How To Help with small heat treat gas forge

K

KyKaMo

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Mar 31, 2012
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I want to make my first propane forge strictly for heat treating. The largest work piece will be a chopper 2" wide and 15" long.

I wanted to make a simple 2 brick forge or coffee can type forge. I have some kaowool stuff and tc100 left over to use. I'm hoping to keep it small enough that I can use a bernzomatic tc8000 to get it up to 16-1700°f. I just want to know the best size dimensions to shoot for to produce an even heat and where best to place the torch and also where to place the thermal couple.

Thanks for your help guys
 
do yourself a favor, buy the atlas mini forge and be done with it. you will have far more time to forge and heat treat. building takes time from this and trying to get it right and working properly takes longer. the atlas is a 15 minute setup and will cost less than buying allthe stuff plus time to build it.
 
I just need to acquire the shell. I have all the refractory already and way more time than money.

Just wondering what size is best for a 2" wide 15" long 3/16 thick piece heat treat and where to place the TC and torch.
 
HT requires better a forge than forging. A "simple two brick" style isn't really what you want for HT. For a 2X15" blade, I would use a round shell about 6" or 8" diameter and 18" long. After lining with wool and refractory, it will have a roughly 3.5 or 5.5" chamber.

If you have a lot of the soft K23 or K26 firebricks, you can use a 10" shell and bevel the long side of each brick so the all wedge together to line the chamber. It takes eight 4" wide bricks to make the circle around the shell wall . That makes 20 bricks to line the forge. Coat that with a 1/4" of satanite and then apply ITC-100 ( you can skip the ITC-100 if funds are tight). This will make a superb HT forge for not a lot ... if you have the bricks laying around.

The shell can be a length of 10" stove vent pipe, or a rolled up and riveted/screwed piece of 20 gauge sheet steel. If a piece of 10" pipe is available from a scrap yard, it would be even better.
The stanite will cost $15 for five pounds.
http://hightemptools.com/supplies.html
 
Thank you for take the time to respond Stacy.

Is the 3.5 or 5.5 finished diameter more appropriate for an even heat with handheld torch?

Where to best position the torch lengthwise? In the middle with a straight on swirl? Or near the front with the swirl pointing down the tube?

Also where would be the best place to place the thermocouple?

Thanks for your help
 
You won't get a good HT with a hand torch in a forge. Build a proper propane burner and a peopler forge for HT. See the stickys for a great bunch of info on forges, burners, HT, and more.

If you are using a torch then the best setup is a welding torch with a rosebud tip. A Prest-O-lite torch with a large tip will work, too. A propane bottle torch won't have enough BTUs or flame size for anything but a small blade.Place your bricks in a long "L" and hold the blade just above the bottom part with the upper part being a heat/flame reflector. Point the edge toward the corner. Play the flame up and down the blade and slowly bring it up to a low red color. Have a friend use a pick-up magnet ( magnet in a telescoping rod) check the blade about 1/2 up from the edge every 1 seconds to find when the magnet stops sticking. You want the steel about 75F degrees hotter than the non-magnetic point. Raise the color about one shade red brighter from the point when the magnet stopped sticking and try to keep the edge color even. The edge is the steel you are concerned with, so don't worry about the spine color as much. When the edge is evenly heated and everything is ready, immediately quench in 130F canola oil.
 
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