Binesman

You don't need a welder. There are plenty of easy designs that don't need any welding. You don't need to buy from a lot of websites a good bit of it you can pick up localy. I can understand this reasoning. Well my honest 2cents is there is not a production forge that i'm aware of under the 500 dollar range that I think is worth it. Most of them come with unridgidized blanket and enough refractory to put a baby paste thin coating on. Or they come with 2 or 3 burners for a forge that should only need 1 to weld. Then I have to ask why? is it to waste fuel or is it because they need that much heat to hit welding temp.

best way to go is to build the forge yourself and buy the burner. For the forge body just use K26 firebrick. 6 stacked will give you a 4.5x4x9 chamber. you can order these from the internet for 10 or so each cut a hole and stick in a 3/4" burner. you can buy one with good reviews for the 50 range. then pick up a decent 0-20psi regulator for around 20 and you got a forge that is able to forge weld. just don't get flux on the bricks they will melt like the wicked witch.

You are in the right place. I can walk you through building a forge through messaging and photo's alone. Frosty and Mikey can help you get any burner fine tuned. All through message board here. I know that because my first forge was a disaster and the people here at IFI walked me through building something right. If you do go commercial pay close attention to what material it is built from because there may be a lot of materials you have to source to make it safe. Also pay attention to what you itend to use it for and try and get a forge that is more suited to your forging.

my plan is to start a youtube channel. It may not have many video's but there will be one going over the different types of forge builds wool/brick/refractory and any combination there of. Along with general safety concerns. I will probably preach a little about blanket and ridgidizer because that's kind of a personal kick. but yes I already and will continue to direct people here. IFI is probably the greatest resource I have found to date.

that size of forge with a single burner look in to the 1" TREX It's the only production burner I can think of for something that big. (I'm sure there's thousands of others but)

diamondback is good as long as you care for it. However that is true of any good tool. I am curious however why building is not an option? Also have you considered just ordering some soft firebrick and a kiln wash?

hobby. I find as I look at todays forges. I can't get one for under 500 or so that I would call "quality". So I figure I can keep the supplies for a "kit" in my garage box it up and ship it out on my way to work. That's why they aren't built forges as well. Okay the fact that I think everyone should build there own forge so they have an idea of how to maintain it is also part of the "kit" reasoning.

You are on the nose Thomas. I'm looking in to setting up a forge kit business. Was looking for advice on my pricing. Did not want to mention to much in to it because I'm not trying to push for sales im looking for opinions and advice from respected peers.

Trying to get away from kaowool. Cant see it being to long before its banned here like in EU. Construction is 4/6/8 k28 firebricks bonded together using a 3k furnace cement. Chamber will be matrikote coated (a pint goes with each kit so enough for some repairs as well.) the shell will be removable to change bricks out and make repairs as they become necessary. It will be 2 U shaped 20gauge pieces of sheet metal that will slide together to create the shell. Held in place by a piece of angle iron running all 4 edges tightened on both x and y access. Na 1/2" 2x2x9 and a 3/4" on the two larger forges. 0-20 psi regulator and 4 ft hose included. Standard brick size 4.5x2.5x9

I don't want to say to much without first speaking with the admin of the site. However I'd like to hear from you guys if you think these prices are fair. 2x2x9 chamber for 175 4x4x9 chamber for 225 and a 8x4x9 chamber for 250. All 3 capable of reaching forge welding, all of them come with everything needed (burner/shell/regulater) but they do need assembled (takes about an hour) Do you guys believe those are fair prices (and I know everyone here tends to build there own but think back to before you knew how to)

Resin to fill ajd seal any Just 1095 15n20. I'm not worried about rust if you keep it oiled and clean at the end of the day it shouldnt be an issue. Yes full tang and since it for fish after getting the handle rough shaped I slathered it up good with resin to fill and seal any pores so smelly fish gut oil doesnt get under the scales. Then finished the handle and "scuffed" it up a bit so it wouldnt be slick.

The pattern is very light. Its for a friend who fish's daily so I yried a vinegar (24 hour) then coffee (24 hour) to etch. Its still very difficult to see the pattern. Any tips on how to darken it using food safe mats?

templehound. Thankyou that was exactly the kind of info I was looking for. I understand it's all up to me in the end but I'll be honest I have no idea where to start. What you gave me is an excellent example of what you do for a certain blade type/style/size to give me ideas going forward. Thankyou to everyone else who has responded all the info has been very informative. Thomas. That's kind of my plan with making knives for friends/family. A lot of them hunt and I want to send them with knives for feedback. However I don't want to send them with a steaming pile of scale disguised as a knife.

I understand the different style knives being tested differently. I was looking for answers across the board like for a chefs knife do this for a skinner this etc. the stack of paper testing is a good idea. As for hammering in to things I currently do that but with a piece of hard maple never thought about actually trying to damage the knife but it makes sense to push it to it's limits. As for breaking steel and checking for grain growth. I currently do this with fresh batch's of steel (not to a knife just a small 3" test piece) Is that good enough or should I forge out a full knife?

not true it makes some great scrap for the kids to bang on.

My question goes out to the people who sell there work. I have no intention of selling anything I make at the moment but I would like to give some knives to friends/family, without worrying that I'm giving them something subpar. So how do you test your knives before you sell them to make sure they are/will remain sharp and true?

1095 blade. Brass guard/pins. Cocobolo handle.

1095. First attempt at a copper 8nlay. It worked better than I had hoped for a first attempt. Taken down to 800 grit with purple heart handle. Was made for a gamer friend with cancer. His gamer tag is Bhear. The inlay is bhear in nordic runes.

If you stay with this design pull out the hard brick and put in k26 bricks instead. However let me see if I understand the point of this forge. 1. It will be on for long periods to crank out a lot of product. 2. The temperature range is fairly flexible(your not doing work that needs to be at a specific temperature just in a hot enough to work state.) If those two statements are true ditch the firebrick idea all together and cast it 3" thick in kastolite30. This will yake a bit to come to heat but once there it will stay hot with substantial less fuel usage.

You want to forge weld so lets start with the obvious things that need fixed to get there. 1. Current internal size 730 cubic inches. You will need two 1" burners to get this reliably to forge weld temps. Or take your 2. Hard firebrick. As stated above switch to a k26. 3. No reflective coating. Put down a layer of matrikote or plistex.

I havent seen a good video but the plans on waynes site are very easy to follow for the forge. And if you read the pinned tburner instructions frosty did a great job on them and you can easily follow them to have yor burner built.

A friend has copd and doesn't want the risk of ceramic blanket even if it has been properly treated and cured. So I have ordered a case of k26 bricks to build him a forge. I have 2 questions in regards to this. 1. My intention is to use a 2600f fireplace cement to hold the bricks together. Will this work okay or should I use kastolite instead? 2. The bricks are 2 1/2" in thickness. Is that enough insulation or should I double stack them?

You're welcome. When it comes time to build google waynecoe artist blacksmith. He sells everything you will need at a reasonable price and has forge plans on his site to follow.

One of the big issues I see with a lot of commercial forges is they do not ridgidize the kaowool. To be perfectly honest with you I believe you are far better off safety wise to build your own forge. Forges 101 will help you with most of the safety issues.

How about some photos of it in the forge both running and not running. That will give a lot more info. In my experience the rythmic pulsing sound is either a flow issue (regulator/hose/tank) or to much exhaust near the air intake causing it to choke.