September 3, 20187 yr This is my second forge. I set up a friend's homestead with some basic blacksmithing tools. Can't wait to see what they make! The forge is an old BBQ sized propane tank with two layers of ceramic wool and a half inch of satanite. The burner is an 1 inch bore, eight inch barrel naturally aspirated propane type, positioned to generate a vortex inside the forge. The nozzle flare is formed from castable refractory, and the mouth of the burner tube is set back in the liner for protection. After tuning, it has a wide operating range and an impressive full-throttle burn. I got all the parts for about fifteen bucks at the scrapyard and welded them together with a little SMAW inverter type machine. Questions and comments welcome!
September 10, 20187 yr Looks good, the vortex will make a nice hot forge. What's all that stuff in the barrel?
September 12, 20187 yr Author Ted, It's a 90 pound chunk of 4140, a bit of railroad track, all the drops and spare bits of workable steel I could spare and maybe 230 pounds of concrete to make a nice solid stand for forging on. Very rudimentary, but manages to meet the minimum requirements of "Somewhere to heat it and somewhere to hit it".
September 13, 20187 yr I've tried to keep it simple, but being a lifelong toolaholic is starting to impact my limited work space. I would love a big old shed on the back 40 where the noise wouldn't bother anyone. My crazy next door neighbor has accused me of operating a pile driver in my garage.
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