SeniorNugg3t

So I put in some work this weekend. Had the forge running for quite a while yesterday bending up some 1/8" mild steel straps. I did back up the burner a bit. I need to tweak the burner some more I guess. I was getting a lot of huffing once the forge was glowing. Upping the gas caused the loss of flame at the flare nozzle and was causing ignition at the floor. turning it down very much caused back-flame: really touchy. The refractory on the floor didn't last very long- 3rd use, maybe 6hrs total time. I used Meeco's Red Devil 611 (3000*) refractory to bond the bricks, round the corners, and a thin layer on the floor. The floor refractory bubbled and cracked off. After construction I had let it all set about a week, then fired it up to a low heat and let it run a while before cranking it up. The first time I really cranked it up I had yellow-white steel within minutes with steel placed in the hot spot on the floor and yesterday I could only get to a medium orange with a glowing forge and about 25% fuel remaining in the tank. kinda sucked and required a lot more effort with the hammer. So, I'm not up for breaking out all the brick just yet... but I may have to. Just wondering why I had yellow steel with the current setup and now I'm getting orange. A lot of variables I know, but just kind of talking things out... Just trying to finish this project before i overhaul my forge.

I have no books, just some wild ideas and the internet lol. Not a lot of the WWII vets left, just a handful. I shake their hands whenever I get a chance. Toughest men I've ever met. And I'm originally from Hobbs, lived just off Denver city highway.

Thomas- The idea was project driven. I'm working on building some cool heavy medieval wood/steel furniture and wanted to forge the straps and the hardware. My wife likes the industrial type tables and whatnot and there's just so much garbage out there with guys nailing a bunch of pallets and pipe together looking like a 7th grade shop project gone wrong and lacking quality craftsmanship. The firebrick was super cheap and picked up locally for under $25 and I got a bunch of it. So i went with it knowing it was going to absorb a lot of heat. I think once I tune and set the burner properly, I'll get through the current projects I have going and then do like you said. Probably knock out the brick, plate it up, and throw some kaowool in there. I went into this with both feet with minimal/no knowledge on the matter. Only real money spent was on the burner. the rest was pretty cheap. I'd still chalk it up as a win because drinking beer in the garage and cutting up firebricks and welding scrap steel together is still cheaper/better than hanging out at the bars and the information learned is priceless. Thanks for your thoughts and honest input.

Thanks look forward to reading your comments.

Here's my late '89 Waggy next to my buddy's J-10. I built it before the CJ and harvested a lot of parts for the CJ when somebody ran into me and totaled it. Absolutely. SF

Thanks, I appreciate that. Happy to do so but ready to retire lol! Done. I have dreamed of having a 715 and nearly scored a nice old one from a local firehouse for $3k but the wife thought differently lol. I've had 2 Full size Grand Wagoneers a few Cj-7's and YJ's. Pretty much a jeep nerd. naturally aspirated, stainless steel flare, #60 gas orifice, turkey fryer style regulator, bought off Ebay. there's a pic in the post you replied to on my post on the gas forges page. probably should plumb in a shutoff valve. thanks. Like I said, I have a LOT more time now... This one was awesome. built it myself minus the body/interior over a couple of years. Some SEAL up in Norfolk is driving it now I couldn't stand to see it driving around here. New motor, custom suspension, stretched, waggy axles, lockers, Ford Np435 trans, and I made the tire carrier last fall. Didn't get to build the cage before I got rid of it.

It's hard brick. I can line it with Kaowool or refractory cement. I'm mostly wanting to work with shaping round and flat rod for now. general work. in the future, learn forge welding, make some knives. I have some split bricks for inserts to reduce volume as well. Did the video work? I'm at work so I can't get hardly any videos to play.

I have zero experience with forging/blacksmithing. Looking to expand my abilities and learn from all of you. I built this forge last weekend. I didn't really have any idea what I was doing or follow any rules of thumb that I'm now learning about. Just kind of common sense approached it. This is a small mailbox style forge. Single propane burner i bought off Ebay. The design is my own and probably not the best... Well, here it is and now I'm trying to make it work right. Seems to be okay but I know there's things I'm going to need to do to really get it going. I have it sitting on a home-brew cart for now made of scrap wood. The floor and seams are covered with a 3000* refractory cement slurry. I may coat the whole inside with refractory cement for efficiency. I think to help with the burner depth, I'm going to build up the wall on the right where the burner comes in with the refractory cement and form a bit of a flare to it around the hole. Or, i could build a stand off on the outer frame mounting straps to recess the burner a bit and grind away some of the brick in the hole to make a flare shape. I may go with the cement method as it will reduce volume, and probably improve efficiency as it should keep the bricks from absorbing as much heat, or maybe a combination of both cement and stand off. Burner is pointing just left of center and my thoughts are the heat will hit the floor where the work will be placed, and bounce around circulating the heat, also alleviating much back pressure. The back wall is movable to allow for exhaust and longer pieces to be passed through. So I fired it up the first time the other night and there's a few things I want to discuss. For sure I have to address the burner mounting. It's too deep in the forge and the flare is getting hot. I don't have the burner tuned very well either but it surely pushes some heat lol! I have a lot of blue flame coming out of the mouth for the forge. Not sure what to do there. I've read it can be good and bad? https://photos.app.goo.gl/29NewFGoKtem0iby2 I've got a lot to learn... Please let me know what you think and what I can improve upon. Thanks!

Hey guys, new member here and completely new to forging. Solid experience with jeeps and 4x4 building. Sold my CJ7 recently and now have a LOT more time on my hands. So I love farting around in the garage, drinking beer, and playing with fire, not necessarily at the same time... maybe sometimes... Working on some heavy metal/wood furniture projects and that's what got me turned in this direction. I just built a forge and as I'm trying to get it working right I'm finding a wealth of information here. I'll post up some pics and videos and ask some questions shortly. Basically working with a small single propane burner mailbox style forge I designed myself. Purchased the burner off eBay. See y'all on the boards!