Looking to buy a forge

tbow

tbow

Joined
Nov 29, 2012
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I am wanting to buy a forge for knifemaking and general metalworking. Have seen several online and would like some input from someone that knows the good and bad about what's on the market. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
I use a NC Lowboy for general forging and would buy another in a heartbeat.
Use a homemade vertical forge to weld in. Would not use flux in the Lowboy or
any horizontal forge.
 
Charles at Atlas makes a line of basic forges. He is a member here and will probably chime in soon.
I have used his forges, and they are well build and do the job. For knifemaking only, they are great first forges.

I have many forges, but use my NC Whisper Lowboy for 99% of my work. Perhaps it is because it is what I used for so long, but to me it is the best universal forge around. You can do a knife, a sword, a horseshoe, or a piece of ornamental blacksmith work in one.
 
Is the NC knifemaker or NC Lowboy in the $600 to $650 range worth the extra money vs the Majestic forge which is around $300?
 
I have looked at the Graham forge from Atlas but it is not available. Stacy do you know anything about the Diamondback Ironworks knife maker forge?
 
Robert Erickson said:
Is the NC knifemaker or NC Lowboy in the $600 to $650 range worth the extra money vs the Majestic forge which is around $300?
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I have not found very many favorable reviews about the Majestic forge. Everyone that has an NC forge says they are great, there just out of my price range.
 
If you are interested in the Graham, ping Charles. They were "out of stock" when I got mine, but knowing I was interested he made one for me to buy. I'm very happy with it for bladesmithing purposes. I wouldn't consider it a "general blacksmith" forge though.
 
lanternnate said:
If you are interested in the Graham, ping Charles. They were "out of stock" when I got mine, but knowing I was interested he made one for me to buy. I'm very happy with it for bladesmithing purposes. I wouldn't consider it a "general blacksmith" forge though.
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I actually have sent him some messages and hopefully will hear from him soon. I think his is the one I would like to start with.
 
I bought the NC Tool Co. Whisper Momma about three years ago. Based on the use it has gotten, I would say the forge is of excellent quality, but I wouldn't recommend buying a forge that is wider than it is long like the Whisper Momma. For mine, the burners run perpendicular to the opening of the forge which create heat zones in inconvenient places (for knifemaking) in the forge. The forge is also only 6" deep so you have to either place your work in the forge at a weird angle or utilize the rear door. I wouldn't recommend the Whisper momma for knifemaking, but I would recommend NC Tool Co. as a company to buy your forge from.
-Tanner
 
I have had a diamondback 2 burner knifemaker for several years. It is has held up very good and works well.
 
I agree with Don, The whisper lowboy is about the best all around commercial forge for the money. For knifemaking only, there are other options, but sooner or later you will want to put something wider than 2-3" in your forge. For instance, most knifemaking forges would not do a hawk or a horseshoe.
The whisper Momma is more for farrier work. The end port Daddy is the same size as the lowboy, but has 6" chamber height. That's great for ornamental blacksmiths, but wasted chamber space for knifemakers. The extra $90 for the height is worth it if you do blacksmithing, though.

I will point out that you can build the Mac Daddy of all forges for $600. You can make a PID controlled blown forge with all the whistles and bells your mind can come up with for Probably half the cost of a NC forge. A very good basic starter knifemaking forge can be built for $200.
 
Well, I'm getting closer to having Graham forges again. I'm just not happy with them and am trying to redesign them to be better. I did just finish up a budget forge, and should have more ready in about 2 weeks. It is really more of a blacksmith forge than a knifemaker forge, but it's decent for welding small billets. It has a 5"x12" chamber. That said, for most knifemaking it's really hard to beat the Atlas mini. It's my go to forge, even though i have lots of bigger prototypes laying around that I could use. It heats up quick, only costs about $1.25 per hour to operate, and has a very nice, even, swirling chamber that is almost perfectly neutral. It's also the only one with a handle, making it easier to put away once it's cooled down. Oh, and it's stainless now. It was hurting my soul to see old forges that I built, rusting.
 
If you are considering design changes to the Graham, one thing that would be pretty primo would be if the front was a hinged door. Then it could be kept shut with the smaller slot for most of the time, but on the rare occasion you wanted to work something bigger you could swing it open for full chamber clearance. It's rather rare that the slot isn't sufficient, but there have been a few times where I wanted just a bit more clearance.
 
Atlas Knife Company said:
Well, I'm getting closer to having Graham forges again. I'm just not happy with them and am trying to redesign them to be better. I did just finish up a budget forge, and should have more ready in about 2 weeks. It is really more of a blacksmith forge than a knifemaker forge, but it's decent for welding small billets. It has a 5"x12" chamber. That said, for most knifemaking it's really hard to beat the Atlas mini. It's my go to forge, even though i have lots of bigger prototypes laying around that I could use. It heats up quick, only costs about $1.25 per hour to operate, and has a very nice, even, swirling chamber that is almost perfectly neutral. It's also the only one with a handle, making it easier to put away once it's cooled down. Oh, and it's stainless now. It was hurting my soul to see old forges that I built, rusting.
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This is good news, I've been holding out for a Graham forge.
 
lanternnate said:
If you are considering design changes to the Graham, one thing that would be pretty primo would be if the front was a hinged door. Then it could be kept shut with the smaller slot for most of the time, but on the rare occasion you wanted to work something bigger you could swing it open for full chamber clearance. It's rather rare that the slot isn't sufficient, but there have been a few times where I wanted just a bit more clearance.
Click to expand...

If the Graham had a hinged front it would be as almost good as a NC lowboy. If Charles used insboard for the front wall, it would be fairly easy to modify.
I tested the prototype Graham forge, and that was my biggest issue. Great forge, but limited on work piece size. I have plans to change the front to hinged and add a second burner.
 
Would that then be a short jump to a PID?
That's what I'm waiting for.
 
You can PID control any forge. However, a blown forge does better for my two-stage PID control design.
You can build a small blown burner that fits the Graham forge burner port. I was thinking that two small blown burners would even out the chamber heat a bit more. I can add a TC port at the same time.


My thoughts on changing the front to hinged was to have the front port open on the bottom, so you could open the front and stick in a billet and then flip the front down leaving only the handle rod sticking out. This would also work for doing decorative shapes, like a dragon's head, on a long bar of stock.

I probably will pour a new floor of Cast-o-lite 30 or bubble alumina to make the floor flux resistant as well as much more wear resistant. Those soft firebricks will abrade into dust doing large billets.
 
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