gas forge am I on track?

[bryce]

Hi All I am back from a break mainly because of a lack of equipment....
Mean while my dad has been building me a gas forge is has 4 jet burners with adjustable chokes on each one he plans on using super claycrete for the lining probley 1 1/2 inch thick molded in stainless steel sheet metal. I said I want to be able to put in at least a 12 inch blade so Will this be hot enough? I have seen the burners run they have a nice clean blue/clear burn but itsd adjustable so if it is off we can change that. Will this be hot enough to work with 1/4 inch steel? If anyone knows or sees anything wrong off the bat right now let me know. we built one forge but it was a failure due to lack of heat I hope the problem is cured I guess we will find out soon
Bryce

 

[Guy Thomas]

Hey Bryce, off hand I would say any forge with four burners would not only get hot enough but might be overkill. If the forge is large enough to accomodate four burners I would certainly say it would fit a 12" blade. However, it would be helpful to know what kind of burners are being used (venturi, forced air?), the insulation factor of the super claycrete (and how thick) and the length and size of the forge chamber. I'm not familiar with the claycrete, is it rated as a high temp refractory? If not, you might have problems with the forge not being able to come up to and hold an even high heat. If it works as it should you can not only work with 1/4 inch steel with ease but you could easily work with 1" and larger steel at need.

One thing I'd like to point out is that the entire blade does not have to be heated in order to forge it. Swords and larger blades are routinely forged in 5" increments only. If you are constantly reheating an entire blade while forging you are subjecting it to an unnecessary amount of thermal treatment and risk overheating areas like the tip. Always think of the forging as the beginning of the heat treatment. If this forge is primarily for heat treating you should be able to manage 12" blades with no problem as long as you don't have any severre hot spots. The stainless lining will be helpful if you want to do damascus to help prevent flux attack.

 

[bryce]

First off I plan as using it to forge and heat treat the burners are jets how ever they are small and compact I will try and get some pics or something up super claycrete is super hi temp refractory its much like industrial adobe I know the entire blade doesnt need to me heated to forge it but I want to have a multi use forge although I know you cant use one for all jobs I think he may put the stainless on the outside because its basicly the mold for the claycete yet it still stays atched... oh yes the heat is quite adjustable each burner has a reg then the line to the burners has a reg too and heat can be further adjusted by drilling out the caps or replacing the caps and drilling smaller holes in them
Thanks for the help I am always learning...

 

[Reg ELLERY]

My forge is a 10 inch od stainless pipe. However I tried to make a stainless flux tray for inside the forge.
After about 3 welding sessions the stainless steel tray had become as brital as cracker biscutes.
It may have been the wrong kind of stainless, or stainless may have a problem with the prolonged heat.

The outside is fine. The inside did not rust away it just broke up.
Very strange.

Just a tip for makers. I contacted a local bore drilling company for the pipe. They use it to reline the Big bores. They put the pipe in and use high presure (water-air not sure) to expand the stainles pipe to line the mild steel casing. I got 2 16 inch lengths for a carton of beer. It was a friday afternoon.