BaxSmith

2 hours ago, Irondragon Forge & Clay said:

Welcome to IFI>

Thank you! 

26 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

If you are outside there should be no issue, especially if any breeze is from you to the forge.  Please design your forge so that the burner intakes do not recycle exhaust fumes as that increases CO production.  What are the firebricks for?  I've been using propane forges for 20 years or more now and have never had an issue---except when I was at a meeting and a storm blew up and they closed the doors most of the way in the demo area and I started to get a headache. (Of course my  current 20'x30' smithy has 10' walls and open gables and  10'x10' roll up doors on opposite walls along the general wind direction in my location---which I only close when the wind starts blowing over anvils...)

You can also look into an "air curtain" set up to deflect exhaust from your area.  Generally used to keep you and your tools cooler but works for CO too.

Hi thanks for your swift reply ! How does one make sure the burner intakes do not recycle exhaust fumes? Fire bricks are refractory bricks I believe I see people using them for mini forges or knife forges.

18 minutes ago, MC Hammer said:

BaxSmith, a healthy fear of all things surrounding blacksmithing is not a bad thing.  What I mean is a fear that develops a respect for hot metal, hot forges, hot tools, sharp tools, sharp things, hot scale, etc.  I had a piece at orange heat  just briefly touch my finger when I was just starting out and it almost burnt my finger down to the bone.  There's a difference between fear and being afraid.  Fear is a force that sharpens your senses.  Being afraid is a state of paralysis in which you can't do anything.  Fear of the heat, fire, sharp things sharpens your senses and makes you more careful.   Don't be afraid of blacksmithing, but do have that healthy fear.

I've been forging outside with a propane forge for years and never had a problem.  I'm building a forge shop this year, so I'm working out the issues of fresh air, replacement air and venting.  If you read through the threads there is a common theme.....get as much fresh air into the space as you can.  That's not cracking a window or door, that's having big doors open and having the wind blow through the space.  Have a plan to vent the gas byproducts up through a hood/chimney of some sort. 

The one thing I haven't got an answer to is rather my idea of hooking a pipe of some kind up to my air intakes will work if the pipe is connected to fresh air outside the building.  I did see a well know bladesmith that has that set-up so that his forge isn't recycling exhaust fumes from the forge.

Of course , thanks for the reply! I'll take those words into consideration ! 

Hi there, just got my Fire bricks and refractory cement, going to build my propane fueled forge it shall be a small enough one, big enough for knives and axe heads perhaps but mainly knives for now, I have no fear handling a torch or anything that is required to be done as a black smith/ knife smith, but I am scared of CO poisoning, so my main question is how can I make my forge as safe as possible? I will be using it outside in the open but should I still wear a mask and should I leave the back open? just a few bits like that I would love to have answered! thanks in advance guys.

David.

edit: also I have a carbon monoxide alarm.