BaxSmith Posted July 26, 2018 Share Posted July 26, 2018 Hi there, just got my Fire bricks and refractory cement, going to build my propane fueled forge it shall be a small enough one, big enough for knives and axe heads perhaps but mainly knives for now, I have no fear handling a torch or anything that is required to be done as a black smith/ knife smith, but I am scared of CO poisoning, so my main question is how can I make my forge as safe as possible? I will be using it outside in the open but should I still wear a mask and should I leave the back open? just a few bits like that I would love to have answered! thanks in advance guys. David. edit: also I have a carbon monoxide alarm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 26, 2018 Share Posted July 26, 2018 If you are outside there should be no issue, especially if any breeze is from you to the forge. Please design your forge so that the burner intakes do not recycle exhaust fumes as that increases CO production. What are the firebricks for? I've been using propane forges for 20 years or more now and have never had an issue---except when I was at a meeting and a storm blew up and they closed the doors most of the way in the demo area and I started to get a headache. (Of course my current 20'x30' smithy has 10' walls and open gables and 10'x10' roll up doors on opposite walls along the general wind direction in my location---which I only close when the wind starts blowing over anvils...) You can also look into an "air curtain" set up to deflect exhaust from your area. Generally used to keep you and your tools cooler but works for CO too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC Hammer Posted July 26, 2018 Share Posted July 26, 2018 25 minutes ago, BaxSmith said: I have no fear handling a torch or anything that is required to be done as a black smith/ knife smith, BaxSmith, a healthy fear of all things surrounding blacksmithing is not a bad thing. What I mean is a fear that develops a respect for hot metal, hot forges, hot tools, sharp tools, sharp things, hot scale, etc. I had a piece at orange heat just briefly touch my finger when I was just starting out and it almost burnt my finger down to the bone. There's a difference between fear and being afraid. Fear is a force that sharpens your senses. Being afraid is a state of paralysis in which you can't do anything. Fear of the heat, fire, sharp things sharpens your senses and makes you more careful. Don't be afraid of blacksmithing, but do have that healthy fear. I've been forging outside with a propane forge for years and never had a problem. I'm building a forge shop this year, so I'm working out the issues of fresh air, replacement air and venting. If you read through the threads there is a common theme.....get as much fresh air into the space as you can. That's not cracking a window or door, that's having big doors open and having the wind blow through the space. Have a plan to vent the gas byproducts up through a hood/chimney of some sort. The one thing I haven't got an answer to is rather my idea of hooking a pipe of some kind up to my air intakes will work if the pipe is connected to fresh air outside the building. I did see a well know bladesmith that has that set-up so that his forge isn't recycling exhaust fumes from the forge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaxSmith Posted July 26, 2018 Author Share Posted July 26, 2018 26 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said: If you are outside there should be no issue, especially if any breeze is from you to the forge. Please design your forge so that the burner intakes do not recycle exhaust fumes as that increases CO production. What are the firebricks for? I've been using propane forges for 20 years or more now and have never had an issue---except when I was at a meeting and a storm blew up and they closed the doors most of the way in the demo area and I started to get a headache. (Of course my current 20'x30' smithy has 10' walls and open gables and 10'x10' roll up doors on opposite walls along the general wind direction in my location---which I only close when the wind starts blowing over anvils...) You can also look into an "air curtain" set up to deflect exhaust from your area. Generally used to keep you and your tools cooler but works for CO too. Hi thanks for your swift reply ! How does one make sure the burner intakes do not recycle exhaust fumes? Fire bricks are refractory bricks I believe I see people using them for mini forges or knife forges. 18 minutes ago, MC Hammer said: BaxSmith, a healthy fear of all things surrounding blacksmithing is not a bad thing. What I mean is a fear that develops a respect for hot metal, hot forges, hot tools, sharp tools, sharp things, hot scale, etc. I had a piece at orange heat just briefly touch my finger when I was just starting out and it almost burnt my finger down to the bone. There's a difference between fear and being afraid. Fear is a force that sharpens your senses. Being afraid is a state of paralysis in which you can't do anything. Fear of the heat, fire, sharp things sharpens your senses and makes you more careful. Don't be afraid of blacksmithing, but do have that healthy fear. I've been forging outside with a propane forge for years and never had a problem. I'm building a forge shop this year, so I'm working out the issues of fresh air, replacement air and venting. If you read through the threads there is a common theme.....get as much fresh air into the space as you can. That's not cracking a window or door, that's having big doors open and having the wind blow through the space. Have a plan to vent the gas byproducts up through a hood/chimney of some sort. The one thing I haven't got an answer to is rather my idea of hooking a pipe of some kind up to my air intakes will work if the pipe is connected to fresh air outside the building. I did see a well know bladesmith that has that set-up so that his forge isn't recycling exhaust fumes from the forge. Of course , thanks for the reply! I'll take those words into consideration ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 26, 2018 Share Posted July 26, 2018 If they are hard firebricks they will almost certainly NOT be good for building a propane forge with even if you see 2000 idiots on 'you dupe' showing forges built with them---after all you can see "plaster of paris and sand" suggested for forges there and plaster of paris starts to degrade around 1000 degF below forging temps. Soft firebricks can be used. One thing that helps preventing recycling fumes is to NOT design your forge with the burners coming in from the top as hot gasses rise and so have a greater chance of getting sucked back in the burners. Before purchasing anything for building a forge read the appropriate threads here and discuss what you want to accomplish and how to build a forge to do it here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted July 26, 2018 Share Posted July 26, 2018 Welcome to IFI> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted July 26, 2018 Share Posted July 26, 2018 Refractory cement is a waste of money, cementing fire brick together in a small furnace that cycles quickly between ambient temp to maybe 2,600 F. (IF you use the right materials,) then back to ambient. 10 minutes to get hot, maybe an hour or two to cool off. Being cemented together will cause them to crumble more quickly. No matter what it says on the internet or package, being good to 3,000 f. means nothing about being worth diddly as a flame face. You'll need a good refractory to plaster the flame face of your chamber to protect it from chemical erosion from propane flame chemistry and welding fluxes. Plus mechanical damage, at forging temps soft brick is soft enough to gouge with your fingernail. No, I have no empirical evidence of anybody gouging a hot forge with their fingernail but it's that fragile. Take my word for it. We've discussed the subject of building effective, durable propane forges at length in the "Forges 101" thread. Heck recently I posted pics and description of what our club building for beginner's getting started forges. We're not building forges for sale we're putting kits together and two test units. I've written the hows, whys and why nots of my forges many times I don't think I'm going to do it again. Iforge has an entire section listing Youdupe videos that are actually good info. It's all here at your disposal. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey98118 Posted July 26, 2018 Share Posted July 26, 2018 Of course, cheap lightweight highly insulative tough K26 firebricks from eBay will work just dandy in case you get tired of doing things the hard way. A thin coating of Kast-O-lite 30, which your can get in small amounts from Wayne, will provide them with an excellent flame face, thus permitting you to aim your burners high up on one side wall, and impinging on the opposite side wall of your forge... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaxSmith Posted July 26, 2018 Author Share Posted July 26, 2018 2 hours ago, Irondragon Forge & Clay said: Welcome to IFI> Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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