My new gas forge !

Alain M-D

Alain M-D

Joined
Jan 20, 2002
Messages
237
I finished to build my first forge!
The exterior is a stovepipes (with a cap at each end) and the inside is made
with soft firebricks (cut to a hexagon shape). The whole is rolled up in
ceramic fiber before to be squized in the stovepipe

I am going to build a real propane burner to forge this summer,
but now, I will use it with two normal propane torch.
That works very well for heat treating !
Cold to hot, that take two minutes to bring a blade to non-magnetic
temperature !!! And after 5-10 minutes, the outside is still cold!

Thanks to look !

Alain M-D
http://www.miville-deschenes.com/amd_anglais/index.html

forge-AMD.jpg
 
Looks good! I am in the process of building a forge myself and have a question. What did you do with the ceramic fiber that you spoke about? I do not see any in the picture and was wondering where you placed it. Do you have any kind of doors on it or does it seem to get hot enough without doors? Also, did you cover the fire bricks with any kind of coating? Do you plan on doing any welding with it? Thanks for sharing!

Ryan
 
Here are the drawings which I have make, if that can help somebody...

AMD-forge.gif


The outside dimensions are 12" long by 8" diameter and the chamber is
about 3.5" x 4.5" x 12" at the I widest place. I plan to put a thin slice
a hard fire brick on the bottom (black on th drawing)

I used 2.5" thick bricks which I cut in two with my metal bandsaw with a old blade
(at 1.25" thick). I make a jig for my bandsaw to cut my angle (60 degres)
and I assembled it with refractory cement and some steel wire. I make a
first hexagonal piece of 9" long (the brick are 9" long) and I add a 3" long
section to finish with a final lenght of 12"

I wrap it into ceramic fiber (1" thick). The ceramic fiber give a extra insulation and
keep all tight in the stove pipe. I used a stovepipe caps, and ceramic whool
to close the end (removable for extra long blades) I cut a round hole in the
front stove pipe caps.

That took me only 5 bricks and 2 or 3 feet of fiber of ceramic...
Very cheap and easy to build ! I am very surprised by the performance !
I recommend it to all!

I wanted to put a door but finally, that heats enough without that!
I built this forge especially to heat treat carbon steel blades but, I think
I will make some try to forge ! I plan to make a real burner with
Ron Neil plans...

Alain M-D
http://www.miville-deschenes.com/amd_anglais/index.html
 
where did you get the torches? ive never seen that kind before. im thinking maybe a mapp gas would work better because it burns hotter. what do you guys think?
 
Nice job on the forge (and your website, some great designs there)! Have you ever tried it with one torch?
 
Thanks to all for you comments !

elvenbladesmith07 :
I use a Bernzomatic torch from Home Depot. This model is verry
interesting because this model can be directed downward, what is not
realy possible with the normal torches, and this models is more hot !

http://www.bernzomatic.com/bernzoma...?attributeId=BMBZOPA000002&productId=BM095175

Blue Sky:
Thanks for your comments about my web site !
No, I did not try one torche because I had two torch, but that would
probably work well... Instead of taking two minutes that will take 3
or 4 minutes !?

Alain M_D
 
That's a very nice forge Alain, you did good. Much cleaner looking than what I built. If you can HT with the propane torches you're way ahead. I think all that insulation is a good thing. Keep up the good work, and thanks for sharing.
 
very cool-er-hot! Much nicer looking than the rust/borax eaten hair dryer boosted thing I run!
 
Very nice job!! Where does a guy pick up ceramic fiber and what is the cost?Is there another name for it?Dont mean to be dumb,just never heard of the stuff before.I have the fire brick and cement already.I have looked at several different plans for forges for heat treat use on a bunch of O-1 I have and hadnt really decided on which plan to use until I saw yours.It is perfect for my needs and looks very well made.Thanks for the post.Hope you dont mind me using your idea and parking it out back of my little shop.
 
eleven, I used mapp gas in my forge for about 6 months before I stepped up to a propane venturi. The mapp gas worked well and would get it up to critical, but it took a while, especially on thicker pieces. I was also flying through bottles, about one a week depending on how much I did, but it would get you by in a pinch.
 
trapperwez:

Ceramic fiber has some brand names such as Inswood, Kaowool, and I'm sure others. Most of what I have seen is $3-5 sq foot. You can search around for it but a fellow forum member and knife maker sells it at about the best price you will find. Check it out here
 
If I had the tourches and had things all set up like alain does I would go to home depot and get one of the y adapter hoses that they sell there so that I could hook up a twenty pound bottle to them and just go with it.
 
Wow great job I am in the middle of building a forge now you have definately inspired me to try another design.

Thanks Abe
 
Alain, could you please post a better pic of the area where the burners enter the forge?

I am buliding a forge as well, and really like your setup.

Thank you in advance.


-Marty
 
Airborne Steel said:
Alain, could you please post a better pic of the area where the burners enter the forge?
Click to expand...

Yes, here is an image.
I used aa fittings found at Home Depot (something like a pipe reducer, 1 " in 3/4 ") which I welded to a big washer. I drilled and threaded three holes for screw which hold the torch. The whole thing is only fixed by two screws on the frame of the forge.

I am not equipped for welding. I placed the piece in the forge and eated with the propane torch and I used a bronze welding rod to weld the fitting and the wascher...

voila !

I am happy if that can give some ideas to somebody!

fix-torch.jpg


Alain Miville-Deschênes
http://www.miville-deschenes.com/amd_anglais/index.html
 
Alain,
Very nice work (the forge and your knives)! Also, your web site pictures of your knifemaking process are helpful to me as a beginning/aspiring knifemaker---some of the details of how you do certain tasks I found helpful/enlightening.
Thanks for sharing your work.
Regards

JP
 
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