Building forge have some questions

[Warlock626]

I am building a forge still in the drawing phase. I am curious firstly about how thick of metal to use in construction and how many burners? I'm thinking 2- 1" burners drawing blank on thickness(maybe 1/4"?). Not sure if I'll build or buy burners yet. Open to suggestions, not interested in ribbon burner at the moment.

Another question is about insulation I was thinking 2 inches of fiber blanket then refractory all around, then 1 inch fire brick lining the floor, is that enough, should I use hard or soft brick? I'm also thinking of adding angle iron on front and back to hold fire brick for 'doors', again hard or soft? I'm fairly new to smithing and already have a smaller forge but it's too small for most things.

I am also thinking of adding electric igniter, again not sure how just a thought at the moment. Maybe from a gas stove or bbq? Preferably something that doesn't require outside power, other than a simple battery. Any others have electric igniter in their gas forges? Open to all thoughts comments and suggestions. Also open to tips on forge welding lol.

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

Welcome to IFI... Have you read this yet? READ THIS FIRST  It will help you get the best out of the forum with tips like editing your profile to show your location.

I think 1/4 inch for the shell is a little over kill,  1/8 or heavy gauge sheet would be plenty. The fiber blanket and refractory would be fine but the floor would be better with high alumina kiln shelf.

[Mikey98118]

How thick is thick enough depends on how large the forge shell is. A large forge; say a five gallon size  (propane cylinder) forge would need about a 0.045" thick wall. On the other hand, a two gallon forge (non refillable helium or Freon cylinder) would only need about 0.030" wall thickness. Three pound coffee-can forges are even thinner, and do just fine...