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I Forge Iron

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In my previous post I learned that my oddball burners probably would not get hot enough for a forge so now I am wondering what the cheapest burner design that runs on propane is. My forge is 28"x8"x8", and I would also like to know how many burners I should have in my new forges construction.

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The cheapest ones are the ones you build yourself; have you read Burners 101?  

Also what tools and skills do you have access to?

And again what do you plan to use one that long for?   It would NOT be good for swordmaking but would be dandy for gates and railings. And very expensive to run for everything else.

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You look like you're making the same mistake most of us did starting out. That is a WAY too big forge! You can't hammer much more stock than 4-6" effectively and heat treating can be done by moving long pieces back and forth through the forge. This allows you to keep an eye on the heat of the entire length. The center of a LONG forge is almost always at mystery temp you just can't see the center's color.

Cheapest propane burner. In what way, to build or operate?

What are your shop skills can you to precision work? How good are you at following written directions and or plans? What tools do you have available? Being a farm or ranch kid I assume you have a better than average list of equipment and tools. Can you rope your Dad into helping? Brothers, Uncles, etc.?  

There's nothing wrong with getting help. Oh yeah, you're here asking us aren't you? Nevermind. :rolleyes:

Frosty The Lucky.

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Mainly I want the cheapest to build, and I have lousy shop skills but my dad is helping a bunch with everything. I am good at following plans. We have a lot of tools at our disposal including but not limited to drills cutoff saws angle grinders blow torches stick welder etc. and I never thought about moving it back and forth through the forge. How long should I cut it to and how many burners should I have, I hope to be able to use this forge for a long time on a variety of things throughout its life, including jewelry, and large and small knives and axe heads and possibly larger stuff like a machete

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You don't need an expensive drill press to work on a "T" burner. Look up Harbor Freight  Tools, and look through their collection of tabletop drill presses. The secret to using them for general work is to combine their cheap press with their cheap step drills, and hole drills. You will do just fine.

That should read hole saws...

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