Better than Atlas Mini?

T

The Gopher

Joined
Mar 4, 2011
Messages
176
Ok, I've decided I need a better forge and after my wife saw me heat treating in my sorry excuse for a forge this weekend she actually endorsed it! So now what do I get. Had thought of making one, but given my complete inexperience with welding, and forge building in general, I decided id rather spend my time making knives. I think the atlas mini will be big enough for all my projects except a hatchet in working on, but if I have one project every now and then that requires a bigger forge I can always send that project out for ht. I've looked around a bit, and come to my own conclusion, but thought I'd ask here as well, is there a better small forge for a weekend hobby knife maker than the atlas mini?
 
For almost all normal size projects the North Carolina "Whisper" series forges are superb. The three burner Lowboy is my favorite. It has a side door that lifts to put large items in and out, as well as standard 2X3" end ports. You can make and HT axe heads, hawks, art pieces, knives swords, etc. It will weld, too. The Lowboy has a 3X12X9" chamber. The "Whisper Daddy " with end ports has a 6X12X6" chamber. They are reasonably priced ( $635 and $740), and are professional farrier/blacksmith forges made to last nearly a lifetime. I have a Lowboy that sits uncovered in an open smithy and has performed well for 20 years. I have Ron Frazier's NC Knifemaker Forge that is probably twice as old. Both look better than most forges do at one year old. I re-lined the Lowboy forge in an hour about six years ago. If I brushed it off with a wire brush and sprayed it with black BBQ paint it would look new.

http://www.nctoolco.com/proddetail.php?prod=0114
http://www.nctoolco.com/products.php?cat=Gas+Forges
 
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Thanks Stacy, It looks like the Whisper Deluxe w/ backdoor would also fill my needs. Now its decision time. Thank you for the info.
 
The Deluxe is good for farriers doing shoes, but not good for knifemaking. You need end ports for knives.

The two burner "Momma" with end ports will work. The third burner on the Lowboy is really worth the money IMHO.

The "Knifemaker" has a symmetrical 4.5X4.5" chamber and keeps very even heat for HT and forging.

One thing I like about the Lowboy is the ability to place a blade on one side with the edge against the wall and the spine facing the flames. Thsi keeps the edge from overheating as the blade heats up. When doing HT in the forge, I point the tip over to the side for the same reason.
 
One really nice extra for this or any forge is to buy or build a forge swing arm stand. This allows you to pull the forge over toward the anvil or quench tank, as well as turn it various directions when needed. When not needed, push it back out of the way. Mine is bolted to one of the work table of the smithy and takes up no table space when pushed back. I keep previously forged blades and cut stock pieces sitting on the counter under it.

They are cheap enough, but anyone with a welder could build one for less than half price.

http://www.nctoolco.com/proddetail.php?prod=Swing-Arm-Forge-Mount
 
But remember to be careful when heat treating in the whisper because there is gonna be hot spots under the burners


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I never do a HT by just setting the blade in the forge ... any forge has hot spots. I move and turn the blade constantly while holding the tang with tongs. I point the tip to the side to get it farthest for the flames.

I didn't go into it, because the OP said he was not looking to build a forge, but for the cost of a Whisper Lowboy you can build the mac-daddy of forges. It can have a blown burner with variable fan, PID control, a large chamber, an "at rest" mode ( reduces flame to a minimum while you don't need it running full blast during a forging heat), fancy whistles and bells, piezo ignition, HT muffel, etc. I would say it is hard to spend much over $400 building a superb forge.
 
I really like my Chile Forge. I have the single burner, which works great, but if I were to do it again I'd spring for the double burner.
 
The Atlas Mini and Graham forges are superb performers for a great price. That would be my choice. Of course, if you are getting into pattern welding or large scale forgings, your needs may differ.
 
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