New to the site and to casting

[ARMike]

Hello all,  this is something I’ve always been interested in but never had the time to get started.  I wanted to look into a forge that was large enough to produce enough material to cast a decent bar.  Everything is metric so a lot of times I’m looking at images and wondering if the forge I’m looking at is tiny or a decent size.  I don’t want to waste my time ordering something only to get it and it’s the size of a tin can. So first can anyone recommend a starter forge that I can grow into.

Secondly, I have my old fire gear for safety, consists of fire rated pants jackets, boots, gloves but recommendations for safety equipment would also be appreciated.

[ThomasPowers]

Well over here crucibles are generally sized by the weight of metal they will hold; so how much metal and what type of metal are you interested in casting?  What will you be making your molds from?  Furnaces used to melt metal are usually NOT FORGES as their needs are different.  BTW are you looking for a furnace that uses charcoal, coke, propane, natural gas or electricity to heat the metal? What is your budget like?

As a starter; have you read the archives at backyardmetalcasting.com  ?