Advice on first propane forge

[SkagSig40]

I'm a new maker and I need a propane forge to heat my 1084 up to critical so I can harden it up nice. What do you guys recommend? I 'd like a pre built one that is ready to go. Does anyone have an Atlas brand forge found here: http://www.atlasknife.com/product-category/forges/
If so what do you think of them? I may make some large, wide blades some day so I need something big enough for a 3" or even 5" wide(cleaver) blade. Right now all my knives are only 1" wide but I'm still learning.

I have a $500-900 budget but would like to keep it below that if possible. Many thanks!

 

[jll346]

If your willing to spend $900 for heat treating purposes. GET A HEAT TREAT OVEN!!!!! If your main concern is forging knives, then buy a forge. Again at that budget you can do better than an Atlas. Take a look at Majestic Forges.

 

[lanternnate]

I have the Atlas Graham Forge, and I love it. The front opening is 4"x2". The chamber is 5" diameter, so you could open it up a bit more if you really need to get to a 5" wide blade. I do full on forging with it, not just heat treating. At $400 including shipping it's lower cost than comparable forges, and I'd argue better. It runs on a single 100k BTU burner, so you can run it on a 20lb tank compared to others that want a 40lb+ tank. The chamber is also a cylinder with the burner angled to swirl the flame. You get a more evenly heated chamber compared to something like a majestic that is square and shoots the burner straight down giving you a major hot spot.

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[Karl B. Andersen]

If your willing to spend $900 for heat treating purposes. GET A HEAT TREAT OVEN!!!!! If your main concern is forging knives, then buy a forge. Again at that budget you can do better than an Atlas. Take a look at Majestic Forges.

Absolutely.
An 18 inch Even Heat is just at $1000.00.
Fact is, even if you really like knife making and want to continue and make a forge, you will still need an oven.

 

[Atlas Knife Company]

Majestic makes a fine blacksmith forge, bladesmithing, not so much. They use a straight down flame, which most here agree isn't ideal for bladesmithing. The only way a straight down flame works is to burn twice as much propane to overheat the chamber. That's why they have multiple burners and recommend bigger propane tanks. An Atlas will run about 14 hours on a single 20lb. tank and a Graham will run about 4 hours. Start with an Atlas Mini Forge, and in time you'll learn what else you will need, if anything. You may want a vertical for welding large damascus billets, something open for blacksmith work, or maybe just something a little bigger like the Graham for working multiple blades at once, etc. Cleavers aren't really an issue, they are usually cut to shape and beveled without being forged much. Obviously, I've got multiple size forges, but I rarely use anything other than the Atlas Mini.

If your willing to spend $900 for heat treating purposes. GET A HEAT TREAT OVEN!!!!! If your main concern is forging knives, then buy a forge. Again at that budget you can do better than an Atlas. Take a look at Majestic Forges.

 

[mnavarro]

I have a chile habanero forge with two burners and it has been pretty good. Their customer service is exellent as well. Like others said if you are not going to do any forging a temperature control oven is the best bet.