Cyrilak Posted May 21, 2017 Share Posted May 21, 2017 Hello all, new to this forum and I was hoping I could get some advice. I am really interested in Smithing and I would like to pick up this hobby, and I have some questions. I am going to start building my forge. I was thinking about welding two 20 pound propane tanks together. I plan on making knives and small swords/machetes and the likes. I plan on lining it with 2 inches of kaowool with firebrick on the bottom and adding a door and all that. It is going to be a propane forge. My first question is will this forge need 2 burners? Or just one? I know there are different kinds of burners. Am I going overkill on size? Should I just use one 20 pound tank? What size anvil should I be looking for? And I am aware that a belt grinder is the best tool for grinding the blades, but I'm trying to save money because I'm buying a pistol soon. Would a bench grinder suffice if I use a softer stone? Sorry for all of the questions I just want to do things right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted May 21, 2017 Share Posted May 21, 2017 Hi, Cyrilak; welcome to IFI. Couple of things: first, please put your location in your profile settings. There may be other forum members near you from whom you can learn in person, and sometimes answers to questions are locale-specific. Second, your questions are way too vague. Please read the sections on building gas forges, bladesmithing, and choosing an anvil. There is a ton of really good information there; almost every basic question (especially for beginners) has been asked and answered dozens of times. If you don't find the answers you need, at least you'll be able to ask much better questions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackdawg Posted May 21, 2017 Share Posted May 21, 2017 One 20 pound tank, and 1 burner, insulation as suggested and firebrick floor should be good, just need to coat it. If you have a hole out the back, it will do swords as well, you only ever work a few inches of metal at a time anyway. Bench grinder will remove material, not ideal, but will work.. Anvil - see what you can scrounge, I wouldn't be looking to pay for a good new anvil at this stage, and an elcheapo cast iron one is just throwing away money. A lump of steel of some sort should be enough to knock up knives, you don't need much. You might find you local knife steel specialist does a kit to make a forge out of that size gas cylinder, - insulation, rigidiser, appropriate burner and instructions etc - the one here in Australia does. Most of all have a go and enjoy yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyrilak Posted May 21, 2017 Author Share Posted May 21, 2017 Thanks I plan on it, I think I'll just use one tank and then add an opening in the back with a hinge so I can close it to keep the heat in. My biggest concern is getting a nice even heat treat when I do swords. But obviously that won't be for a long time. Until I feel comfortable with my knives. I know there are a lot of tricks of the trade some people do. As I said I'm new and I'm just looking for as much advice as I can get. I will probably just buy a preassembled burner because I have been pretty busy and building the forge is already going to be a nice project in itself and I would like to get going as soon as I can. I will look at what kind of stones I can get for my bench grinder and see how the knives turn out, if I don't like it I'll just have to suck it up and buy a belt grinder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 21, 2017 Share Posted May 21, 2017 As mentioned you *DON'T* want to heat more of a sword blade than you can work before it cools. Heating excess increases decarburization, scale losses and grain growth all bad things. For knives an 80 pound piece of scrap STEEL will work as an anvil; for swords large is better. No need for an expensive london pattern anvil. You can make knives just with files and abrasive paper and probably should to start out that way to show you where your issues are with hammer control. I have to disagree about using a bench grinder; far better to drawfile than use a bench grinder. Roughing out with an angle grinder and then going to the drawfiling will work too. HOWEVER if you want to make swords you WILL need a GOOD belt grinder. Not having one you are trading time for money. If it takes you 10 hours extra per knife blade not having a belt grinder how many knife blades is the breakeven point? For my day job pay rate it would be 3-5 depending on how fancy a belt grinder you want. You probably won't even be to the point where you are doing good blades by then... Have you bought "$50 knife shop" Wayne Goddard and "Introduction to Knifemaking" Steve Sells yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyrilak Posted May 21, 2017 Author Share Posted May 21, 2017 Thank you for the advice, no I haven't bought those Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 21, 2017 Share Posted May 21, 2017 If you live in the USA you probably can ILL them at your local public library. I can in rural New Mexico, costs me US$1 per book and I get to check it out for 3 weeks. A good way to preview books you may want to buy. If you are in any of the 100+ other countries that participate on this site; I don't know about similar programs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted May 21, 2017 Share Posted May 21, 2017 1 minute ago, ThomasPowers said: If you live in the USA you probably can ILL them at your local public library. [...] If you are in any of the 100+ other countries that participate on this site; I don't know about similar programs. Another good reason to put your location in your profile settings! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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