I have been running my forge with both ends open , is this bad practice ? i have seen people block the back with firebrick before , is this a good thing to do and why?

Also is there a prefered regulator for propane that everyone likes? because the one that came with the forge isnt working and i dont know why

Well it's like heating your house with both the front door and the back door wide open---you can do it; but you are throwing away money! The forge will heat things faster and hotter if you are not throwing all that heat out the openings.

In general; as long as there is enough left open to not cause a back pressure issue, you want the opening closed up as much as possible. For short items this means the back opening is often "bricked up totally" and the front opening has a couple of bricks with a gap between them. For long items you leave a gap at both openings.

A "red hat" high pressure propane regulator is the standard out here. I can buy them at the local propane company. *Don't let them sell you a low pressure regulator for a propane grill!*

Just for an example---what came up tops when I googled: (I'd go for the 0-30 psi version)
http://www.hightemptools.com/propaneregulators.html

I got one off a trashed turkey fryer for $3 once and run my forge off it. Remembering that pressure gauges are NOT accurate and easily damaged, I adjust my forge by ear and eye and don't worry that a student thwapped my gauge and broke it.

Well it's like heating your house with both the front door and the back door wide open---you can do it; but you are throwing away money! The forge will heat things faster and hotter if you are not throwing all that heat out the openings.
In general; as long as there is enough left open to not cause a back pressure issue, you want the opening closed up as much as possible. For short items this means the back opening is often "bricked up totally" and the front opening has a couple of bricks with a gap between them. For long items you leave a gap at both openings.
A "red hat" high pressure propane regulator is the standard out here. I can buy them at the local propane company. *Don't let them sell you a low pressure regulator for a propane grill!*
Just for an example---what came up tops when I googled: (I'd go for the 0-30 psi version)
http://www.hightemptools.com/propaneregulators.html
I got one off a trashed turkey fryer for $3 once and run my forge off it. Remembering that pressure gauges are NOT accurate and easily damaged, I adjust my forge by ear and eye and don't worry that a student thwapped my gauge and broke it.

how are they damaged if I may ask?

Firstly: If you have *not* calibrated your gauge it can be off by as much as 50% with no signs of damaged. I'm always amused when people post about "my burner runs at XYZ psi" using an uncalibrated gauge. (Ever go though an ISO audit?)


Mine lost it's faceplate and had the dial crumpled and the needle bent when a student knocked the bottle over and it hit an obstruction "just right". It doesn't leak; so I don't worry about it as the pressure is not important---it's that the burner runs correctly and so when it worked the set pressure was just a "suggestion" and I would dial in the correct air/fuel mix from there by "ear and by eye". The burn is loudest at a mix where all the fuel is burned and you are not running rich and the flame impinged refractory is brightest when you are not running rich *or* lean. Of course you adjust depending on what you are doing: for bladesmithing I generally run a bit rich to cut down on decarburization; for large mild work I'll try to run close to a perfect mix to get the most heat out of it and I have even a time or two run at a very oxidizing mix to produce excessive scaling that was then knocked off to leave a bumpy texture on a dragon's body I was forging.

Is there a guide to getting a gas forge running right