Forge wall thickness really important?

Parke1

Parke1

Joined
Feb 11, 2003
Messages
1,862
Hey guys,

After not being able to work on any knives for the better part of the past year, I'm gearing up to get back into it. I've been so busy working on my house (and getting married this past July), that I haven't had any time to hit the grinders, but I can't stay away any more.

I'm soon going to be building a propane fired forge possibly with the help of our very own Joesouth. He'll be providing me with some Kaowool and ITC100 to line my forge body with, but here's my question...

So far I've found two canisters which I can use to build the forge from. One is a 30 lb Freon tank and the other is a 7.5 gallon air compressor tank. I'm not sure which to use, though. The freon tank is a nice size, but the steel it's made from is very thin. The compressor tank is much thicker steel, but it's rather large (long) for a forge body (I think).

Anyone have any ideas as to which I should use? Pros and cons of each?

Thanks a lot guys!
-Parke1
 
The freon tank is what I am going to use. A friend gave me one and I have seen his forge and the tank only gets warm. He painted with a high heat exhaust paint I think and there is no burning of the paint. As soon as Darren gets back and up and running I am going to get all the wool and stuff from him.
 
Mine is built out of a 30mm mortar tube. Just cut off the end, lined it with inswool and coated it. Works like a charm. The wall thickness is not that thick at all and it does get warmer than I care to touch but no problems at all.

Charlie
 
Thickness of the outside shell makes no difference. It is there just to hold the kaowool or refractory into position and it those that make a forge.
 
I can't remember where I saw the photo, but one fellow in Australia made a long forge using chicken wire for the shell. He lined it with wool, applied the stiffener and inside coatings, and when it was done he coated the outside with a coat of refractory cement. It had some cracks, but it appeared to have worked.
Stacy
 
I agree with Bill. The exterior shell is only there to hold the shape/support whatever refractory you use. If the forge is going to have to be moved around from time to time, you might want to take that into consideration... a lighter weight is going to be easier to move. The smaller of my forges is made on an 8" piece of pipe that has .070 wall thickness. Its been around for over 15 years.
 
I have one forge made of iron pipe with wall thickness of about0.130". I lined it with soft fire brick. Works great, but takes a long time to cool off and is heavy. I travel a couple of times a year with my forge, so I made a new one out of an air tank lined with two layers of inswool. It still has the red paint from the air tank on the outside and is only discolored around the burners. I cools off quick, and is light weight. It's perfect for a forge that needs to be portable. It came with a handle already on top. It might be a little long, but sometimes I need to heat up long stuff.
 
Parke1 said:
Hey guys,

After not being able to work on any knives for the better part of the past year, I'm gearing up to get back into it. I've been so busy working on my house (and getting married this past July), that I haven't had any time to hit the grinders, but I can't stay away any more.

I'm soon going to be building a propane fired forge possibly with the help of our very own Joesouth. He'll be providing me with some Kaowool and ITC100 to line my forge body with, but here's my question...

So far I've found two canisters which I can use to build the forge from. One is a 30 lb Freon tank and the other is a 7.5 gallon air compressor tank. I'm not sure which to use, though. The freon tank is a nice size, but the steel it's made from is very thin. The compressor tank is much thicker steel, but it's rather large (long) for a forge body (I think).

Anyone have any ideas as to which I should use? Pros and cons of each?

Thanks a lot guys!
-Parke1
Click to expand...

I've made one from a coffee can. seems to work for heat threat/temper....

Jim L.
 
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