bmazingo

I have a few pictures of my "forge in the works", Here is the 16" long piece of 16"od pipe I am using for the shell Here I have welded the end of some sheet metal to the pipe and heating it so I can roll it into a tube for my end caps My 6 year old doing Q C for me. It passed his inspection. Welded ends of plate to complete tube. Pay no attention to the "turkey dung" welding. I was rushing, trying to beat the rain. My completed tube, it is pretty close to round. Just needs some tweaking, cut into two rings and plate welded to complete caps for shell.

That is my brother's pet, he designed it and shaped it from a solid piece if 1/2"x4"x17" steel. It is huge, but believe it or not, it is quite easy to handle. Very balanced and sharp, cuts like a knife, swings like an axe...little big for my taste but he likes it.

I only wish, it was in the picture for a size comparision, should have mentioned that, sorry!. It is actually an older camillus that was given to my brother. I did a clean up on it. It was in bad shape when I started cleaning it but by good fortune it was only surface tarnish and grime. The blade is either chrome or nickle plated, you can barely make out the camillus trade mark on the flat of the blade above the cutting edge. Really turned out to be a nice knife for free.

Email sent. I know I will have to order some stuff, I am hopping to find a brick supplier or someone that may have what I need. If not I'll just order every thing. Sometimes it's worth the shipping fees to not have the headache of searching. I attached a picture of some of the first blades my brother and I completed. Still working on finishing some of the knives. Most are 1065 steel one is rebar and the huge one is a mystery steel from my job. Most are a work in progress.

Hello Mr. Hoffman, Thanks for you post on my thread. Tried to send you a message but was unable to get it to go through. Watched the video, I liked it. I am really interested in the forced air burner. I am gathering my material little by little. My biggest problem is finding local merchants with the materials on hand. I really hate paying shipping fees. Would you please send me any info on your forced air burners and your forges.

I want a forge like the one in the video!!! but my shell will be a tad larger. Like I said I have 16" pipe. I will probably go no loger the 16" inches. My chamber will be 5"x 16" with a flat bottom and round roof. It should be about 400in.sq. total volume. Maybe smaller if I just do a round chamber. I think I can fill the shell with castable and the remaining 2-3" will be wool. Weight is not an issue with me. I also think I will cast the end caps but if not I will use the wool in the doors too. I am gonna do the pass through style with a closing flap in the rear. I am also gonna try to make my front door modular where I can adjust the size to fit the piece being worked. I need to figure out my burner size and how many btu's I'll need to maintain the temp. Thanks for all the info. The wealth of info on this site is amazing!!! I can spend hours reading the threads. later, thanks

Okay 24" is too big, I ahve got to get out of the bigger is better mentality. I have some 16" pipe also. That is only about 3" larger diameter than a 5 gallon bucket, About the size of a 20lb propane tank. I think it will work and it is here already. So explain too me how morw blanket is less effective? I thought the more heat you kept in the chamber the better? Wouldn't a thicker layer of fiber do a better job? Or, are you talking about it is not worth it base on cost$$$? If I go 16"x12" for the body, and then another 2" per end cap I would get a 16" long chamber, the diameter is still to be determined. So air dry castable outside, kawool inside, hightemp coating on the walls of the chamber? But before I build a forge I have got to build a heater for my shop, it's cold here in the Heart of Dixie! thanks guys.

Okay definately gonna go forced air for the burner. Still undesided on the external shell, but still have the auger trough to fall back on if I cannot find something else. I would like to have as much insulation as possible so the larger the outside shell the better. I think I will keep the internal chamber 6" or less if I go any bigger I my incorporate a removable plug into the rear of the froge to take up excess space in need be. I think 24" long will be plenty. If I buy a roll of 1"x24"x25' I won't have to cut the width. I am leaning toward a layered design such as this: Shell thin layer of kaowool/thick layer of refractory/thick layer kaowool/refractory or hight temp coating. This is up for debate though I would not want the refractory to mash and settle the kaowool on the bottom of the forge. Please comment. I have some ideas sketched out but nothing firm yet. I have access to some refractory cement at work but I do not know the age or brand / ratings. I know it is used in our boiler, should be good for 2000* but I do not know if it is for higher than that. Can anyone tell me if the Rutland 211 refractory mortar is sutable for topcoat in a forge? Their ChimneySweep Furnace Cement is good for up to 2700 but it hase to be heat cured. I think I can use and electric heating element to heat the inside to 500* I have access to programmable controls and rtds for heating elements at work. This would be more controllable than using the burner at that low of a temperature. Could it be used for the innermost chamber if cast as recommended, and could it be cast for the outer layer using perlite as a grog/aggregate? What is the temp rage on perlite? Well back to reading, thanks again. P.S. Just got a piece of 24" pipe from my Step dad not sure if I can use it may be too big, But will make a nice bbq grille if nothing else.

I swore I poasted a reply this morning???? Any way I am still working on the plans, But I may have a blower for the burner. I'll post more later.

Hello my fellow members. I would like to build a propane fired forge. here are some of my requirements: 1. Must be able to weld I want to make knives,tools and damascus 2. Must be able to handle long stock 24"+ incase my brother deside to make a sword. Now that the requirements are set the rest will follow. I have access to all the welding and cutting tools for fabrication and metal etc.... I do not have any kaowool or ceramic fiber, nor can I find any fire brick locally. I am debating calling ADCO boiler repair, to inquire about materials. I figure they would have excess used fire bricks and castable refractory . They also do our boiler maintenance at my job so they may let go of some for cheap. I would like to try mixing my own refractory and have found several cheap recipes. But from what I am seeing on this and other site the fiber blanket will definately help insulate the forge better than refractory alone. I was thinking of casting a dense removable refractory brick for the floor of the forge if I cannot get the HD fire bricks. Is there any material that can be used to reinforce refractory. Like fiber reinforced cement you buy for side walks only I was thinking kaowool fibersinbedded in the refractory. Incase of a fracture. Maybe casting the brick ontop of the kaowool blanket. I believe I will coat every thing with furnace cement or something equivalent. Size is not too big a deal. I was thinking maybe 4" by 24" or 6"x18" chamber with a flat bottom and arched roof. Possibly even making it modular by varying the floor height with the cast brick. I can just do a pass through style to handle the longer stock. I have acces to some 10" auger trough, bu If I make my chamber 4" that will only leave 3" on either side for insulation???? I might be able to get some 18" pipe that would allow me to make a bigger chamber and still have more insulation. I also think I would like to do a force air burner, so I can run lower pressures but if I have to I can run high pressure with my regulator (0-30psi). Okay people through you knowledge at me, I can take it!!!! one more question how well would ceramic floor tile work foor the floor of a forge?? Aren't they fire at hight temp? oh yeah my typing sucks!sorry.

I know its alittle off the topic, but I have used "cull / reject" wood toilet seats to make a knife or two. I get the seats from my job, they are the rejected parts. Very hot fire since they are made of compressed wood flour (powdered wood and a binder) pressed at high pressure in heated molds. Only down side is they contain phenolic resin which is hard on the lungs if you get down wind of it, but most smoke is. But a few of these will turn a wood stove cherry red. And once they are down to the coals they are pretty much smoke free and last a while and produce mostly fine ash for waste. I live in rural Alabama (really rural) and I have problems finding a good source for anything I really need. Sometimes the free things work just as good.

Thanks. Honestly I know very little about making knives either, my brother is more the artisan than am I. I am really interested in the equipment and tools. Like making a gas forge that works for cheap, right now we have more of a coal making fire box than a forge. Our tools are just that tools, with the exception of one set of tong I made at work. Thanks again.

Hello to all, I would like to introduce myself. I am mostly interested in making tools for my brothers blade-smithing hobby. We have made a few knives together, some better than others. I hope to learn much from my visits to this site. thanks