Lets Build a Forge College Edition

[Legohland]

Hey guys i'm going to be updating this forum with my build of a college forge, for other students. Im a college student myself, and this is my second build. Im tired of my current forge because it has a ton of issues, that where short sighted on my part. more to come! Currently doing a run test, of damascus cannisters to gauge, heat saturation with my current forge, VS the new build. This is basically a control test. Lets see what happens. (currently cannot upload files)

Image would not upload as it was almost 4 x 5 feet in size, and 35 megabytes.

Thanks guys! Any Pointers?

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This will be my first cannister damascus heat to test my current forge VS the new build =] Ill be uploading a solidworks DXF in the next 24 hours! Then ill export to torchmate 2d and print on 10g metal from there =] Im currently unsure of what burners to build. any suggestions? venturi? send it guys/gals! Thank you for any input

(plasma cnc) via a torchmate 5400 table

[Latticino]

Can't see your images, but in my experience a forge for college students needs at least the following design concerns:

1. Bullet-proof construction:  undergrads and grads use equipment extremely hard.  Everything from support frame, to casing wall thickness, to liner thickness needs to be a lot greater than for a private shop.  Good door design will be extremely important.
2. Easy ability to reline the forge interior:  Group shops go through lining a lot faster than individual shops in most cases.  Expect the students to forge weld using outrageous amounts of flux.
3. Totally encapsulate any ceramic fiber blanket or board.
4. Safety systems: the college, and possibly the forge builder will be responsible for any accidents.  Code compliant safety systems will be critical.
5. Most of the college forges I've seen are forced air systems, many even being fired by natural gas.  Safety systems are more complex for this type of burner, but they are often easier to tune, particularly if you are going for a quieter multi port burner outlet (which will be helpful in a teaching environment).  You also have the advantage of not having to keep a stock of Propane cylinders.
6. Depending on the program, you may need different forge sizes and/or configurations.  A forge optimized for blades doesn't work well for large sheet chasing and repoussse

[ThomasPowers]

Legohland; you're not part of the Bladesmithing club at New Mexico Tech are you?

To Latticino's list I would add: make the forge system very hard to tip over!

[JHCC]

This is why the college smithing group startup I'm advising is looking at a charcoal-fired JABOD.