Latticino

From a small amount of research it appears that there are a number of folks in the same boat. I also saw one post indicating that someone who had ordered their forge in early December finally got it delivered recently. I think there have been significant upheavals, but the company is still trying to honor their commitments. However, based on this level of service I would consider alternatives. One major selling point for their forges was the support for re-lining kits. If I had to order one I would certainly include a relining kit with the original order since all gas forges will almost definitely need to be relined eventually. I found the following explanation post online as well (presumably from February of this year):

Well you are certainly making progress, when weather and the dogs allow... I'm a little confused about your planned hammer die mounting. Are you planning on putting a threaded post on the non-contact side of the die and locking them to the hammer by screwing it down to the hammer anvil and tup? I think there may be a number of issues associated with that strategy: No easy way to align the dies No easy way to "lock" the connection If hammer vibrations loosen the attachment, and you make one more solid strike, you will bork up the threads and have a lot of trouble ever getting it apart again. Nothing wrong with being innovative, just don't ignore lessons learned by the previous manufacturers of power hammers.

Nice, subtle April's fool. Good one John.

Thought you were over in Europe where anvils are plentiful and cheap.

I've not played with charcoal much, but as I understand it as a "natural" material the quality can vary pretty widely. Might be an issue for you as well. Do be careful about using conventional red bricks for your forge. Might not be an issue for charcoal, but I would be worried about spalling at higher temperatures.

Based on the radial impeller configuration, that is a relatively high pressure blower, not a high volume flowrate. At 30 HP, I wouldn't be surprised if it had been used in an industrial setting for dust extraction from a large wood shop or the like. I do use a similar configured blower for my forge, but it is only 1/2 HP (and is still rather overpowered - but I had it handy).

The problem I have with using the fly press for punching larger eyes for hammers or axes is that the fly press is relatively slow and the tooling heats up too quickly. Accuracy is great, but I have had trouble adequately cooling the tooling so it doesn't distort. Both the treadle hammer and power hammer have the capability to hit fast, and the tooling is portable and easier to cool. None of my equipment is very heavy duty, so I need to hit multiple times to get through a larger blank used for hammers or axes. I typically use the treadle hammer for these as it most closely mimics the act of punching with a striker, which is the way I first learned this operation. Maybe I'll try the fly press again if I can make up the eye punch out of H-13 or similar. I have always been jealous of the videos of Uri or Liam punching through hammer and axe eyes with a huge press or hammer in a single heat.

Also the really large ones either require multiple operators to move that inertial weight or are motorized in some fashion. They certainly have their place (mostly for production operations IMHO), but are no substitute for a power hammer or hydraulic press in a typical hobby blacksmith shop. I have a small one, but very rarely use it. I don't see how you could easily use it in conjunction with a normal swage block, but all the other operations you noted are certainly reasonable.

+1 on Ken's spike tongs. Cheap, easy to put together and quite effective design. I recently taught a class to my engineering staff in forging spike knives and needed a bunch. Was able to knock out (7) of those in a single day, including drawing out reins.

Fantastic advice from everyone, thanks to all for taking the time to respond. Unfortunately we are pretty far along in the process. John, I also didn't mind the existing country kitchen (other than the damaged fascia on some of the older cabinet doors) so this was kind of my wife's project. We initially coordinated with a number of kitchen design experts, then chose a contractor whose work we saw and liked. He worked with my wife to get an idea of what she was interested in, took measurements of existing conditions and came up with a number of potential floor plans and elevations. After my wife selected the design she liked most (with a little input from myself) he came by again with renderings and final plans for the space. It looked like a very professional package. When we went to Home Depot to select our cabinet door materials we found that he had been working directly with their kitchen consultants who had actually done all the design work for him, with a little input on existing envelope sizes. So I guess we ended up at a big box store after all (though it certainly isn't how it was presented to us). I am hoping we will at least have decent guides and slides. Had I know it sooner, IKEA would have been a good alternative, but I think the closest outlet is around 6 hours away.

My wife has been wanting to update our kitchen for a long time and after some 25 years of saving, we are finally ready to renovate. We will need a lot of drawer handles/pulls for the expected cabinets. The wife got the brilliant idea that I could forge them... Now I have to come up with a design that I can easily reproduce in fairly large multiples. Coincidently our current handles are a commercial production of a fairly typical "blacksmith" handle like this one: So I can't do that. I'm thinking about a single post style, forged like a large nail in a header, with a forged, ornamental head. After forging I would grind flat the end of the post, drill and tap it for mounting. The new kitchen aesthetic will be fairly clean and modern (as opposed to the current "country kitchen" look. I have a small power hammer (Anyang 33), small fly press, and swing arm treadle hammer to assist me, as well as 2 x 72 grinder. Looking for advice on what has worked for you folks in the past or a good online tutorial.

As I see it, this one will require some machining. If you hot punch the slot using normal techniques you will definitely get distortion of the parent stock. If you try to then forge the punched section back to a 1/2" crossection "freehand", the slot will no longer be well suited for your wedge. As you noted, you can reduce the distortion during punching by using a custom 1/2 round swage (bolster) with a slot set to accept the slug, but there will still be some distortion. Actually putting a nominal 1/2" bar through a 1/2" hole without a punched slot doesn't leave a lot of clearance either (might want to consider a 17/32" hole at least...). As for machining, it all depends on what you have for equipment. Easiest would be to just mill the slot. Alternate is to hot punch the slot with a custom bolster, forge back close to 1/2" crossection with a custom set of clapper dies and a slot mandrel in the slot, then grind or file the final exterior to shape. Good luck, this will be a challenging project.

Probably still the best for that are the classics by Jim Hirsoulas, starting with The Complete Bladesmith. While I don't necessarily agree with all his metallurgy, his processes work extremely well and he has churned out more quality blades in a month than I have in my entire career. His books have thorough, step by step descriptions with clear illustrations. Just be careful please. A sword is not just a big knife. It is very easy to injure yourself, or others, with a sword that hasn't been properly heat treated.

I understand what your intent is. I was just cautioning against trying to get a good forge weld with two pieces of leaf spring. As I noted, I would use one piece and work with a mild steel wrap around "eye". That is what I did with this one (except I used wrought iron and a piece of leaf spring):

Leaf spring often has a high chromium content and can be difficult to forge weld to itself. You may be better off using the section of leaf spring as a core bit and forge welding mild steel to it as a wrapped eye.

The Cosira series of books (as referenced in this post: may be worth review for inspiration. You can always "jazz-up" a basic design, and if I recall correctly there are a lot of projects aimed at farm and home.

Dx cooled compressed air dryers are definitely a thing for industrial systems. Very nice job cobbling one together. Not completely convinced regarding your electrical install, but if it works...

Unfortunately I am also not familiar with inexpensive commercial forges other than to say that typically they need to be looked at as kit pieces to build your own upgraded version. If the actual cost of that forge was below $300, and all the burners work decently, it might be worth considering modification of what you have rather than another purchase. Good luck.

Cost of anvils comes up a lot. I think it is something of a legacy from the 80's and 90's where aside from special circumstances you could find good used anvils for $1/LB or less. On the other hand, if you consider that a quality anvil can easily last 100 years of proper daily use, and the amount of effort and equipment needed to make them and heat treat them, the prices don't seem outrageous to me. You can always pickup a new Doyle at HF for under $200 to use while you are looking for something better. Might find that it is all you need.

You are welcome. Note that Kastolite can certainly be applied without a backer. I have used a 2" thick Kastolite door (cast into a welded steel angle frame) for around 10 years without trouble. Also note that the more hard firebricks you put into your forge the longer it will take to get up to heat. They have significant thermal mass and are generally poor insulators. If I were contemplating making a internal separator to limit use of parts of your forge till you are ready, I would make it out of Kastolite as well (at least 1" thick). As long as you don't plan on moving it around much it shouldn't even need a frame. One more thing. If you plan on using flux during forge welding (assuming that monster can get up to temperature) pitch the forge down slightly away from that separator. Otherwise the molten flux will collect in the bottom of your forge and migrate towards the seam between the separator and the forge lining, "gluing" it in place. Lastly, the proposed 1 day forging class is good, but can't compare to a full week ABS Bladesmithing intro class. I think there is an accredited school in Texas.

Wow, that is a huge forge. Suspect you plan on forging swords and wanted to also use it for heat treatment. Unfortunately gas forges aren't quite as flexible as coal, so one optimized for sword heat treatment won't work as well for general forging. Quick impressions: Positive: Mr. Volcano burners are a great bang for the buck by all reports (unfortunately I have heard they are no longer for sale). You are planning on encapsulating your refractory blanket (not going to do the math for you, but figure you will want at least 1/2" thickness for the Kastolite shell. You can get the LB/cubic inches from the manufacturer) Metal cart with half firebrick standoffs should be fine (but if it gets hot, mind all that chrome) 1/4 turn, propane rated, shutoff valves are prudent, but you only need one at the tank. For balancing between multiple burners propane rated needle valves will work better. Nice set of tongs. Quench tank should be effective. Doyle anvil, properly mounted, will certainly work. Taking a class in blade forging is a great idea. I would have waited to buy my equipment until after the class... (Sorry, just read you post in more detail and saw that this was a present. A very thoughtful gift, just need to figure out how to modify it for your use) Negative: Forge is much too large for most hand forged products 4-burners will need a lot of propane and your little 20 lb tank will freeze up quickly Extra holes in the shell either need to be plugged or filled with burners. Still need to leave a vent opening for exhaust gasses (see below) but those are hardly in the best location. Running multiple burners is much trickier than single burner. They need to be balanced at the manifold. If you plan on shutting off some and running others, you have to worry about the radiant heat from the hot forge and convective heat from the exhaust cooking your burners Forge door design is awful. Barely better than no door at all. It closes completely, cutting off any chance at venting, opens down radiating the heat from the door right at the operator, has hinges close to the source of heat, and can't be easily operated while forging. If it were mine, I would keep it closed, cut a new 5" square opening in the center and frame same with Kastolite when you put in the liner and then make a proper door to cover that.

Frosty, I assumed that by design someone cleverly kept the tensioning members on those forges out of the direct path of the flue gasses. Yours is exactly the design I would have used if I needed to make another small forge. Pretty clearly the tension on the bricks is enough to hold them together without crushing and the mobile ones are hardbrick. Likely not an absolutely optimal design, thermal efficiency wise, but certainly more than adequate for most users - and you can't beat the price or ease of assembly. If you can source Z channel you don't even need a welder.

Sorry I don't have a drawing for you of a door design, at least at hand. There are a number that are effective. Some of my favorites are: 4-bar linkage holding an angle iron frame with a 2" thick Kastolite insert (door pivots straight up and down parallel to forge opening). If you cast the liner a little proud of the forge skin your forge skin won't get burned up. These benefit from counterweights and really shine with a cable connected via a pully to a foot pedal. Same kind of framed Kastolite hung from a set of pulleys that also run on a track suspended at the top of the forge parallel to the opening. The door can be tilted out and slid to the side. Not quite as nice as the 4-bar, but a lot easier to fab up. That is what I currently use. Similar cast and framed door riding on two parallel vertical rails with the door suspended from aircraft cable that pivots over a frame above the forge opening. These tend to rack and jam if not well constructed Pile of K26 bricks on a hardbrick shelf in front of the forge is the easiest, but can be a hassle to shift open and closed while forging. I always seem to drop the bricks and they get so brittle after a few firings...

Mike gave you some great guidance, as usual. A couple of additional points or elaborations: If you are going to cast a forge liner out of Kastolite I find that 3/4" thickness is a little easier to cast and a little more reliable than 1/2" thickness. If you are casting a Kastolite liner you can also use it for the floor. A removable high alumina kiln shelf is nice, particularly if you are going to forge weld and need a consumable replaceable section, but good ones are expensive and not really necessary. A possible compromise is to cast a separate rectangular "floor" panel out of Kastolite and use that in place of the kiln shelf as a renewable item Doors are important and tricky to design. A good door system can save you a lot of fuel and allow your forge to get up to significantly higher heats. I would suggest copying a proven design. An approximately 4" square front opening for a forge seems to work pretty well. As Mike noted a rear "hatch" to be used for longer stock is a great idea as well. That hatch can typically be smaller (I use a 2.5" square opening). I would recommend a forge internal length of no more than 8" for your first forge and to use as you describe. If we go with the 350 cubic inch rule of thumb that gives a internal crossection area of 43.75 sq inches (after insulation applied). That is around a 6.5" square chamber crossection or 7.5" diameter for a circle. I'll let you do the calcs yourself for a "D" shape. Brick wall forges are easy to construct and flexible in design. Giberson has a nice one illustrated on his site. You do need to use the right bricks. I have had problems with even the better K26 insulating fire bricks (light brick) cracking under repeated thermal cycling. I feel you need to allow for this and to put the bricks under some compression with the external frame. Make sure this frame is protected from the combustion exhaust from the forge (dragon's breath) or it will heat, expand and be less effective.

Couple of suggestions/points: Amazon ad states that for heavy load use (like a belt grinder pressing hard) you need to select a VFD rated for 50% higher load than the motor nameplate. For this one it would mean not using a motor larger than around 1.25 HP (so a 1 HP motor). What did you use on your grinder? Ad also states that manufacturer will respond in 24 hrs to any setup questions. Have you tried that? Inexpensive VFD are not your friend in a metal shop. There is a reason that the better grinders are sold with a NEMA 4x case with heat dissipative fins. The KB-27D is expensive, but a lot more reliable. Some VFD have torque limiting parameters. Might want to look into those. Good luck