Hello all. I currently have a Diamondback 2 burner blacksmith forge that works great for me. However, I have a line on a used forge from a knifemaker's estate. It's a forge that he made and it comes with a blower. I wanted to ask what the advantages would be for this type of forge over what I have right now?

 

 

 

If you go to google and search for 'your question/topic here iforgeiron.com' (e.g. blown vs naturally aspirated forge iforgeiron.com) you'll get plenty of results on the topic... the above a just a few

 

 

Thank you. I wasn't sure of the exact name of the types of forges. 

Not a problem... plenty of info on the subject about, but not always the easiest to find.

I have the same diamondback forge you do.  Why isn't it working out for you or are you just thinking of something with more juice?  I really like the side door that opens up.  So many times I've had to use that feature to fit something in there.

It works great. But the used one is up for auction and the current bid is only $13 with 1 day left on the auction. My only real problem would be transporting it. 

28 minutes ago, JustAnotherViking said:

If you go to google and search for 'your question/topic here iforgeiron.com' (e.g. blown vs naturally aspirated forge iforgeiron.com) you'll get plenty of results on the topic.

Careful, JAV -- telling people how to do websearches to find what they need in the forum is the first step on the road to curmudgeonhood. "If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will!"

Consider yourself warned.

Sure i'm already a grumpy git, so might as well try and be a mildly helpful grumpy git.

Blown burners are a lot easier to adjust the forge's atmosphere with and don't mind back pressure as much.  They tend not to get bumped out of alignment and be simpler to build.

If you know enough about the equipment you can do just fine with either kind of forge; if you don't, then what you build probably will be a mess, whichever kind you choose. It's hard to reach the right conclusion when starting out with the wrong question.

Mark G: There is no inherent difference between a gun or NA forge, heat is a matter of how much fuel air burns per second in the chamber. PERIOD.

About the forge from the estate. I'd pull the usable parts and dispose of the forge body it appears in the picture to be lined with uncoated  ceramic blanket and if it's old enough, say 40-50 years it may be lined with asbestos too. Rehabbing the liner in that old boy would be more labor intense than making a new one. 

I think I'd take a page from Slag's book and mix up a bucket of Portland cement to thick paint consistency and coat that thing inside and out as thickly as I could then when set haul it to the land fill.

The practical differences between gun (blower driven) and NA (Naturally Aspirated) burners is in construction and convenience of use. Guns are easy to make, a LOT less complicated than you see described online, forget Youtubers. The hassles are adjusting the fire, you have to tune them every change. Turn up the gas and you have to turn up the air and visa versa. The good thing about that is you get GOOD at turning burner flames which is a good skill. The other hassle is you're tied to a power cord.

NA burners require decent shop skills and some basic precision to get right but once tuned you can turn the heat up or down with the propane pressure. Hard to build but easy peasy to use and you only need the propane.

That's it, not a big deal, I have 12v raft inflater blowers that'd probably run a gun just fine but I already have a full stable of NA burners. 

Frosty The Lucky.

Thank you very much, Frosty. That's exactly what I wanted to know.