Gas Forge

A

adam britz

Joined
Feb 16, 2017
Messages
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I’m wanting to build a gas forge. I have a non working two tank air compressor, 4 or 5 gallon tanks .
My question is since the tank is too small to insulate the inside, can I insulate on outside and still have a good forge. Or will the metal walls burn up along with the steel I’m heating? Thanks for any feedback, even if a dumb question.
 
I wouldn't do that. If the forge is going to get up to heats to heat treat a knife or higher for forge welding, the tank will get red hot, especially if the insulation is keeping the heat on it. This will cause all sorts of problems.

How large is the tank diameter and what burners will you plan on using?
 
The barefoot boy said:
I wouldn't do that. If the forge is going to get up to heats to heat treat a knife or higher for forge welding, the tank will get red hot, especially if the insulation is keeping the heat on it. This will cause all sorts of problems.

How large is the tank diameter and what burners will you plan on using?
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Tank is about 7or8 inches diameter. No idea on burners....any suggestions will help
 
adam britz said:
Should it be certain thickness?
Click to expand...
You can go with just an inch thickness of forge wool. More is just much more efficient and will keep the outside tank cooler.

adam britz said:
Tank is about 7or8 inches diameter. No idea on burners....any suggestions will help
Click to expand...
Depending on the size of the projects you would like to work on, you could easily put 1 inch in, if not 2 with an 8 inch diameter.
Wish I could help you more with burners. I got mine for a great price on etsy but the seller closed his shop. The most help I can be is give you a link. I have no experience with these but the look nice. http://hightemptools.com/supplies.html (they also have forge wool and sealer but it is cheaper in the below link.

For wool I found it on https://shop.clay-planet.com/inswool.aspx This supplier is great as you can order by the square foot.
 
There is a sticky on forges and burners, as well as dozens of forge build threads. Use the custom search engine in the stickys.

For a burner on a first time build forge, Atlas Tool and Forge has two sizes. The smaller one will be right for your project. It comes with a hose and regulator ... ready to use.
 
Just find something to use that's the right size to begin with... It's as easy as just cruising around town on trash day. Or something pretty close to it.;)
 
Charles, you are correct, the 100K burner would be best for his forge size. I did the head math for a 12" by 4" chamber. His air tank could give him up to a 16" X 5" chamber, so that would be twice the volume I used. The 100K will give him plenty of BTU's even for a 16" forge with only 1" of wool.
 
I can speak on this.
I built a similar size forge out of an old submersible pump housing. A 1ft ×2ft ×1 inch wool blanket around the inside and a brick and a half on the floor.
I've been using the Atlas forge 100k burner in this setup for about 9 months and it works awesome.
I've built several burners. The Atlas burner is super simple and works extremely well. It's also cheaper than my time was building all those burners.
 
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