Hello!
I'm a new blacksmith and I want to start mass producing small products like bottleopeners, hooks and what not, to sell. The problem I'm having is the amound of time and hassle it takes to keep a solid fuel forge (which I have at the moment) going. I'm also tired of how filthy it is with having a forge like that. All I want is a small, simple, clean forge that can heat up multiple small objects without me having to worry about overheating and destroying them. That's what attracted me to gas forges. The way I see it, is that you only have to fill up the propane tanks once in a while and replace any firebricks from time to time. Then it's just a matter of throwing in a bit of lit paper and opening the burners to start the forge. Am I wrong here? Is it more complicated than that?
On the other hand, I'm a bit worried about needing to have a well ventilated space. I have my forge placed underneath a chimeny in an old foundry and at the moment, I'm using very large pieces of coke (which we have basically an unlimited amount of) that my father uses when he's melting brass in the foundry itself. This fuelsource is very difficult and annoying to get going which just makes me want a gas forge even more. I've tried breaking it into smaller pieces but it just turns into dust and extremely small shards which both can't be used in the forge and is dirty and unhealthy.
Do you think I should buy/build a gas forge?
I'm thinking about 1 burner, but what dimensions am I limited to then? What are some examples of products I can't heat up in a gas forge with 1 or even 2 burners?
So: how big does it need to be and how many burners do I need? Again, this is mainly for heating up smaller objects that will only be hand forged by me. I do not have a striker / power hammer so I won't be forging hammers or axes any time soon. And if I wanted to forge something bigger that either won't fit in the propane forge or is too thick then I could just use the old solid fuel forge.
I hope I'm posting a reasonable topic.
All help is very much appreciated!
Kind regards,
Eophex