Ok I’m over the whole build my own or use a freebie

[Wrought Iron Farm]

Ok so I have a xxxx ton of money tied up in my setup and anvils, I just want to get a forge that works. So my question is, if you guys were to buy a forge big enough for two people to work out of, what forge would you buy? I make knives, key chains and leafs. My wife wants in and she wants to make leafs key chains and basically everything but knives. So we were looking at the majestic 3 burner with front door and both sides open. If you guys need a forge yesterday and were ordering one right now what would it be and why? Thank you for the info. Also I have looked through the gas forge section for the past day trying to figure out the best route to go. 

[ThomasPowers]

You didn't mention pattern welding or not.  However I have up to 5 people working out of a forge 9.25" OD and 14" long. 2 aspirated burners.

I don't think I could afford to run the behemoth you are looking at! (I built it at a propane forge building workshop put on by my local, at that time, ABANA Affiliate.)

[Mikey98118]

5 hours ago, BigBeerds said:

I just want to get a forge that works. So my question is, if you guys were to buy a forge big enough for two people to work out of, what forge would you buy?

You are both making small items, so you don't need a large or expensive forge. You need a small wide forge. So look into a small Devil brand oval forge, or similar.

[Wrought Iron Farm]

It’s like glass blowing and kilns tho. You buy a small one for 2/3 the price then out grow it in a year and have to buy a bigger one. I would rather just make the purchase one and be done. That’s my logic behind just getting a decent sized forge. 

[JustAnotherViking]

False economy... a bigger forge costs more in fuel to get up to temperature and run on a daily basis.

So if you 'outgrow' it after a year, the money you've saved by running a smaller, more fuel efficient forge can be invested in a bigger forge for those two or three infrequent times you need to work on something bigger... the rest of the time, just continue running the smaller one.

[Ted Ewert]

13 hours ago, BigBeerds said:

 

Blacksmith forges are different than kilns as you usually only heat one thing at a time , and most of the time you only want to heat a small portion of your work piece. I've built a couple and I keep going smaller. This is because I can only work on about 6" of material per heat, and I don't want to heat up any more steel than I have to (for a number of reasons you'll come to find out). I built my latest forge with a smaller main chamber, and a hole in the back I can stick longer pieces out of if I need to (which is normally plugged up).  

Even a small efficient forge uses a lot of fuel since about 99% of the heat is wasted. I often think about investing in a nice induction heater.

[Mikey98118]

Very well; if you want a big very hot turn-key forge, look up Chile 'Forge online. Chile Forge uses a very hot burner design, and the rest of their forges are first quality too. You won't have to worry about anything not being up to snuff; and you'll pay for the privilege too.

[MC Hammer]

I"m happy with my Diamond Back blacksmith forge.  It has both ends and the side opens for odd shaped stuff.  Believe me, I just did two doll stands for my girls and it accomodated the odd shapes.....but just barely and I was wishing for a coal stove about toward the end.  

[Mikey98118]

So, what did he decide? We covered the three best options.

[Wrought Iron Farm]

3 hours ago, Mikey98118 said:

So, what did he decide? We covered the three best options.

I ended up with the majestic artist deluxe. Should be here Tuesday

[Frosty]

Two or three burner? Good choice, though I never understood why the "rear" door is steel rather than refractory like the front. Still, good quality and turn key, you're going to enjoy using it.

Keep us in the loop while you're having fun please. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[Mikey98118]

What Frosty said for sure. The kind of information we have least of here is owner evaluations of their new forge; it's probably also the most desired information by forum readers.

[Wrought Iron Farm]

9 hours ago, Frosty said:

Two or three burner? Good choice, though I never understood why the "rear" door is steel rather than refractory like the front. Still, good quality and turn key, you're going to enjoy using it.

Keep us in the loop while you're having fun please. 

Frosty The Lucky.

I got the two burner. I probably will use the steel door as the front and only use the the back when I have a bigger project. I will definitely keep you guys posted. 

[Mikey98118]

Good; with photos of the forge running I hope.

That goes for all you other guys with commercial forges too. I think there is a general misperception that, because we discuss how to build forges a lot on this forum, there is little interest in purchased forges; one has nothing to do with the other, but only you guys who bought one can provide that knowledge.

Going further, I think a permanent thread on commercial forges would make a valuable addition to this forum; us builders can't do a thing to help that along either (hint, hint).

[Wrought Iron Farm]

First impressions, smaller then I thought it would be. Looks a little cheesy but I fired it up and I was pretty impressed. Overall I’m stoked so far. Mind you this was the first fire up. I’ll let you know next week what my thoughts are. 

[MC Hammer]

My Diamondback has a front door that closes when I'm not using it.  The reason I bring this up is that I do not see a door for yours and I notice a HUGE loss of heat when my door is open forging odd shaped things.  You may want to block off part of that opening when just forging small things.  Does the back open up so you can pass long pieces through there?

[VaughnT]

Wish I'd have seen this before.  I've been running a Majestic 3-burner for awhile and it's been fairly lousy as far as forges go.  The insulation doesn't insulate nearly as well as you'd think, so you lose a ton of heat through it.  That makes it a gas hog.

I'd highly recommend blocking off the open side with some soft fire bricks or make a door with a steel frame and kaowool.  That much open space.... well, you might as well just be heating your metal with an oxy-acetylene torch.  You're burning a ton of fuel to heat up the shop through that open wall.

 

 

[Mikey98118]

I'm pretty impressed too! If it doesn't come with a door, you can always use brick as a baffle wall, when heating small items; this would allow you to cut fuel consumption way back.

Vaughn T,

Have you considered lining the forge with ceramic fiber board? Your forge could gain a lot of insulation for a small reduction in volume. Be sure to paint the board with a seal coat, like Plistex, to keep the fiber where it is and lower wear and tear.

[Wrought Iron Farm]

23 hours ago, Mikey98118 said:

I'm pretty impressed too! If it doesn't come with a door, you can always use brick as a baffle wall, when heating small items; this would allow you to cut fuel consumption way back.

Vaughn T,

Have you considered lining the forge with ceramic fiber board? Your forge could gain a lot of insulation for a small reduction in volume. Be sure to paint the board with a seal coat, like Plistex, to keep the fiber where it is and lower wear and tear.

I used a brick sized piece of steel to block the front. Seemed to work well, here’s a pic. 

[Mikey98118]

You will need to upgrade the steel with actual brick, eventually. But it does serve for now.

[Hibby]

On ‎9‎/‎11‎/‎2018 at 12:32 AM, BigBeerds said:

I got the two burner. I probably will use the steel door as the front and only use the the back when I have a bigger project. I will definitely keep you guys posted. 

This is the same forge I purchased. I mainly use 1 burner in it and have refractory bricks filling up the void where the 2nd burner would be hitting so I have effectively made it a smaller single burner. I am brand new to this so I haven't yet done anything that I felt I needed both burners on.