Good forge recommendations?

L

Leon Husock

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Jul 17, 2019
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My current NC Tools forge is on its last legs. It's always struggled with forge welds that aren't just a flat clean stack (anything like welding a socket, or a basket twist, that kind of thing) and I'm not in a position to get a coal forge, so I'm looking to replace it with a different brand*. Does anyone have any good recommendations for under $750 or so?

*I know I should just learn how to make a forge, but I just don't feel like going down that rabbit hole right now.
 
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I am like you, I would rather make knives than build a forge. Years ago I bought a vertical blown forge from Uncle Al. It had 1" of insulation in it. I added another 1" of insulation, lined it with satanite and then ITC 100. It gets up to welding heat fast. Being vertical flux falls to the bottom where I have put a layer of kitty litter.
 
Tom Lewis said:
I am like you, I would rather make knives than build a forge. Years ago I bought a vertical blown forge from Uncle Al. It had 1" of insulation in it. I added another 1" of insulation, lined it with satanite and then ITC 100. It gets up to welding heat fast. Being vertical flux falls to the bottom where I have put a layer of kitty litter.
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Thanks, Tom! I do most of my welding with kerosene rather than flux, unless I'm doing irregular blacksmith-y welds, so I'm not so worried about the flux destroying my forge. Is there any difficulty with not having a flat surface to rest things on in the forge?
 
I always weld a handle on my billets. Without a handle, the vertical forge I have would not work.
 
Hey Tom, I've got a question about welding the handle on...
I've tried welding various steel bars on, but never had any luck getting them to stay on reliably.
Any tips?
 
For a rock-solid handle that will last the whole weld and draw procedure:

Use a stick welder and 1/2" rebar. Use a 7018 rod and weld at a high enough amperage for good penetration. Pretty welds don't count in handles. Solid welds do.

Grind the rebar clean and slightly flatten one side for 2".

Make one bar of the damascus stack two inches longer than the others and put it one bar away from the center of the stack. In a seven-bar stack it would be bar 3 or 5.

Clamp the bars in a vise and weld up the four corners. If the stack is long, weld a bead down the center of each side. Once the billet is welded up, weld on the handle.

Place the flat area on the rebar on the extended bar of the stack and hold in place with a spring clamp. Start the weld and remove the clamp once the weld is started. Weld the rebar handle down both sides of the longer bar and to the end of the stack.
 
I use 1 1/2 " x 3/8" flat bar to weld to the billet. In my experience any thing smaller gets weak after several welds.
 
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I got angry at the rebar one day and welded the billet onto a 3' section of 1" drill rod (W1 or 2). Welds held up so very much better rebar never got another chance. Used that rod as my handle for the rest of the time I made steel.
 
I think it was the quality of steel led to a better weld. Bigger is better, but so was the available weld quality. I was using the thicker rebar at the time. What was that, 3/4" or 1"? I was doing MIG at the time.
 
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