OnEdge Posted January 6, 2021 Share Posted January 6, 2021 Hey guys, What is the best small propane forge to buy for a beginner? My son and I want to try our hand at knifemaking and I would rather buy a small forge than try building one. I really know nothing about forges and looking thru this forum it seems there are some that use harmful insulating materials if not treated properly. Are there small forges that are "good to go" without needing to do special processes to make them safe? Thanks in advance for any help! Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnut Posted January 6, 2021 Share Posted January 6, 2021 I haven't found a plug and play turnkey forge. There's manufacturers that will lead you to believe that to be the case but it never seems to be. Even the ones that include a rigidizer and castable refractory you still have to apply them. The closest I found ready to go out of the box was diamondback ironworks series III forges but I still had to paint an IR re emission coating on the interior. A solid fuel forge is pretty simple and cheap to make. Here's a link to a thread. https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/44842-just-a-box-of-dirt-or-a-simple-side-blast-forge/ Good luck, welcome aboard,be safe, and remember it's supposed to be fun. Pnut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 6, 2021 Share Posted January 6, 2021 Unless you are willing to pay international shipping from the opposite side of the world you should indicate which of the 100+ countries participating here you are in; otherwise you may get suggestions that are not applicable for your needs. Best forge in Australia may be pretty hard to source in Finland! World Wide Web What I did here in the USA was to go to a propane forge building workshop put on by my local ABANA Affiliate. We set up an assembly line and built propane forges, people doing tasks that matched their skill sets using materials the group had sourced for the event. I got a well built forge for a fraction of the cost *and* understood how it was made and how I could maintain it. (At the end they were numbered and then everyone drew a number from a hat for the forge that would be theirs.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnEdge Posted January 7, 2021 Author Share Posted January 7, 2021 Thanks pnut! This Diamondback be the one you'd recommend? Two burner is probably all I need as a starter for knifemaking? Link removed What exactly is the IR re emission coating and is it hard to apply? Sorry, total NOOB here. The solid fuel forge looks pretty simple - I could probably make one of those, but I think I'd rather buy one and right now I have a little extra money. Thomas - sorry in California. Thanks, guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnut Posted January 7, 2021 Share Posted January 7, 2021 It's easy to paint on. It's a powder you mix to the consistency of about a thick milkshake and apply. It reflects IR radiation back into the forge. It's simple. That forge is all fiber board insulated so yes it's the type I was talking about. They're definitely not what I would call a budget option but you get what you pay for. Make sure you always read the specifications for the lining material. I overlooked that the door in my forge was insulted with blanket insulation. Anyway I'd suggest a lot of research. It took me almost two years before I settled on what forge to buy but meanwhile I built a couple jabods. I'm happy with the two burner blacksmith model I purchased though. You can purchase the IR re emission coating right here from the owner Glenn in small quantities. Pnut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnEdge Posted January 7, 2021 Author Share Posted January 7, 2021 Also, how about this Whisper Momma? link removed Thanks again pnut! So always look for fiber board and stay away from blanket insulation materials where possible? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnut Posted January 7, 2021 Share Posted January 7, 2021 No, I prefer it because it's less hassle. If you don't want to have to mess with castable refractory you don't want blanket insulation. I didn't want to have to coat my forge with a castable refractory so I looked for one that wouldn't need a castable lining and would be easy to reline when needed. You'll eventually have to reline any propane forge. Have you started reading the forges 101 thread? It's a lot to take in but will give you a much better general overview on what goes in to each type of gas forge. Truthfully if I would have had some more money I would have gotten a Chile forge but I couldn't justify spending a couple hundred more dollars. My forge was already costing around 600 bucks with delivery. There's people here with much more experience with gas forges than I have. I'd suggest you do a bunch of reading and make your decision based on what you need and what you're willing to compromise on. You can build a forge for relatively cheap or find one with ceramic blanket for around two hundred dollars but you'll need to do some further insulating with castable refractory. I was looking for something as close to ready to go out of the box as I could get that would work reasonably well. So in conclusion forges 101 in the gas forge section would be a good place to start. It's lots of info and questions about different builds but all the info you'd need to make a fairly educated decision is in there. Pnut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnEdge Posted January 7, 2021 Author Share Posted January 7, 2021 I'll check out the forges 101 section. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey98118 Posted January 8, 2021 Share Posted January 8, 2021 If I remember correctly, the NC forge line hasn't got very good reviews on IFI. over the years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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