Hi, All. I am new to the fine world of blacksmithing and am hoping to build my first gas forge. This is the model that I am thinking of making. Plans to build a simple gas forge
No heavy cutting or welding is needed. It sounds like most of the parts are pretty easy to acquire as long as you can find a supplier nearby. I plan on buying a burner from Larry. I think that the burner is the most challenging part and that would eliminated needing parts from a welding supply. Larry also sells most of the other parts needed. Burner Flares & Gas Forge Parts If I purchased the following from him, it would cost $357.25 shipped.
Z Burner Assembly
Simple Burner Holder Assembly
Single Burner Connection kit
Idle Circuit Kit
Fire Brick for floor and front
Plistix 900
Cermaic Blanket
(All quantities are enough for making the Bucket Forge as described above)

I am trying to figure out if I am better off buying all the parts there then just getting the basic parts here or mixing and matching. I would still need the bucket and material to make legs, paint, and possibly the port for the rear that he mentions.

Any thoughts? I live in a small town. There's a decent hardware store nearby but the larger stores are 45 minutes away.

Thanks.
Eric

My opinion only!!! When I started I considered building my own propane set up...after researching the subject I decided to just buy the forge and get on with the blacksmithing. After a couple of years it came time for me to rebuild the forge....well by buying from a manufacturer who stood behind his product I decided to let him rebuild it...now i have an almost new forge that really is nice and safe to work with. I often think even with the repair cost i still spent about the same money as i would have building the thing...probably less in the long run cause it works with out any adjustment....for about 120 bucks more than you are spending I got my forge hooked it up and in prolly 20 mins was banging away ..... so simple!

I went to an ABANA affiliate's gas forge building workshop twice (once blown, once aspirated). The most I paid was a day of work and $120 to get a great forge. Does your local group have something like that?

I am in the process of building the same forge. I am building the burner my self from the blue prints here. The bucket I had to get from a specialty paint store as the local hardware stores and the big home improvement stores don't carry them. I am slowly putting together the rest of the body parts as my hobby fund gets money in it(saving for the holidays really puts a crimp in it).

This is one that I built last winter. It's made like the ones on the Zoeller Forge web site. The burner is fabricated, from 2" pipe for the bell fitting. The burner jet is a .030 MIG welding tip. The rest of the burner is 3/4", and 1" pipe. The bolt you see with the wing nut, going into the side is an air choke. There are more pictures in Iforge gallery.



Btw it only took short time to make and didn't cost much to build.

I built a forge and concluded that buying the manifolds and regulators from Zoeller would have cost slightly less than from big box sources, and I would have have ended up with a better regulator. As far as burners go, they price out about the same. I built a Reil and had poor results (probably the old regulator I replaced). I settled on Frosty's T-burners since they are easier to build. Zoeller's burners are proven.

I built a 2 burner forge, and the manifold is the most expensive collection of parts. Chokes are needed for welding since running lean causes too much scale for easy welding.

One advantage about building a forge is you understand how to fix it if problems arise. Replacing parts as needed becomes no big deal.

Phil

Edited October 13, 200916 yr by pkrankow

I am using my third gas forge. Each one has been refined in the process. I am getting ready to build #4 this winter incorporating things I have learned here. So far I have not spent more than a few dollars on them. I am, however, lucky to be able to salvage most of my materials from the scrap at work. Most importantly the Kaowool. I may have to use two or three smaller pieces to line it but it's free.

Thanks for the great responses. Pete, can you tell me what kind of forge you have? You are obviously happy with it. As a newb, I really don't have too much to go on. The guys that build their own burners seems to suggest that their burners are better than those of a commercially bought unit. I like the plug and play aspect of buying a forge but would also like to have some understanding, like what you get when you build one. For me, scrounging parts seems like the hard part. I can't get most of them at work, being a music teacher. Phil, thanks for addressing the cost factor based on the Zoeller parts. It's helpful for me to see how things relate. Thomas, I'll have to see what my group offers. So far I only know that they do two hammer-ins each year. Not sure what else. Larry, that's a good looking forge. I thought about doing a fire brick forge and Larry Zoeller thought I should stick with the bucket design. I'm not sure what the thought was behind that suggestion. He didn't explain. Jeremy, I hear you! Kendrick, thanks for sharing your experiences. I'm going to wait a bit and see what other info comes in and what local sources I can find for parts. Can you change the burners on commercial units if your not happy with them? Probably not worth it. If I make the forge I plan to buy the burner assembly at the least. Thanks all. Keep sharing your thoughts and suggestions.~Eric

Well, decided to buy a forge! Went with the Chile Forge Tabasco model. Gas forge - Tabasco I'll let you know how it is once it is up and running. I've read good things about and spoke to the people there. Thanks for all of your input.~Eric