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I Forge Iron

Starter forge questions


SWright

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Hey, I'm looking at buying a gas forge(im in the UK) and looking for some recomendations. It will be my first forge and I'd like it to last a while I don't fancy starting on a brake drum.

 

I was looking at this forge http://devil-forge.com/shop/gas-forges/dfprof3-with-connection-kit-and-ball-valve/

 

Or maybe the slightly bigger one.

 

Does anyone have any experience with it? Or another recomendation? I have heard some good things about it on this forum before when I did a quick search but wasn't sure if there was something better/different because I never searched for anything else.

 

 

I mainly want to do bladesmithing but this forge looks like it will kind of restrict me because it doesn't look too big inside(I may be wrong). But most gas forges look like the will stop me doing anything too big(which I probably wont.. but just in case).

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>>> I mainly want to do bladesmithing but this forge looks like it will kind of restrict me because it doesn't look too big inside(I may be wrong). But most gas forges look like the will stop me doing anything too big(which I probably wont.. but just in case).

 

 

My main forge is made from a 3# coffee can.  The limiting factor is the size of the pass-through hole in the back.  Yes, if I were doing 8" spirals, I'd need a larger forge, but I've made railroad spike knives, knives the size of a machete and other odd bits of tooling and jewelry in an itty-bitty forge.  The mistake of most beginning smiths is to go too big - because of course "I may make a sword."

 

By the time you get the skills to do bigger stuff, you'll be able to justify a second (third, fourth) forge, or you'll go over to visit a neighbor smith and use his coal forge.

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I thought it was huge myself; you only want to heat the steel you will be able to forge before it cools---heating more results in grain growth, decarb and scale loses  So as long as you have a pass through slot in the rear of a forge a quite small forge will even do swords!  Now when you heat treat swords you will need a long heat source.  I prefer a trench forge in the garden than overheating everything and wasting fuel for the majority of your heats.

 

Now as to having a single forge to do everything:  I would like to have a car that would win road races, haul 2 tons of coal and get 100 miles to the gallon; got any suggestions for one that will do that?

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