Thank you very much for the quick and helpful responses everyone, it is very much appreciated.
++Wayne, Thanks again for the site and all the good info.
++Buzzkill, I am going to stick with the 5 gallon build and see how it goes, I lucked out and a local pottery store in Seattle sells everything but refractory for a nice price.
I am definitely going to focus on a blown burner to start and will then see about modifying it to be a venturi style to see how I like em.
Good to know on the tank freezing, thank you.
I plan on building a back door in the 5 gallon forge.
This site, Wayne’s ,and bladesmithsforum have such a wonderful amount of info for a newbie and very nice community. It seems I will a have a 50lb bag of Kast-o-lite so I think once my first forge is done I will look into using that and firebrick to make a smaller forge for just welding.
++Oberu, I plan on sticking with the 5 gallon forge to start, and thank you very much for the Freon bottle offer especially since you had to hunt them down that long. For now though I am going to just try the 5 gallon forge. Since your close to Seattle I would recommend looking at http://www.seattlepotterysupply.com/ they carry; insulating blanket, Mizzou/Kast-O-Lite, and firebricks all for a good price, and ITC-100 which is a little pricey for me.
Thank you very much everyone, the biggest thing I’ve noticed since gaining an interest in Blacksmithing is that the community is very helpful and welcoming, I look forward to becoming a part of it and hope to return the kindness once I’ve gotten some experience.
I plan on getting everything for the forge bought and ordered by this weekend, and will hopefully have it built by Mid September. If I run into any snags with the burner/forge build I will update the thread otherwise I will post a pic of the completed forge in all its 5 gallon glory.
Thanks Again!