Forge Help

[Aaron Price]

So I made the mistake of buying a propane forge from 2 burner hells forge about a year and a half ago. I had read that it is the best solution even then but I didn’t have a whole lot of time so I decided it would be good enough. It got the job done but now I am not content and want something better. I have been collecting parts to build a new one but I am looking for some advice. I do some knives and some decorative stuff as well. So here are my questions:

 

1. The interior of the current forge body is 19”long x 6.75 inch wide x 3.5” tall in an oval shape. Only has 1” of insulation. Should I reuse this body and add more insulation? Or go with something smaller? I am thinking something smaller length wise because I basically never use the back half of my forge.

2. I have been looking at doing a ribbon burner for whatever I build since I am wanting to do more knives but I know a venturi style is a lot simpler. Is there enough benefit for a weekend hobbyist to mess with doing a ribbon burner?

3. If I did go with a venturi burner would one of the ones I have do ok or should I build/buy a better one?

[Buzzkill]

The answers to several of your questions will amount to opinion or personal preference.  

1. For me the current forge body is about twice as long as it needs to be.  However I have yet to do any decorative work with long twists or something similar.  I rarely need to heat up more than 6 inches of steel at a time.  So, if it were me I'd halve the length and double the insulation, but you might need a larger oval if you add another  layer of insulation.

2/3. The choice isn't between a ribbon burner or a venturi (naturally aspirated) burner.  You can build ribbon burners that use forced air or are naturally aspirated.  Likewise, single port burners can be either one.  In my opinion the absolutely easiest to build burner is a single port forced air burner, but you are tied to power that way.  I personally use a naturally aspirated ribbon burner inspired by Frosty's post on here: https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/48314-narb-lives/   Since building that burner I have no intention of ever going back to a single port burner in a gas forge again, but that's my personal preference/opinion.

Compared to a single port burner, ribbon burners tend to be much quieter.   You can easily carry on a conversation at normal volume next to the forge.  Most single port burners sound like a small jet aircraft is inside your forge.  Single port burners tend to have a hot spot directly opposite of the burner while ribbon burners tend to provide more even heat in the forge. There are times when either of those can be advantageous for certain projects. Having said all that, any burner that is properly built, tuned, and sized for a well constructed forge will get hot enough to heat and beat steel.

Hope that helps. 

[Aaron Price]

That helps a lot actually. I had read about Frosty’s naturally aspirated ribbon burner and I had thought about trying it but wasn’t sure. Sounds like you have stated a lot of what I already suspected. I agree that I rarely hear more than 6 inches u less it is to bend or twist something. I may just leave the current set up how it is for when I need something like that and build a smaller one that will heat a lot better and will be used most of the time. Thanks for your input it was greatly appreciated.

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

That was going to be my suggestion. One can never have too many forges. We have one propane we built from an old 20 pound tank which has worked well for what we use it for and thinking about building a larger one. Then we have two coal forges, one permanent and one portable, to take to meetings/demos and one side blast charcoal forge in the process of building it. Here is a link to the propane forge build.

20 pound propane tank forge in progress - Gas Forges - I Forge Iron

[Mikey98118]

8 hours ago, Aaron Price said:

So I made the mistake of buying a propane forge from 2 burner hells forge about a year and a half ago.

You're quite right; your purchase was a mistake. After looking through their site,  I would not accuse them of dealing in bad faith. HF posted a flame photo of one of that forge's burners on the site. Even after seeing the gas parts clearly drilled far from centered (a major boo-boo on any burner, but especially bad on a "T" burner), a practiced eye would have seen a poor bargain, but the flame photo erases any lingering doubt. These burners very sparkly stainless steel JUNK, In my opinion.

[Frosty]

I just spent way too long on the HF site and didn't see a T burner anywhere. I did see a poor imitation of one of yours Mike but no Ts, shiny or not. 

Give me a shout if you decide to build a T AAron it's no big thing to get right.

Frosty The Lucky. 

[Aaron Price]

Yeah I am just glad I didn’t pay anywhere near as much as they have them listed for now when I bought it. That’s over double what I paid. Thanks everyone for your help. I will probably be giving you a shout Frosty when I get the parts for the burner.

[Mikey98118]

Frosty,

Did you use the URL Aaron provided, or just them up by name? The site he provided had several kinds of burners, etc., including several stainless steel "T" burners.

[Frosty]

I don't see a URL in his posts, just the name. Probably got deleted as a commercial site. PM the URL to me please?

Frosty The Lucky. 

[Mikey98118]

I had no reason to save it.

[Frosty]

Don't blame you, I didn't see anything worth my time. I've never seen a blinged out T burner though. Oh well.

Frosty The Lucky. 

[Mikey98118]

If they had just followed through on their "big idea," and just constructed them carefully, they would has had a winner. As it is, they produced expensive scrap-metal.