My new micro forge...

[andgott]

I needed a small forge for when I do really tiny work- I do a lot of very, VERY small stuff- And the coal forge that I usually work with is just too much. This is my new Micro Forge-





The design is based on the various coffee can, one brick, and similar forges that I've seen on sites all over the place, But is a bit more permanent.

The main body is made from a piece of 6" DOM pipe, about 8" long, with a cap welded on the back. Handles and feet are 1/4" stainless steel. It's painted with a high-temp (2000 degree) baked on paint.

It is lined with 1" of 8 lb Kaowool Rt. I'll be adding a firebrick floor to it once I get my firebrick- It's still in the mail. There is a 1 1/2" pass through in the back in case I need to heat the center of a rod in the forge- Though I doubt I ever will need it, I decided to do it while I was building it just in case.

So- Time to fire it up for the first time!



It's a little tough to see the flame, it was sunny out.

The 'burner' is a Bernzomatic TS839 torch. It's a pretty powerful little beast- Seems to heat the forge up pretty well. It can also burn MAPP gas.

I let it warm up for about 5 minutes, then I stuck a 3/32 stainless rod in there. It was hot in a VERY short time-




That's tiny stuff, though- So something a little more challenging... Here is some 1/4" Stainless round-



Within a minute, it was glowing a nice orange color on the end.

A successful, though very short, first test. I will be lining the inside with Plistix before I use it much further.

I am curious to fins out what kind of burn time I'll get from one of these cylinders, though I plan on connecting it to a larger tank soon.

The cart, BTW, is a repurposed cart from a gas grill- Painted and reconfigured a bit. It'll be able to hold the propane cylinder, too.

I still need to add a stock rest, and a few other little items, But I wanted to make sure that the basic concept was sound first.

-Andrew

[Mark Wargo New2bs]

Very nice forge. I like the design as well as the fit and finish.

Mark

[Bentiron1946]

Using the pipe makes more sense than using a coffee can and the cart is good too. Going with a larger propane tank will save a lot of money or maybe you could get one of the refill fittings to keep the costs down by refilling your little tanks from one of the larger BBQ tanks. A friend a church who camps a lot uses one and it saves him a fair amount on gas costs for his camping gear requirements. That little forge would be great for the fellow making chasing/reppouse tools too, not so big he couldn't afford to forge out a few tools at a time or even make small special purpose hammers for his jewelry work. Nice job! B)

[Steeler]

Really nice! Good choice in materials. You can be proud of that little forge.

[eric sprado]

Nice forge.Let us know how further tests go. I'd like to have a little "pack along" forge. I bought an adapter at a local store to go from a regular barbecue tank to the fitting on the camp stove sized one. Is that what you are going to use or were you going to build a whole new venturi like the ones pictured online?

[andgott]

Thanks...

With luck, I'll have the rest of my supplies this week so I can finish the lining up. I didn't want to use it TOO much until that's all done.

I'm going to use a tank adapter to attach it to a larger tank, although I am also building a small venturi burner as well for a slightly larger forge, and might experiment with using that- But it's probably going to be a LITTLE more power than I need for a forge this small!

I'm getting my anvil up on a stand today, So I'll be ready to go.


-Andrew

[andgott]

I fired it up and actually USED it for the first time today.

I start the torch, then crank it up 'till the valve is about 3/4 of the way open. It takes about 5 minutes, and the inside of the forge is a nice orange color-



You can't see it too well in the photo (I was using my cell phone camera), but I have a piece of work in there, a stainless steel ring. It is a nice orange color, ready to be worked. It is pretty small- exactly what I needed this forge for! I don't need to be nearly as careful about burning up work in this forge, compared to the coal forge I had been working on.

This forge works PERFECTLY for what I need- It works even better than I expected.

Now- If I could just find that diamond I dropped on my shop floor today while I was making the setting for it... Grr....

-Andrew

[Michael]

Nice little forge there. I did the same one a couple years ago, but it doesn't have the cool handles, feet and paint job of yours!
Great for demos, last fall I brought this forge, a nail header, some 1/4 inch rod and an "anvil", a 30 lb block of steel (3"x3" by 12") set on end in a little wooden box and taught a bunch of kids, and their parents, to make nails.

Nice work.

[MRobb]

That is a really nice little forge you have. I also made a small forge for the house. Mine is a coffee can type. It's not nearly as nice as yours. It's great for working the small stuff at home. Thanks for posting.



Mitch

[bigfootnampa]

It looks very interesting. I also do some small work and sometimes it seems too wasteful to start the coal forge. I have a suggestion for improving it... if you made the legs longer or set it on some sort of platform and turn it 90 degrees you could then use the side tables on your nice little cart to rest longer rods on. Even for nails that wold seem useful as it is handy to start with fairly long rods and use them down to nubbins. You might also get a bit hotter with less fuel if you block part of the opening, which is wider than needed for most things... possibly just a couple of firebricks used as sliding doors? You could move them to get access with tongs and just slide them back while heating.

[chiro]

Diamonds stick to fat. De Beers invented grease table sorting to find diamonds during mining. Here's an article Paragraph starting : In 1896

[Eric Farrar]

That is a nice little forge there! I tried making one with a Benzomatic torch but didn't have much luck - Never seemed to heat up to foring heat for me. Looks very tidy and seems to work exceptionally well - good work!