know if you place a small stand or buffer from the bottom of the induction furnace? I have read that silicone graphite crucibles are best,but would like someones opinion on the proper size of crucible type for this specific model, I confess that the model is fairly archaic had to replace a power cord. Also should I build a cover to ac…

Hi All, I’m looking to build an annealing furnace for copper, I know, the copper guy invading an Iron forum, but the copper guys don’t have a forum… First of all I do this professionally; I make custom copper products, bronze, brass and such. I’m looking to make an annealing furnace for copper, primarily bar stock .25 x .75, ¾” and 1” pipe. The length is the killer; bar stock is typically 36” long. I’ve been doing it on the BBQ, but I’m looking to get away from that, has some down sides. So, copper anneals and about 800-1000F so it’s fairly cool, so I was considering using 2 pieces of stove pipe maybe 10” ID 12” OD 48” long, fill the gap with perlite, p…

Hi all. I hope that i'm in the right forum. If not please transfer this post to the right one. So i need to built a heat treatment oven for a client. I got the refractory insulation bricks, i notched/curved them to the coil diameter using a router and now i'm working on the steel box in which they all be placed. The design in for 4 heating coils of 4000W, 240V each. one on each side of the box. The opening will be from the top and the steel will be hanging from the top. My question is how to connect the coils. In parallel or serial. My goal is to use as lower amperage as possible. It is a single phase oven. I have a small background in elec…

I have a primarily vegetable oil furnace with a diesel start. Has anybody added a spin vane with good results? I want to add a helical Air turbulence chamber to my burn tube.

I've been thinking about switching from solid fuel to a hybrid coke/gas system, until I acquired and old furnace burner for free. It would appear to burn diesel and will be fairly easy to mount, if a bit heavy. It was switched previously by a thermostat and has a 3-pin plug which should mean that I could wire it up to a foot pedal or simple switch to operate it which would be great. My biggest concern is the size. It's rated at 54-120KW. From what I can gather, this is significantly more power than I've seen from most forge gas burners. Has anyone tried anything similar or have any advice on using something like this/its viability? I'm thinking it might just b…

I have some questions regarding some equipment if any Ajax Tocco Magnethermic employees or former employees are floating about.

I'm looking to melt some Zinc to make some sacrificial anodes for my boat. The zinc I have got is in bars and seems like it will need a fair bit of heat to melt it down given the weight and thermal mass of the metal. The shapes are very simple and I intend to just press a sample into a tray of sand and clay and pour directly in. I can clean them up later and will mill a flat side and drill the screw holes afterwards. I have been looking at many YT vids and doing some reading here and it seems like a simple oil burner will be the easiest and most appropriate thing for me to use as I get over 40L of oil from my boat every oil change and have over 200L stored up alr…