hill.josh Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 ok, I'm getting around to building a new gas forge.. and wanted to know what you wish you had built into it that you didn't.. or that your really glad that you did build into it. Its gonna be for mostly general forging and will probably use a forced air burner if that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patrick Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 I have what most would consider a fairly large, rectagular, double burner forced air forge. The biggest thing I would do differently is to have the front door mounted in such a way to allow it to slide up vertically when I want to open it. The current design has hinges on the top. This has proven to be very awkward on many occasions. The vertical sliding desing allows long work to protrude without out a great deal of heat loss. If you counter balance the door, you should be able to rig it to stay up until you want it to close. This is quite handy when handling large work where you want both hands on the work. If you are doing large work, I'd recommend the floor be made from a layer of soft fire brick with a second layer of hard brick on top. You can get half-thickness hard brick which has worked well for me. This arrangement is quite durable and will resist both abrasion and the corrosive effects of flux and molten iron oxide. Kaowool makes great walls and ceilings, but if you use it, make sure you make the walls exta thick for durability. I made mine by folding the Kaowook accordian style and jammng it into steel boxes which I then welded together for the sides and ceiling. The walls are about 4" thick and are not prone to caving in as they are with the cylindrical for designs. I hope this helps. Patrick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 My main gasser was made from Oxy bottle and so very heavy; but good in that I welded a square tube on both sides that takes a 3/8" square stock with the end bent to form an L for a third hand---both sides so I can have one running off the back as well and slide them to the length I need. What I wish I had and will be retrofitting my forge is that the rear door is full sized and hinged, not real great for working long stock as I have to prop it up with a firebrick. I would suggest having a rear door with a mini work door in it at the proper height so that most long stock can be worked with the main door closed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hill.josh Posted October 28, 2008 Author Share Posted October 28, 2008 Thanks for the ideas I'll definately be using the sliding doors and welded handles for the forge.. any other suggestions are more than welcome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 Sliding doors tend to warp and stop working very well. I'm still tweaking my new forge and will keep you guys posted as it progresses. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arbalist Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 Sliding doors tend to warp and stop working very well. Frosty I've not built a gas forge yet but I'd be wary of sliding doors on such a harsh environment. I'd even be worried about simple hinges getting warped and causing problems. Keep it simple if you can, less to go wrong! Vic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patrick Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 At work, where the furnaces are in some cases the size of a two car garage, all the forge furnaces have vertical sliding doors. Warping is not an issue. In this case, the doors ride on rails which are pushed away from the furnace by air cylinders before the door opens/closes. Once the door is closed, the cylinders retract, pulling the door up tight against the furnace. The doors are all remotely controlled. A system like this is more complicated than what I had in mind for a small forge, but something like this would make some of my work easier to get in and out of the forge. Patrick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happycat Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 If you're not already aware of it Ellis Custom Knifeworks website is a great resource for forge building supplies and pictures of what others have done. I bult mine from a tutorial link there. Check out Indian George Rabello's tutorial on that site. Its very simple, very adjustable, very adaptable. I made my big one out of 10" pipe with fire brick stacked to block the ends. Found it was much bigger than I needed for most work. Made another out of 7" tank of some sort. This has an end at the rear and fire brick at the front. If I were to do another, I would opt for the hinged or removable rear with a small work door in it. Might even go for something like that in front too in the name of effeciency, gas costing what it does. Ed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hill.josh Posted November 2, 2008 Author Share Posted November 2, 2008 I was figuring I would make the door slide horizontally so it wouldn't need to be counterweighted and if you insulated the door as well if you made the sliding groove slightly loose wouldn't it be able to handle the exspansion? And thanks for the website happycat.. Id forgotten about it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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