Heyas folks!

We've been looking through what seems like a billion years worth of collective experience and now have a roughly equal number of nooblet questions.

I'm posting on this side (as opposed to the solid side) as my son leans toward purchasing or building a gas forge.  However, we're reading warnings about some of the manufacturers taking safety shortcuts (and we don't want to make mistakes of our own that we'll regret down the road), so we hope to nail down all of the details before we proceed one way or the other.

In your experience, what are the things that we truly need to be forewarned on in building or purchasing a gas forge?

Cheers!  We really appreciate how you all have downloaded so much knowledge into one spot.

Troy and Nick

As so many questions in blacksmithing are location specific I'd suggest editing your profile to put your general location in.  What might be a great place to source supplies in Australia may not be so great if you are living in Iceland, (and yes we have members both places!)

Good point! 

Location updated right in the middle of the States -- just a few hundred miles north of you, Thomas.  

Getting your gas supply right and checking it for leaks, from cylinder through burner tops the list. Even if you buy a top of the line forge, this detail is left up to you.

One of the big issues I see with a lot of commercial forges is they do not ridgidize the kaowool.

To be perfectly honest with you I believe you are far better off safety wise to build your own forge.  Forges 101 will help you with most of the safety issues. 

Thanks Binesman... you lead me to the place that I'd missed.  The 101 Thread is most awesome indeed.  (In fact, there's no reason to keep this thread around... I'll try to zap it if I can so things stay clean around the shop.)

"Even when you get the best performance from your burner with the exhaust wide open,  you  are likely to be fighting a cold spot from doing so, try separating exhaust losses from radiant heat losses by putting up  a movable barrier of brick or a drilled kiln shelf, at a small distance from the opening, to allow exhaust gases to move up and out, while bouncing radiation off of an ITC-100 coating, and back into your forge. Move the barrier closer and farther away from the forge opening, depending on how high you are running the burner, and otherwise keep the hole in the brick  only as small as needed to move the parts through..."

This kind of information is what I was hoping to find in general... that you guys have detailed it all out is pure bonus.  Thank you... my son will think that I'm a super genius.  Until he reads this post...then I'm in the dog house again. 

Cheers!

You're welcome.  When it comes time to build google waynecoe artist blacksmith.  He sells everything you will need at a reasonable price and has forge plans on his site to follow.