Upright Gasser forge questions

[Pault17]

How many IFI'ers have vertical or upright gas forges, or have used one?
What are the benefits, if any, of an upright vs. a horizontal?

I have seen pictures of a few made from things like 5-gallon pony air tanks, 10-inch heavy wall pipe, etc. Usually, the burner is mounted near the bottom with an opening approximately 1/2 to 2/3's up the side of the tank. I am guessing that there is a corresponding opening on the opposite side of the tank for long stuff. Also, the top is usually hinged.

I have several tanks of various small sizes that I am wanting to experiment with. I am even tossing around the idea of making my own burners as well.

Any Ideas?

[Mills]

That was my first one and it works still in Portales NM where a friend now resides. Inefficient user of propane but he made a lid for it and now can put stuff in from above as well as the side. I have been considering doing a mod on this idea ala johnson forge. a short 6" combustion chamber then a working area with a cantilevered lid to keep in the heat.

In other words it can do for somethings but I believe that the typical horizontal unit is better for a majority of applications.

[dablacksmith]

Ive used a vertical type forge at a friends shop I found it worked ok for some things not so good for others . I believe its mor popular with the knife makers and the reason is the blast is not directly on the steel so theyres less oxidation ... the down side is that short pieces tend to fall in and are hard to get out once that happens! You might try one if your doing alot of high carbon forgeing and are worried about oxidation (scale)..

[Pault17]

Thanks for the info. I had seen pictures but did not make the connection with the knife-making trade. I am defintely not there as yet.

[Ian]

I've seen a pretty neat vertical forge design, with the burner in the lid pointing down but failing a rather wordy explanation of it you should PM Glenn Moon (Moony) from down under. It's his design so he might have some photo's, I've only got a shot of it in the far background, hard to see.