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Gas forge help please...
- Thread starter RHobson
- Start date
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2006
- Messages
- 3,953
You also left out forced air/venturi and what size stock you intend on forging. 
I use a 12" piece of round pipe with 2" of kaowool, a layer of satanite and a coating of ITC100, with my single forced air burner I reach forging temps pretty easy without blasting a lot of propane. It's a vertical forge... The chamber of my forge is roughly 8"x10" cylinder with a little bit over 2 1/4" of insulation and refractory on the outside. My burner is a piece of 1 1/2" black pipe, can't remember the size of the hole that injects the propane into the burner and some eBay fan motor. Mixture is controlled with a piece of magnetic sign as a flap (gets a better seal than the usual piece of metal most of us use Thanks Don Fogg for that tip!)
Really recommend a round body forge, you want the flame to enter the chamber at a tangent so it "swirls" around the interior, preferably from the front and heads to the back of the chamber... flames out the front aren't that much fun! The ole dreaded "dragonbreath" forge. 
Kaowool is a good insulation but you need to coat it with a refractory to increase the efficiency of your forge, ITC100 really really helps make your forge better by reflecting the heat back into the chamber minimizing heat loss.
If you search around for the "freon tank" forge, I think it's on Fogg's site, you'll find good instructions on how to build a simple forge capable of reaching welding temps.
Basically, larger chamber=more burners. There's some math formulas that can be used to calculate burner size and and all that but I'm not smart enough to use them much less remember them.
I use a 12" piece of round pipe with 2" of kaowool, a layer of satanite and a coating of ITC100, with my single forced air burner I reach forging temps pretty easy without blasting a lot of propane. It's a vertical forge... The chamber of my forge is roughly 8"x10" cylinder with a little bit over 2 1/4" of insulation and refractory on the outside. My burner is a piece of 1 1/2" black pipe, can't remember the size of the hole that injects the propane into the burner and some eBay fan motor. Mixture is controlled with a piece of magnetic sign as a flap (gets a better seal than the usual piece of metal most of us use Thanks Don Fogg for that tip!)
Really recommend a round body forge, you want the flame to enter the chamber at a tangent so it "swirls" around the interior, preferably from the front and heads to the back of the chamber... flames out the front aren't that much fun!
The ole dreaded "dragonbreath" forge. Kaowool is a good insulation but you need to coat it with a refractory to increase the efficiency of your forge, ITC100 really really helps make your forge better by reflecting the heat back into the chamber minimizing heat loss.
If you search around for the "freon tank" forge, I think it's on Fogg's site, you'll find good instructions on how to build a simple forge capable of reaching welding temps.
Basically, larger chamber=more burners. There's some math formulas that can be used to calculate burner size and and all that but I'm not smart enough to use them much less remember them.
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2009
- Messages
- 21,855
http://www.indiangeorgesknives.com/building_a_forge.html
This is pretty good overall build info.
Stacy - "bladesmith" has good info in the posts on how to automate one with temperature controllers and solonoid valves to hold a temperature.
This is pretty good overall build info.
Stacy - "bladesmith" has good info in the posts on how to automate one with temperature controllers and solonoid valves to hold a temperature.
- Joined
- Feb 15, 1999
- Messages
- 11,566
Hey!!!! That looks familiar.
I have change the burner design, to a tee instead of a elbow.