forge building

[mitch4570]

I've been looking at some gas forge plans on the web and some look like they do noit have blower and then some do. Which is best and why do some use a blower and some don't?
Thanks

 

[Keith_H]

Id like to know more about the subject, I think that the reason is in the flame, ones that burn a big orange flame need a blower, ones that have an air valve don't always.

what is a good small brick forge i can make?

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Darren Ellis for info and supplies
http://forgegallery.elliscustomknifeworks.com/

Kevin Cashen for a great burner design
http://www.cashenblades.com/Info/Gas forges.html

More info here : (scroll around and you'll find several forge plans and info)
http://gbrannon.bizhat.com/multipletutorials.htm

Lots of info and plans on knifehow:
www.knifehow.com

And of ,course, our own IG has info on his site:
http://indiangeorgesknives.com/building_a_forge.html

Stacy

 

[Keith_H]

Thanks stacy. could be a fun weekend project.

 

[Alarion]

I've been looking at some gas forge plans on the web and some look like they do noit have blower and then some do. Which is best and why do some use a blower and some don't?
Thanks

It depends on the burner type.
A burner with a blower requires less accurate and refined design.
A Venturi burner can get hot enough to scorch the devil, if properly designed and tuned. Tuning one may drive you mad, though. So most people buy them.

 

[Keith_H]

I want to build a small forge like this-

Now, what could I look out for when buying firebricks?

What can I do to make the heat as even as I can?

I guess a round interior would help, but Im visualizing an angle iron frame with several bricks stacked in it, like this http://forgegallery.elliscustomknifeworks.com/ rather than hollowing it out. Should I hollow it out like the first picture?

I only want to heat treat blades, but I would like to start forging bearings, so Welding temps would be awesome, I'm up for any forge design.

And sorry for hijacking your thread!!

 

[Alarion]

Best thing is: get a soft fiurebrick. Don't know where, though. I could tell you where to find one in Italy, but that wouldn't help you much.
Anyway, get the firebrick.
Use a 1/2" flat wood chisel to hollow out a hole in the middle, and widen it to a rough oval, much like the one in the pic you posted, but a little smaller.
The point being, you want an oval, but NOT at all rough like the one in the pic! You want to have a smooth interior to avoid any hot spots.
Use a half-round rasp to even and smooth out the oval cavity.
Make two small holes in the brick, large enouggh for the burner just to set in them, each at one third length form each end of the brick.
Make sure the holes are angled so that the flame will enter the cavity at a tangent.
This wil make for a nice even swirl of hot gases that will make the forge uniformly hot.
You may want to coat the interior of the brick with satanite, or equivalent, so that it is smoother and should help a little preventing cracks in the brick.
WIring up the brick like the one in the picture is a good idea, though.
Use two SMALLER burners

 

[Patrickknives]

I found a pottery place that had firebrick for pottery kilns, I think it was $2-3 per brick. They rate them by temperature, I got the high temp ones. I would suggest making a tin box to keep the bricks in place. I wired mine and it has crumbled from moving (I did get a couple of years out of it). I am going to use tin from HD to make a small box to hold my new bricks.

 

[AcridSaint]

Hey guys, Ray Rogers has some very good info on building forges and burners, even simple venturi burners (the ones with no blower). Here are some pages of his:

http://rayrogers.com/forge2.htm

http://www.rayrogers.com/venturi.htm

http://www.rayrogers.com/miniforge.htm

Don't know if Ray hangs around here much, but he definitely puts good knife making info together.

 

[Keith_H]

Thanks! Ill try a kiln place, and maybe ask for the wool there.