I am about to start construction on a side blast forge. I do most of my work in a gas forge but want a solid fuel forge for large and awkward shaped pieces. I will also be doing forge welding in it. I’m in a residential neighborhood and will be using charcoal for fuel. I would like to use a sacrificial stainless steel pipe for the tuyere instead of building it water cooled. What kind of life can I expect from the pipe with my stated use? If it is just going to burn up at welding temperatures I will build it water cooled. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Something like Irnsrgn posted here, http://www.iforgeiro...r-cooled-forge/ post 14, but without the butterfly valve. I will be using a hand crank blower instead.

Irnsrgn how has the stainless pipe held up in your demo forge?

Thanks,

Brandon

A gentleman named Bruce Wilcock who posts here periodically and I had a conversation about this some time ago. Bruce is a retired professional smith who used side blasts for much of his career. As I recall, he said a simple piece of black iron pipe worked just fine in daily use - and was easy and cheap to replace. I would assume stainless would last even longer.

I built a water cooled one a few years ago that was a piece of 1" sealed inside a piece of 3" with 2 water fittings in the rear (both end capped). It worked OK but I wound up selling the forge so never got to use it much.